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Bulls steal Game 2
Jordan's 37 helps Chicago even series
Posted: Monday July 20, 1998 01:42 PM
SALT LAKE CITY (CNN/SI) -- Michael Jordan
and Karl
Malone spent Game 2 of the NBA Finals dueling misses. Malone won, and
so did the Chicago
Bulls.
Jordan finally converted the go-ahead three-point play with 47 seconds
left and Malone suffered through another meltdown, going without a basket
in the second half, as the Bulls took advantage with a 93-88 victory over
the Utah Jazz that
evened the Finals at one game each.
The NBA's top two superstars did not look the part. Jordan scored 37
points, but needed 33 shots, making just 14. His go-ahead basket came after
two forced misses as Chicago blew a six-point lead.
"I missed some easy shots tonight, I must admit," Jordan said.
But Malone was even worse. For the second straight game, he settled for
jumpers instead of driving to the basket. After Jordan's play, he missed an
open jumper with 25 seconds to go, capping an awful game. He shot 5-of-16
from the field, including 0-of-4 in the second half, and finished with 16
points as he was hounded by Dennis Rodman.
"All year I make those shots," Malone said. "It just comes at a [bad] time
to not make them. I wish I could make a lot of excuses. But I don't have
any."
"We anticipated Karl to come back and have an extremely good game after
the first game," Jordan said. "But I think defensively we made our
adjustments to force him to shoot jump shots, keep him off the free-throw
line, don't give him direct looks at the basket."
The Jazz won the opener in overtime despite Malone shooting 9-of-25 from
the field. He is off to the same bad start he had in last year's Finals,
when he shot 16-of-42 in a pair of losses at Chicago.
"We will not win this series if I don't play better," Malone said. "That's
just the way it is. We have other guys that step up, but if I don't play
well, we don't win this series.
"I keep taking opportunities if they're there, and I keep trying to do
other things. But I think the worst thing in the world for me to do now is
try to put the whole weight of the team on my shoulders."
Game 1 hero John Stockton
was unable to rescue Utah this time. He went scoreless in the fourth
quarter, when the Jazz went almost seven minutes without a basket and
missed 11-of-15 shots. Stockton finished with nine points and seven
assists.
Jeff
Hornacek scored 20 points and Shandon
Anderson added 12 off the bench for Utah, which lost at home for the
first time in nine playoff games since the opener against Houston and blew
a lead entering the fourth quarter for just the third time in 68 games this
season.
"We came out very soft, and they were the aggressors," Jazz coach Jerry
Sloan said. "You're not going to win if you're not aggressive."
It could not have come at a worse time, as Chicago finally won a road
playoff game after four straight losses by a combined 10 points. The Bulls
gained the home-court edge and will host three straight games beginning
Sunday night.
"These are two teams well-matched, have played a lot of games against each
other," Bulls coach Phil Jackson said. "This is going to be some series."
"It's interesting to see what a little adversity does to your team," Sloan
said. "I think we're pretty competitive. Maybe we'll come back and play
pretty hard going in there. We have to, otherwise we go home."
Scottie
Pippen scored 21 points for the Bulls, who grabbed 18 offensive
rebounds, six in the fourth quarter, and also forced 20 turnovers.
Chicago's last three hoops came after offensive rebounds.
"That's one of our strong points," Jordan said. "Dennis [Rodman] is a very
active guy, so I think he takes a lot of the focus from the defense to try
and keep him off the boards, and Scottie and myself and the guys can sneak
in and get offensive rebounds."
"We gave them too many second opportunities on missed shots," Jazz center
Greg Foster
said. "We shot ourselves in the foot again."
Pippen hit a jumper after an offensive rebound as Chicago opened an 85-79
lead with 3:08 remaining, but while Jordan was missing twice, Shandon
Anderson had a layup and two free throws, and Hornacek drilled a
three-pointer for an 86-85 lead with 1:46 to go.
Pippen missed a shot, but Stockton threw away a pass with just under a
minute left. Steve
Kerr, the all-time leading three-point shooter, missed one but grabbed
his own rebound. He fed Jordan, who was fouled by Stockton as he scored,
completing the three-point play for an 88-86 lead.
