Bulls Don’t Miss A Beat Jordan, Chicago’s Defense Shove Jazz Into 2-0 Hole

Michael Jordan was smiling so much, it was a perfect imitation of the way most of the basketball world is laughing over the MVP vote.

Jordan was at his unstoppable best, scoring 38 points and completely outplaying MVP Karl Malone as the Chicago Bulls, playing team defense at its highest level, humbled the Utah Jazz 97-85 Wednesday night in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

“I’m sure he’ll be battered and beaten because of the expectations of being the MVP, and this is a lesson for him to learn,” Jordan said of Malone. “But our defense has a lot to do with what he’s dealing with.”

Jordan, who had 13 rebounds and nine assists to barely miss the first NBA Finals triple-double of his career, simply toyed with everything the Jazz threw at him.

As the crowd once again chanted “M-V-P, M-V-P” for him, Jordan burned Jeff Hornacek for 11 first-quarter points, scored nine in the second - primarily against rookie Shandon Anderson - when the Bulls pulled away for good, and added 10 more in the third as Bryon Russell tried to guard him.

“We just got waxed tonight as a whole. We played soft,” said Malone, who beat out Jordan for the MVP award in a vote that is looking more and more ridiculous as this series unfolds.

Jordan shot 11 for 20 from the field and 15 for 21 at the line, and it got to a point in the second half where he was looking down at his defender, giving him a grin and then making his moves with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

“We came out on the heels of what we did in the first game,” Jordan said. “We basically stayed in the same focus as last game. Right from the beginning of the game through the end we maintained our defensive pressure.”

The victory came amid considerable handwringing in Chicago over the uncertain future of the Bulls, whose coach, best player and leading rebounder will be free agents at season’s end.

But if Game 2 proved anything, it’s that Chicago management would have to be crazy to break up this bunch. This was the Bulls at their best in every facet of the game.

“It’s all speculation, and I haven’t looked at it in that sense,” Jordan said. “I’d like to win two of three, then see what happens. Nobody knows, not even Michael Jordan. That’s the only way I can look at the situation.”

Nobody else on Chicago did anything spectacular numbers-wise, but that didn’t mean the rest of the team didn’t contribute. Ron Harper scored 13 points and became the first player in a long time to contain Stockton.

Scottie Pippen scored only 10 points with six rebounds and four assists, but he set the tone defensively for the Bulls by blocking the first shot of the game, a layup attempt by Russell.

“I thought we were intimidated right from the beginning of the game,” Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said.

“If you allow them to destroy your will to win, it’s hard to compete. … I didn’t think we put all our energy into competing tonight.”

By the time the fourth quarter arrived, the Bulls didn’t even need Jordan. But he stayed in anyway and went for the triple-double, barely missing it when Pippen blew a wide-open layup with 3-1/2 minutes left, a 3-pointer with 2:15 to go and a jumper in the lane a minute later - any of which would have given Jordan his 10th assist.

“Pippen made me aware of it when he missed that layup. … That’s OK,” Jordan said.

“I should have made the layup,” Pippen admitted.

The series resumes Friday night at Salt Lake City, where the Jazz have a 21-game winning streak. Utah will be trying to become the first team in 20 years and the third overall to come back from an 0-2 deficit in the finals.

They’ll need something out of Malone, who couldn’t have looked less like an MVP. Malone actually gave a huge indication of the way this game would go when he stepped to the foul line 93 seconds into the game and missed two free throws - a repeat of his failure at the end of Game 1. A roaring United Center crowd couldn’t have been more pleased as it laughed at Malone while he ran downcourt.

“I’m stinking it up as a whole right now, and I kind of wish people would stop talking about it (the MVP award),” Malone said. “I don’t have any excuses. For two games, I haven’t played well, I’m just not getting it done. We’ll try to bounce back Friday.”

Before long, the Bulls were doing some laughing of their own, with those oh-so-familiar smiles on their faces. And well they should be smiling.

Bulls 97, Jazz 85

Reb UTAH Min FG FT O-T A PF Pts Russell 33 4-10 1-2 1-5 1 3 11 Malone 41 6-20 8-12 5-13 1 2 20 Ostertag 13 0-1 1-2 1-3 0 3 1 Stockton 39 4-12 5-6 0-2 7 0 14 Hornacek 31 5-9 8-9 1-2 2 6 19 Eisley 9 2-3 1-2 0-1 2 1 5 Foster 11 0-1 0-0 1-2 2 2 0 Anderson 26 2-4 0-0 1-2 1 3 5 Morris 11 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 3 Carr 9 2-4 0-0 0-1 1 1 4 Keefe 17 1-2 1-2 1-4 1 3 3 Team 10 Totals 240 27-67 25-35 11-35 18 26 85 Reb CHICAGO Min FG FT O-T A PF Pts Pippen 39 4-13 2-2 2-6 4 2 10 Rodman 25 2-3 2-2 0-7 1 2 7 Longley 20 4-5 0-0 1-3 2 4 8 Harper 31 5-10 2-2 1-2 4 3 13 Jordan 45 11-20 15-21 4-13 9 2 38 Williams 14 2-5 0-0 1-2 2 5 4 Kerr 19 2-6 2-2 0-1 1 1 8 Caffey 6 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 3 0 Brown 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Kukoc 20 1-5 4-4 0-2 3 2 7 Buechler 19 1-2 0-0 0-3 0 1 2 Team 7 Totals 240 32-69 27-33 11-41 26 26 97 Utah 20 11 28 26 85 Chicago 25 22 31 19 97 3-Point goalsUtah 6-13 (Russell 2-6, Morris 1-1, Stockton 1-2, Hornacek 1-2, Anderson 1-2), Chicago 6-16 (Kerr 2-5, Rodman 1-1, Harper 1-2, Jordan 1-2, Kukoc 1-2, Buechler 0-1, Pippen 0-3). TechnicalsChicago Illegal defense 2, Ostertag. A24,544 (23,854).

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: The Stock report A quick glance at Spokane’s John Stockton at the NBA Finals. Pts. Ast. Reb Stl Game 2 14 7 2 1 Average 15 9.5 2.5 2