Advantage, Orlando Magic Takes 2-1 Lead In Dizzying Series Despite 40-Point Night From Air Jordan

Whether or not they win another game in this series, the Orlando Magic Friday earned the respect they had sought from the rest of the NBA.

On a night when this city was ready to ascend into the basketball version of nirvana, the Magic withstood a 40-point night by Michael Jordan to pull out a 110-101 victory behind 28 points from Shaquille O’Neal.

That was with Jordan wearing No. 23 for the first time at the United Center - an occasion duly noted by 24,281 Bulls fans ready to blow the roof off the place.

“We’re growing with each and every game,” Orlando coach Bob Hill said. “We’ve had great learning experiences through each and every round of the playoffs.”

The victory gave Orlando a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series. Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday afternoon here, but it is hard to imagine the series getting more dazzlingly competitive.

“(Game 4) is a critical game for us, obviously,” Chicago coach Phil Jackson said. “We have to play a three-game series after this. This is a game that is critical for us, and we know it. It’s too early to talk about this as a devastating loss. We had a good fourth quarter, but things just came apart at the end for us.”

Down by double digits in the first half, the Magic roared back to take a four-point halftime lead. “We had 15 fast-break points at halftime, which is more than we had collectively through both games in four quarters,” Hill said.

Orlando extended its lead to 77-67 halfway through the third quarter.

Now, again, it was Chicago’s turn. Scottie Pippen and B.J. Armstrong rained jumpers from the outside to help the Bulls lead 81-80 going into the fourth quarter. In that stretch, Jordan contributed only a layup.

What followed was 12 minutes of high suspense. The Bulls moved ahead 86-80 before consecutive dunks by O’Neal and Horace Grant started Orlando back. The Magic tied the score at 86, then fell behind again by five as Jordan turned a fastbreak layup into a three-point play.

But, suddenly, Nick Anderson was draining two 3-point rainbows, one over Jordan and another after a missed 22-footer by teammate Dennis Scott bounded back into Orlando’s possession. As the second one fell - boom! - the score was tied again, this time at 99 with 4 minutes left.

With 1:38 left, Anfernee Hardaway, who had been fouled by Jordan while attempting a 3-pointer, canned 2 of 3 free throws to give the Magic a 103-101 lead.

At the other end, the Bulls passed the ball to Jordan, but he lost it in the lane. It seemed to have been tipped from behind. Grant ended up with the ball, and he then made 1 of 2 free throws. Next, Pippen shot a 20-foot brick that O’Neal rebounded.

When O’Neal, one of the worst free-throw shooters in the NBA, went to the line with 43 seconds left and hit two, the outcome was all but settled.Anderson added 22 points, Grant 18 and Hardaway 17 to O’Neal’s 28. Grant grabbed 14 rebounds and O’Neal 10.

Jordan scored only nine of his 40 points after halftime, while Pippen totaled 25 points and 12 rebounds.

The Bulls had issued a fashion statement earlier in the day: Neither owner Jerry Reinsdorf nor general manager Jerry Krause was going to make Jordan do anything he didn’t want to do.

“We understand that the commissioner (David Stern) has good reasons and sufficient reasons for not wanting players to change uniform numbers during the season,” Reinsdorf said in the statement. “However, it is extremely important to Michael that he be permitted to wear his original number, and after discussions with all involved, the Bulls have concluded that we will issue No. 23 to Michael for the balance of the playoffs… . “

Magic 110, Bulls 101

ORLANDO (110)

Grant 7-10 4-6 18, Scott 3-9 3-3 10, O’Neal 10-18 8-10 28, Anderson 7-13 5-6 22, Hardaway 6-14 6-8 19, Royal 0-1 2-4 2, Avent 0-0 0-0 0, Shaw 4-8 0-0 9, Bowie 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 37-74 30-39 110.

CHICAGO (101)

Pippen 9-20 6-9 25, Kukoc 3-10 2-2 8, Longley 3-4 0-0 6, Armstrong 5-10 1-1 14, Jordan 15-31 10-10 40, Perdue 0-0 0-0 0, Buechler 0-1 0-0 0, Kerr 2-6 0-0 6, Wennington 1-3 0-0 2, Myers 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 38-86 19-22 101.

Orlando 32 33 15 30 - 110

Chicago 37 24 20 20 - 101

3-Point goals-Orlando 6-15 (Anderson 3-6, Hardaway 1-2, Shaw 1-2, Scott 1-5), Chicago 6-19 (Armstrong 3-5, Kerr 2-4, Pippen 1-5, Kukoc 0-2, Jordan 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Orlando 54 (Grant 14), Chicago 43 (Pippen 12). Assists-Orlando 20 (Hardaway 8), Chicago 24 (Kukoc 7). Total fouls- Orlando 25, Chicago 27. Technicals-Chicago illegal defense 2. Flagrant fouls-Bowie. A-24,281 (21,500).