Nothing Super Rusty Bulls Bully Way Past Sonics

Michael was mediocre and the Bulls still won by 17.

What happens when Jordan gets going?

“I think Michael felt good,” coach Phil Jackson said. “I think this is exactly the kind of first game he likes to have.”

Jordan scored 28 points, none in his team’s game-breaking run, and the Chicago Bulls pulled away to a 107-90 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Jordan’s point total snapped his streak of scoring at least 30 in nine straight championship round games.

As a whole, the Bulls didn’t do anything spectacular either, showing the effects of having eight straight days off. Yet there was nothing Seattle could do to stop them.

“It was a feel-out game, a game where we were coming to terms with each other,” Jackson said. “We found our rhythm late in the game and we were able to take over.”

Take over they did, time after time. It was as though the Bulls were testing the Sonics, making them seem worthy for a stretch or two and then blitzing them every time the game got close.

It was the best team in the NBA showing why it is indeed the best. Although it was far from perfect, the Bulls still turned it into a laugher in the final minutes.

“The first game is always the hardest in the sense that I don’t think we had a feel for this team,” Jordan said. “I think what was missing was our continuity offensively. Defensively, we were all right.”

Toni Kukoc scored 10 straight Chicago points in a 14-5 run to open the fourth quarter, and Jordan’s supporting cast had all the points in a subsequent 8-0 run that removed any doubt.

Scottie Pippen had 21 points and Kukoc had 18 on a night when the Bulls shot 43 percent. But Chicago outscored Seattle 28-13 in the fourth quarter and attempted 18 more shots than the Western Conference champions.

The Bulls also turned over the ball just seven times and came up with three key steals in the final period.

Game 2 is Friday night at the United Center, and in the meantime the Sonics will try to figure out what it’ll take to beat the Bulls.

“I liked some of the stuff we did out there,” Seattle coach George Karl said. “I think we learned some stuff out there. It’s a learning process, and as we get into more of a comfort zone we’ll be able to compete better and better.

The first thing they can try to do is stop Jordan’s underlings. Ron Harper had 15 points and seven assists and shot 60 percent, Luc Longley dominated the middle in the first quarter and finished with 14 points and four blocks, and Dennis Rodman had 13 rebounds.

“Ron Harper did a heck of a job on Gary Payton,” Jordan said. “He created a lot of breaks for us down the stretch.”

Rodman created trouble for Frank Brickowski. The Seattle forward was assessed a flagrant foul for pushing Rodman in the neck while battling for a rebound late in the first half. He refused to stop talking to Rodman and Jack Haley, and referee Joe Crawford whistled him for two straight technicals and bounced him from the game.

Rodman’s last two points came with 5:25 left in the game after it appeared the Sonics were ready to make one more run.

Payton has scored on a driving one-hander and a fastbreak layup off a steal by Shawn Kemp, who scored 32. The Bulls quickly called timeout, and Harper then faked a 3-pointer and rifled a pass to Rodman underneath for a layup.

Kukoc followed with a fastbreak layup, Harper had a steal and layup and Longley scored from in close for an 8-0 run. Payton scored once more, but Jordan came back with perhaps his prettiest shot of the night, a high-arching fadeaway from the left side that made it 103-88.

Jordan, who scored 18 in the first half, added one more basket to finish five points short of his postseason average. Kukoc, who was 3 for 36 from 3-point range in the first three rounds of the playoffs, went 2 for 5 from beyond the arc.

Kemp was backed by Sam Perkins with 14 points and Payton with 13 on 6-of-17 shooting. The Sonics went 31 of 36 from the foul line in a game that featured 56 fouls and 67 free throws.

“The officials aren’t going to determine the outcome of the series, we are,” Payton said. “I had no problem with the officiating.”

Chicago seemed to be pulling away in the third quarter as Jordan hit the first shot, Harper scored on a drive and Pippen had a fastbreak layup, three foul shots and a 3-pointer for a 67-56 lead.

It all went away, however, when Jordan went to the bench for 5 minutes of rest. Seattle pounded the ball inside and kept drawing fouls, and the Sonics went 16 for 16 from the line in the quarter.

A 19-8 run made it 75-75 and Seattle trailed 79-77 entering the fourth. A few minutes later, though, the Bulls were back up by 10 and pulling away.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Bulls 107, SuperSonics 90 FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Kemp 41 9-14 14-16 5-8 2 6 32 Schrempf 35 3-8 6-6 3-8 3 4 13 Johnson 9 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 2 Hawkins 35 2-9 5-5 0-3 1 2 9 Payton 47 6-17 1-4 2-10 6 5 13 Perkins 37 5-14 1-1 4-5 2 3 14 McMillan 6 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 0 0 Askew 25 1-4 2-2 0-6 1 4 5 Brickowski 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 Wingate 2 0-0 2-2 0-0 0 2 2 Snow 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 240 27-68 31-36 14-41 16 29 90 Percentages: FG .397, FT .861. 3-Point Goals: 5-16, .313 (Perkins 3-5, Schrempf 1-2, Askew 1-3, Hawkins 0-3, Payton 0-3). Team Rebounds: 9. Blocked shots: 2 (Kemp, Johnson). Turnovers: 18 (Kemp 7, Payton 3, Perkins 3, Schrempf 2, Hawkins, Askew, team). Steals: 6 (Kemp 2, Schrempf, Johnson, Payton, Perkins). Technical fouls: Brickowski 2, 1:27 second; Payton, :26.3 third Flagrant fouls: Brickowski, 1:27 second. Ejections: Brickowski, 1:27 second. Illegal defense: None. FG FT Reb CHICAGO Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Pippen 44 5-15 8-9 5-7 3 3 21 Rodman 36 3-6 1-2 3-13 2 5 7 Longley 26 5-12 4-5 1-1 1 4 14 Harper 30 6-10 2-2 3-5 7 4 15 Jordan 41 9-18 9-10 0-7 2 4 28 Kerr 12 0-5 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Kukoc 27 7-13 2-3 3-4 4 3 18 Brown 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Wennington 10 2-2 0-0 2-3 0 0 4 Buechler 9 0-4 0-0 0-0 1 2 0 Salley 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 Totals 240 37-86 26-31 17-40 20 27 107 Percentages: FG .430, FT .839. 3-Point Goals: 7-26, .269 (Pippen 3-8, Kukoc 2-5, Harper 1-3, Jordan 1-4, Kerr 0-3, Buechler 0-3). Team Rebounds: 10. Blocked shots: 9 (Longley 4, Pippen 3, Harper, Jordan). Turnovers: 7 (Rodman 2, Jordan 2, Longley, Harper, Buechler). Steals: 9 (Pippen 3, Harper 2, Jordan 2, Rodman, Kukoc). Technical fouls: Rodman, 7:24 first; Jordan, 26.3 third. Illegal defense: 1. Seattle 18 30 29 13 - 90 Chicago 24 29 26 28 - 107 A-24,544 (21,771). T-2:26. Officials-Bennett Salvatore, Joe Crawford, Dan Crawford.