"It was just a lucky play, really," Kerr said. "I missed the shot but the
ball bounced right to me and Michael was wide open."
Malone missed and Kerr made two free throws with 19 seconds left.
Chicago's Ron
Harper made a steal and Jordan's two free throws sealed it.
Toni Kukoc
scored 13 points -- all in the first half -- for the Bulls, who shot 42.5
percent (34-of-80), including just 3-of-16 from three-point range. Rodman
battled foul trouble and Malone to grab nine rebounds.
"I thought Dennis did a great job on him as far as bodying him off,"
Jackson said.
Through three quarters, Utah shot 56 percent and held a 73-70 lead.
Overall, the Jazz shot 49 percent (33-of-67), including 7-of-13 from behind
the arc, and held a 32-15 edge in bench points. Bryon Russell
scored 11 points.
Jordan scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, but had to work for them,
missing 5-of-9 shots. But the Jazz were ice cold to start the period,
missing their first six attempts.
"We made them go away from where their strengths are," Jackson said.
Jordan had a banker and a three-point play to cap an 11-1 surge that gave
the Bulls an 81-74 lead with 5:19 left. Russell's three-pointer ended
Utah's dry spell from the field with 5:01 to go.
The Bulls led by four points at halftime, and Jordan scored eight in the
first 5:23 of the third quarter, including a lonely dunk after a transition
steal by Rodman that gave Chicago its largest lead at 61-53. A missed
jumper by Malone had Chicago looking like it was going to break it open,
but Utah suddenly rattled off 11 straight points.
Malone made two free throws and Russell hit a three-pointer before Jordan
took a costly rest with 5:15 remaining. A three-pointer by Hornacek tied it
and Stockton dribbled the length of the court for a layup and the lead.
Hornacek added a free throw for a 64-61 edge as Jordan returned with four
minutes to go.
Malone missed a jumper and committed his fourth foul with 2:34 left, but
the Jazz fared better without their leading scorer. Howard Eisley
came on for Stockton and scored Utah's last seven points of the period,
helping the Jazz take a 73-70 lead to the final quarter.
The Bulls began the game by again going to Jordan in the post for a
jumper, but relied more on their triple-post offense and attacked the
basket. Going hard to the hole was Pippen, who turned three drives into
seven points, giving Chicago a 15-14 lead with 4:46 to go in the first
quarter.
"Scottie was in an attack mode and Toni was in a good attack mode,"
Jackson said. "Michael didn't have to carry the scoring."
Meanwhile, Malone continued to struggle. He missed a jumper and layup
around an inside basket, but three-pointers from Stockton and Russell kept
the Jazz in it. Malone had a dunk off the screen-and-roll, but committed
turnovers on consecutive trips.
Kukoc scored inside twice around Malone's first successful jumper to give
Chicago a 23-20 lead after one quarter, but Jordan sat down to start the
second period and Utah's bench again provided a boost. Anderson went into
the post for six straight Jazz points and a left-handed layup from Antoine Carr
gave Utah a 28-27 lead with 9:05 remaining.
Jordan returned and the Bulls went on a 9-2 run, featuring a three-pointer
from Scott
Burrell -- Chicago's first bench points. Malone drove for a three-point
play and Greg
Ostertag scored inside to cut the deficit to 36-35, but a pair of
inside baskets by Jordan and three-pointers from Kukoc and Kerr built the
lead to 46-39 with 2:39 left.
"We never destroyed their rhythm except for a couple of times and we have
to do that to compete against them," Sloan said.
The referees needed a security escort off the court at the half after an
eventful final minute. Hornacek was whistled for an offensive foul against
Jordan, then tried to draw one from Jordan with a flop at the other end.
Malone was bumped to the floor without a call before Ostertag's three-point
play cut the deficit to 50-46 at halftime.
Jordan scored 14 points and Pippen added 13 for Chicago, which shot 52.5
percent (21-of-40). Malone shot 5-of-12 and scored 12 points and the bench
added 19 for Utah, which shot 54 percent (19-of-35).
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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NBA Finals
