NBA PLAYOFFS : Jordan Takes Air Out of Cavaliers, and Bulls Advance

About this Michael Jordan fellow.

The Cleveland Cavaliers thought they had the fifth and final game of this first-round series against the Chicago Bulls won after they scored on as pretty a play as you’ll ever see. But Michael Jordan just said no. No, you will not win.

Jordan’s 17-footer as the buzzer sounded Sunday took the Bulls past a sellout, raucous crowd of 20,273 at the Richfield Coliseum, beyond the bewildered Cavaliers, and gave Chicago a 101-100 victory and this series by a 3-2 margin. The Bulls will play the New York Knicks Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden to start a best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal.

The final basket registered Jordan’s 43rd and 44th points of the day. He also had nine rebounds and six assists. He has dominated games before. He has scored more points before. Never has he been more valuable or felt more vindicated.

He made the shot with one of the league’s best shot-blockers, Larry Nance, in his face, starting with the ball around his midsection and ending up getting the shot off anyway. And the result crushed a Cavalier team that had every right to think it was going to end this Jordan business once and for all.

“I had a lot of confidence in myself,” Jordan said. “It wasn’t, to me, an unfamiliar sight, shooting over those tall guys. They’ve been in my face the whole series.”

It was all the more rewarding because just 48 hours ago, the word choke and Michael Jordan were being used synonymously--he missed a possible game-clinching free throw with nine seconds left in Game 4. The Cavaliers went on to win the game in overtime, and Jordan allowed that, down the stretch that night, he wasn’t exactly thrilled about going to the line.

“I didn’t have too much confidence in my free throws at the time,” he said. “I was fighting myself. I know I’ve got the skills to make free throws in pressure situations. I’ve done it before. (But) I was fighting myself with that situation. So I wanted to shoot jump shots, which is what I was capable of sticking.”

Jordan’s flair for the dramatic ruined a perfectly heroic performance from reserve Craig Ehlo, who scored 24 points for Cleveland. Those points included a layup with three seconds left that sent the crowd into a tizzy and seemed to send the Bulls into summer.

That play came with the Bulls ahead, 99-98, after Jordan made a jumper with six seconds left. Ehlo inbounded with Craig Hodges in his face. After throwing the ball in to Nance, Ehlo simply cut toward the hoop. Nance picked Hodges off and Jordan, guarding Mark Price, couldn’t get over in time.

“All I could think about was that inbounds play,” Chicago Coach Doug Collins said. “I sure didn’t want to look at that all summer.”

Said Hodges: “I was (angry) at myself, but at the same time, (Jordan) told me at the timeout, ‘Craig, don’t worry about it. I’m going to hit it at the buzzer. Don’t even worry about it.’ And that gave me extreme confidence.”

Truth be known, the Cavaliers had a little confidence in themselves at that point, too. They had gotten 23 points from Price, 22 from Ron Harper, 16 from Nance. Bill Cartwright was the only other Bull who had at least 16. The Coliseum was in bedlam. The game was over.

Wasn’t it?

“I thought we had broken their backs,” Cleveland’s Brad Daugherty said.

Two timeouts were called, during which Collins abandoned the original set play and ordered a Jordan creation.

Brad Sellers inbounded. The Cavaliers played Nance in front of Jordan and Ehlo behind him, trying to cut off the entry lanes. But Jordan still freed himself enough to get the ball.

“We saw how they were set up,” Ehlo said. “They didn’t change much (after the timeout). We decided to go with someone off the ball; not double-team Michael, just have a person in front of him and a person behind.”

After getting the ball, Jordan faked Ehlo out of the way, getting the angle on which to turn toward the hoop. But there stood Nance, all 6-feet-11, 206 regular-season blocked shots worth. No time to measure height or rejection ratio. Jordan went up.

“He went straight up to midcourt (to get open for the pass),” Ehlo said. “Larry was going to deny him there. And then, boom, all of a sudden, he was right on the sideline. That’s what they teach you way back in high school. He took one dribble to the right and went across the middle. I was just chasing him at that point.”

Nance: “I don’t think there’s too much more you can do to keep him from getting the ball. We tried that, too. He just made a quick move. We did everything we could do the right way. But Michael, being the superstar he is, made a great play.”

Right of the key, Jordan jumped. Ehlo, to the right, waved at him. Nance got a hand up. Jordan double-clutched. Nance was still up. Jordan remained in the air, too. Finally, there was just enough room to release the ball. Half a second later, it was in the bottom of the net.

“I cannot fathom how he made that shot,” Daugherty said. “I’d rather have lost by 50 points. The guy went up. I looked. He was going to shoot the ball, and I turned to rebound. I looked and the ball never came. I looked back and he was up in the air and the ball was down (at Jordan’s stomach). I just do not know how he made that shot. Damn, man.”