Orlando Runs Out Of Magic Chicago Comes Back To Take 2-0 Series Lead

Led by the magnificent Shaquille O’Neal, the Orlando Magic rebounded from its ignominious Game 1 lie-down to grab an 18-point lead Tuesday night and ease to a …

Whoops! Before you could say “I thought you brought the life jackets,” the Chicago Bulls threw on a withering full-court press that turned the United Center into a raging storm and swallowed the young Magic whole. The Bulls won, 93-88, and lead the Eastern Conference finals, 2-0.

The rally was led - surprise - by Michael Jordan, who scored 17 of his 35 points in the third quarter, starting it all off with one of his four steals.

Afterward Jordan, 33, said he was so tired and cramped up, he could barely sit in the interview room.

“That pressing is a lot of work, isn’t it?” someone asked.

“Yeah,” Jordan said, grinning. “I guess I should ask for $36 million, huh?”

The turnaround couldn’t have been more dramatic, nor the pressure any more devastating. In the last 6:16 of the third quarter, after Orlando had taken a 64-46 lead, the Bulls outscored the Magic, 21-5. In the first 11:30 of the fourth quarter when the Bulls took the lead and drew away, they outscored the Magic 21-12.

“I think you saw the Bulls at their finest tonight,” Chicago coach Phil Jackson said, “as far as building pressure.”

Said Magics guard Penny Hardaway: “It was like we lost our confidence in the fourth quarter. We didn’t have enough left to finish the game.”

They didn’t start the game with much either, after lying down on the tracks in Game 1, getting run over by the Bulls’ Express to the tune of 121-83 and losing power forward Horace Grant in the process.

It wasn’t a pleasant two days in the Windy City, what with the local press sneering at the visitors, especially O’Neal. The Chicago Tribune called him “a sad waste.” The Chicago Sun-Times held an impromptu contest to see if area teenagers could better Shaq’s 1-for-7 performance at the foul line. The paper chose four kids - two boys and two girls, all of whom beat O’Neal - and ran their pictures in a full-page spread.

Tuesday night it was a different O’Neal who showed up and took it to the Bulls. He had 26 of his 36 points by halftime, at which time he had made 11 of 16 shots. He even made four of his first six free throws.

The Magic was up 53-38. In the dressing room, Jackson told his players, “We’re just where we want to be.”

Of course, that wasn’t how he really felt, but they still had a half to play.

“As much as you warn the players,” Jackson said, “as much as you anticipate this (a letdown) happening … I told our players at halftime, everything we didn’t want to do and we anticipated them doing, they did and we didn’t.”

The Bulls came out and turned the pressure up. The Magic stood up to it. The lead grew to 64-46 on O’Neal’s jump hook with 6:16 left in the third quarter.

The Bulls kept the pressure on. The Magic wilted.

Jackson had in a small lineup, with 6-foot-8, 220-pound Dennis Rodman defending the 7-1, 320-pound O’Neal, with lots of help. Jackson had to junk his defensive scheme, playing Shaq one-on-one, giving the Magic the three-point shots they live on. However, the Magic’s 3-pointers didn’t go down. Instead, the Magic did.

“We were careless with the ball,” O’Neal said. “Whenever we get the lead, we have to take care of the ball.”

“They started coming quicker (to double-team O’Neal),” Hardaway said. “That was really what we wanted, but we couldn’t take advantage of it. I had two wide-open 3-pointers that I missed. It came at a crucial time, when they made that run. If I make them, we stop the run.”

Said Jordan: “We’re hesitant to use the press. We’re probably the oldest team in the playoffs. We try to conserve energy and it takes a lot of energy to press. But we were 14 or 18 down and we didn’t have a choice.”

The Magic, it turned out, didn’t have a chance.

“You can prepare for their press,” Magic coach Brian Hill said, “but you can’t match with your second unit what their first unit is like when they put pressure on you. You can’t match Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan and Ron Harper and Randy Brown.”

They couldn’t match the sound of 24,395 people howling like banshees at them, either, but at least the Magic players are finally going home, where the cheers will be for them, they hope.

Notes

Orlando’s Horace Grant watched the game in street clothes, his hyperextended left elbow in a sling. The Magic said he might return for Game 3. Orlando is 10-10 in games Grant missed this season, 57-15 with him… .

If the Bulls sweep Orlando and if Seattle beats Utah in the Western Conference finals in five games or fewer (the Sonics lead 2-0), the NBA Finals would start May 31. If the Bulls win in five and the Western series goes six or less, the finals would start June 2. Otherwise, the championship series would start June 5… .

Jon Koncak started for Grant, getting three points and four rebounds in 22 minutes. … The Bulls got a big contribution from Brown, a quick guard who often was the front man on the press.

Bulls 93, Magic 88

Orlando (88) - Koncak 1-2 1-2 3, Scott 4-9 4-5 13, O’Neal 16-22 4-8 36, Anderson 3-11 2-3 9, Hardaway 6-15 5-7 18, Shaw 3-9 0-0 7, Bowie 1-1 0-0 2, Royal 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 34-71 16-25 88.

Chicago (93) - Pippen 7-19 2-6 17, Rodman 6-8 3-6 15, Longley 0-5 0-0 0, Harper 3-9 1-2 8, Jordan 9-21 15-16 35, Kukoc 1-7 4-4 6, Wennington 1-2 0-0 2, Kerr 1-2 1-2 3, Buechler 2-2 0-0 5, Brown 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 30-75 28-38 93.

Orlando 23 30 16 19 - 88

Chicago 20 18 29 26 - 93

3-Point goals-Orlando 4-19 (Shaw 1-3, Scott 1-4, Hardaway 1-5, Anderson 1-7), Chicago 5-19 (Jordan 2-4, Buechler 1-1, Harper 1-4, Pippen 1-7, Kerr 0-1, Kukoc 0-2). Fouled out-Hardaway. Rebounds-Orlando 47 (O’Neal 16), Chicago 54 (Rodman 12). Assists-Orlando 17 (Shaw 6), Chicago 27 (Pippen 9). Total fouls- Orlando 25, Chicago 21. Technicals-O’Neal, Kukoc, Orlando illegal defense, Chicago illegal defense 3. A-24,395 (21,771).