A Symphonic Fifth Utah Goes Kerr-Plunk In Game 6 Chicago Wins Nba Championship No. 5 In Dramatic Fashion

Call the Chicago Bulls champions again - and keep the accolades coming. This wasn’t just the crowning of a champion, this was the affirmation of a dynasty.

This was a moment when the Bulls truly showed their greatness.

In a game Chicago trailed most of the time, Steve Kerr - not Michael Jordan - hit a last-second shot Friday night and the Bulls beat the Utah Jazz 90-86 for their fifth NBA title in seven years.<

“The fifth one is great. They gave us a hell of a series, but we stepped up like champions do,” Scottie Pippen said.

Yes they did, despite facing a team that just wouldn’t quit. But the Jazz couldn’t avoid making crucial mistakes, including a botched inbounds play with five seconds left when the ball ended up in the Bulls’ hands.

That cost them a chance to become the first team to take the Bulls to a seventh game in a championship series.

The Jazz lost Game 6 even though they didn’t allow Jordan to beat them as he did in Games 1, 2 and 5. This time, when the Bulls needed a tiebreaking shot in the final few seconds, Jordan passed to Kerr.

The pass came with the clock ticking inside seven seconds and the shot clock down to :02. Kerr, left alone as the Jazz double-teamed Jordan, sank an 18-footer to break an 86-all tie, the ball snapping the net as the shot clock hit zero.

“Michael won Game 1 in the same situation, and we knew they wouldn’t let him do it again,” Kerr said. “At the last timeout, I was sitting down by Mike, watching him. He sat there for about 30 seconds, then he turned to me and said, ‘Be ready, Stockton’s coming off me. I said ‘OK, I’ll make it.”’

The winning shot was reminiscent of John Paxson’s 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left that gave Chicago a 99-98 victory in the ‘93 title-clinching sixth game against the Phoenix Suns. But in that game, it was Horace Grant, not Jordan, who made the pass for the winning shot.

While Jordan scored 39 points and won his fifth Finals MVP, it was Kerr’s offense and Toni Kukoc’s defense that made the difference in the closing seconds.

After Kerr’s basket, the Jazz called timeout and had to inbound at mid-court with 5 seconds left. Bryon Russell tried to throw a long pass, but Kukoc tipped it and Utah never regained possession.

Pippen dived for the loose ball, tipping it ahead to Kukoc, who streaked downcourt for a dunk just before the buzzer sounded.

Just like that, the Bulls had done it again, just like 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1996: They were champions, Jordan was the Finals MVP and a Western Conference opponent came up short.

When the buzzer sounded, an avalanche of metallic streamers and confetti fell to the court. Pippen jumped into Jordan’s arms, the two hugged and spun around and coach Phil Jackson ran to join them.

It may have been their final moments together with the Bulls. There have been questions about whether the team will be kept together, and Jordan made an impassioned plea for the chance at another run in 1998.

“Look at the joy of this night and all the other nights when we won the championship,” he said. “This team is entitled to an opportunity to continue to be successful.

“There has to be some sense of loyalty to myself, Scottie, Phil, even Dennis with all the different colors he may wear. We’re entitled to keep what we have until we lose it,” Jordan said. “Have a sense of respect for those who have laid the groundwork so we can defend what we’ve attained in five of the last seven years.”

The three of them, Jordan, Pippen and Jackson, are the only members of the Bulls to be around for all five titles. But they barely seemed to enjoy this season until late Friday.

“No, I didn’t enjoy this journey - it’s been filled with injuries and suspensions, but we had a great run,” Jackson said.

Kerr said: “Last year was so much fun, but I wouldn’t characterize this year as fun. This was a grind, but that makes this one much better.”

Aside from Kerr’s shot and Kukoc’s final dunk, Jordan and Pippen practically did it all in Game 6.

Jordan had his highest scoring game of the series and Pippen scored 23, the only other Chicago player in double figures.

The two combined for 15 points in the fourth quarter when Chicago overcame Utah.

Russell hit his fourth 3-pointer and Howard Eisley hit a tough hanging jumper toward the end of the third period to put the Jazz up 70-61. Jud Buechler pulled the Bulls within 70-64 at the end of the quarter with a 3-pointer off a scramble for an offensive rebound with 27 seconds left.

The Bulls made up almost all of their deficit by starting the fourth quarter with a flurry. A pair of foul shots by Pippen, a jumper by Kerr and a pull-up 3-pointer by Pippen left Chicago trailing 73-71 just over 1-1/2 minutes in.

Utah failed to score on its next two possessions, and the United Center erupted with 8:55 left when Kerr buried a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Bulls a 74-73 lead, their first since early in the first quarter.

The Jazz took the lead back when Jeff Hornacek pulled up for a 3-pointer with 6:42 left. But they then seemed to succumb to the pressure.

Bulls 90, Jazz 86 UTAH (86) REB Min FG FT O/T A PF Pts

Russell 43 5-10 2-2 0-3 0 4 17

Malone 44 7-15 7-15 3-7 2 3 21

Ostertag 21 0-2 1-2 0-8 2 3 1

Stockton 37 5-9 3-3 0-6 5 3 13

Hornacek 36 4-9 8-9 0-4 1 5 18

Eisley 11 2-5 2-2 0-0 3 1 6

Foster 5 0-1 0-0 0-2 0 1 0

Carr 6 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2

Anderson 26 2-10 4-6 1-3 0 1 8

Morris 11 0-2 0-0 1-3 0 3 0

Team 16

Totals 240 26-65 27-39 5-52 14 25 86 CHICAGO (90) REB Min FG FT O/T A PF Pts

Pippen 43 6-17 10-12 3-9 2 5 23

Rodman 33 0-4 1-2 3-11 3 4 1

Longley 14 0-4 0-0 3-3 0 4 0

Harper 18 1-4 0-0 2-3 2 3 2

Jordan 44 15-35 8-10 1-11 4 2 39

Williams 23 2-5 0-0 2-7 2 4 4

Kukoc 25 3-6 2-4 0-4 0 0 9

Kerr 25 3-5 2-2 0-1 0 3 9

Caffey 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Buechler 8 1-1 0-0 1-1 1 0 3

Brown 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 2 0

Team 6

Totals 240 31-81 23-30 15-56 15 28 90

Utah 23 21 26 16 - 86

Chicago 17 20 27 26 - 90

3-Point goals-Utah 7-15 (Russell 5-8, Hornacek 2-4, Stockton 0-1, Anderson 0-1, Morris 0-1), Chicago 5-14 (Kukoc 1-1, Buechler 1-1, Kerr 1-2, Pippen 1-4, Jordan 1-4, Rodman 0-1, Harper 0-1). Technicals-Malone, Williams, Rodman, Chicago illegal defense. A-25,544.

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 6 13 5 6 1 Average 15.0 8.8 4.0 2.0

“I think everybody leaving the locker room feels we belong in the Finals and want to be back.” John Stockton