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The Morning Line
Sports Illustrated staff writer Marty Burns checks in after each game of the NBA Finals
Posted: Saturday June 13, 1998 02:59 PM
GAME 5: JAZZ 83, BULLS 81
Karl Malone
pumped his fists. Jeff Hornacek
clapped his hands. John Stockton
got that steely look in his eyes. You could see the confidence of the Utah Jazz surge in the
second half of Game 5. Even Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, basketball's version of
Al Gore, had a spring in his step.
Like a heart patient zapped by a defibrillator, the Jazz players seemed to
get a new jolt of energy with each basket in their 53-point second half,
the first time this series they've cracked the 50-point barrier. Malone
proved to himself for the first time in the Finals that he can take Bulls
forward Dennis
Rodman to the hole. Jazz reserve forward Antoine (Big Dog) Carr showed
he has the soft hands and soft jumper to make Chicago pay for its swarming
defense.
Left for dead just a few short days ago, the Jazz are suddenly back in the
series, Malone seems to have found his shooting touch, and forward Bryon Russell
is due to have a hot shooting night. For Game 6 -- and possibly Game 7 --
the Delta Center crowd will be fired up like never before.
But the Bulls still have Michael
Jordan, Scottie
Pippen, their Doberman defense and the experience of winning five NBA
titles in seven years. "I'd love to fly to Utah and toss up the ball as
soon as we land," His Airness said with a smile.
Confidence, after all, can work both ways.
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NBA Finals
