Michael Jordan Raised Game to New Heights Against the Cavaliers

Michael Jordan’s been called a monster, Superman and God by opponents in the NBA.

Jordan’s mother, Deloris, knows better.

“He shocks me with some of the things he does out there on the court, but I know he’s human,” Mrs. Jordan said. “I was there when he was born.”

Before Tuesday’s opener of the Eastern Conference semifinal playoffs between Jordan’s Chicago Bulls and the Detroit Pistons, Jordan was casually lacing up a new pair of shoes when a young boy, part of the halftime tumbling show, shyly stepped forward.

“Can I look at your shoes?” he asked, then inspected them with wondrous eyes, searching for the secret within. Handing them back, the youngster said, “These will be flyin’ later on.”

Two hours later, those shoes indeed were flying on Jordan’s feet, but not as high as he had become accustomed in the playoffs.

In the opener against the Pistons, he was 10 for 22 from the field and scored 29 points.

“We did everything possible and he still ended up with 29,” Pistons coach Chuck Daly said. “He’s a monster.”

Larry Bird sees it differently.

“It’s just God disguised as Michael Jordan,” the Boston star said in April, 1986, after Jordan came back from a broken foot to score 131 pointed in three playoff games against the Celtics, including 63 in one game.

Jordan, who averaged 35.0 points and shot 53% from the field during this regular season, upped the ante to 45.2 points and 56% shooting in his first five playoff games, all against Cleveland.

“Guarding him is an honor, a thrill, a challenge, a nightmare,” the Cavaliers’ Craig Ehlo said. “It’s all instincts with him. He has no tendencies. Everything’s spontaneous; he just does it.”

But as Jordan soared to 226 points, an NBA playoff record for a five-game series, questions resurfaced about whether a scoring champion can ever lead a team to a championship.

“If I didn’t believe it, I wouldn’t want to play,” Jordan said. “The team is better this season. I’m getting better shots this season because I’m not having to force it.”

Bulls coach Doug Collins said the balance issue is overblown because it puts too much stress on scoring.

“In the first two games against Cleveland, he carried us with 55 and 50 points,” Collins said. “But in Game 5, everybody contributed. It’s not always points that determine how you’re playing. There’s so much focus on Jordan’s scoring, people forget that we led the league in defense and rebounding.”

Whether the Bulls can win a title with Jordan scoring 44.3% of the team’s points, as he did against Cleveland, or even 33.3%, as he did in the regular season, remains to be seen.

“Two years ago, this team won 30 games, so I’m proud that people even mention us as a championship threat,” Collins said. “So I’m not worrying about having enough scoring balance.”

“There are nights that I’m going to produce big offensively, and there are nights when the other guys are going to do more,” Jordan said. “That’s true whether you’re talking about the regular season or the playoffs. When Scottie Pippen scored 24 points against Cleveland, for the first time people were not talking about me so much.”

Jordan said he expects more physical defense against him during the playoffs, especially the hard-nosed Pistons.

“Cleveland bumped me a lot more, and I expected that,” Jordan said. “I had to prepare myself mentally for this kind of intensity. These are games that can send you home if you lose.

“The Cavaliers were more physical than you see in a regular-season game against the Pistons. But now it’s up another notch and the Pistons will be even more physical.”

Isiah Thomas, Detroit’s leading scorer in the playoffs, said Jordan gets away with a physical move to get free of a defense.

“He’s as good as anybody in the league at throwing you away to get open,” Thomas said. “When he’s allowed to grab you and throw you away from him, that puts him three steps off the ball. If the officials can be conscious of him doing that, then we’ll have a chance.

“But you can’t guard him anyway. I want to make that clear. You can’t guard him anyway.”

“All you can do is put a hand in his face and hope he misses.”

Thomas sympathizes with Jordan’s plight of having to carry such a big offensive load with the Bulls. Before the arrival of Adrian Dantley, Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman and John Salley, Thomas had a similar burden.

“It’s a tough load to carry because you have to play 48 hard minutes, and every time you get the ball, all eyes are on you,” Thomas said. “It’s a heavy load to carry.”

Jordan admitted there is a danger that if he becomes too dominant, his teammates might simply watch him in awe.

“But it’s only an offensive concern during the playoffs,” Jordan said. “On defense, everyone has to be more intense. The intensity level is higher because the prize is more prestigious. Sure, the ball will come to me more when I’m on a roll, but I try to pick my spots offensively.”

Thomas doesn’t believe that beating Chicago is just a matter of slowing down Jordan.

“They’re capable of beating us without a superhuman effort from Michael because the other guys are very good basketball players,” Thomas said.

After all, Jordan’s only human. Just ask his mom.