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Jordan, Jackson question last-second play
Posted: Saturday May 30, 1998 01:23 PM
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Jordan says that he was tripped on the final play of the game () |
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Michael Jordan swore he was tripped, Phil
Jackson found another reason to fault the referees, and the Chicago
Bulls are in the seventh game of a playoff series for the first
time in six years.
An illegal defense call against Chicago with 1:27 to go and a
no-call when Jordan stumbled on a drive in the closing seconds
helped Indiana beat the Bulls 92-89 Friday night, evening the
Eastern Conference series 3-3. The final game will be on Sunday in
Chicago.
"It changed the direction of the game," Jackson said of the
illegal defense call against Scottie Pippen. "It was an impulsive
call. I haven't seen a call like that at the end of the game.
"There were two crucial calls that were uncalled for," said
Scottie Pippen, the player fingered for the defensive no-no. "The
illegal defense call was a backbreaker. It was one of those games
where he [official Hue Hollins] finds a way to pick me out of the
group somehow.
"He said I was on the wrong side of the basket. That's it."
Reggie Miller, held to only eight points, hit a free throw on
the technical to tie the game 87-87. A basket and two free throws
by Travis Best put the Pacers ahead 91-89 with eight seconds to go.
The Bulls then went to -- who else? -- Jordan, who started for the
basket but ended up on the floor.
"I thought I was tripped. I had a clean path to the basket and
started my move and started falling," said Jordan, who scored 35
points.
"We had to catch up, and then they swallowed the whistles on
the last call," said Jackson, who was fined $10,000 after a Game 4
loss when he compared the officiating to that in the American loss
to the Soviet Union in the 1972 Olympics.
"It was an obvious foul at the end," Jordan said. "But you
don't want to start talking about the refs. Some people think I
tripped over my own foot. I'm not that clumsy."
The loss sent the Bulls into a seventh game for the first time
since the second round of the 1992 playoffs against the New York
Knicks. Chicago won that seventh game, then went on to the NBA
championship.
"Now it's Game 7, so you start focusing on that," Jordan said.
"You've got to let this slide off your back. It's tough, but
you've got to laugh and let it go.
"We haven't played a Game 7 in six years, so obviously it's
new," he said. "We've just got to play like there's no tomorrow,
which it is. Do or die."
Ron Harper said the Bulls can't blame the officials, though, for
the loss.
"We have to play through it. If they don't make the call, there
is no foul," he said of the Jordan drive to the basket.
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NBA Finals
