NBA PLAYOFFS : Bulls, Ailing Jordan Take 3-1 Lead, Put Knicks on Critical List, 106-93

He looked so tired.

Oh, Michael Jordan was so exhausted, he unloaded 47 points on the New York Knicks Sunday, and the Chicago Bulls rode his electric performance to a 106-93 victory at Chicago Stadium Sunday, giving the Bulls a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven National Basketball Assn. Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Jordan came into the game with a pulled groin that was supposed to limit his movement. If others could be so afflicted. He had 18 points in the fourth quarter, and 13 of Chicago’s last 17, at the point in the game when the Knicks figured he was supposed to be tired from the 39 minutes he logged in Saturday’s Chicago victory.

But after spending the first quarter limping, Jordan warmed up and loosened up, adding 11 rebounds and six assists to his fifth 40-or-better point game so far in this postseason.

“(The groin) was very sore throughout the night and it was sore before the game,” said Jordan, who was 12 of 18 from the floor and 23 of 28 from the line. “But once I got loose, I didn’t even think about it. This is a playoff game. This is no time to be injured. This is not the time to think about it. You do that after and before.”

When the day was finished Jordan set four Chicago playoff records and tied two others, and pushed the Knicks to the brink of a playoff elimination they don’t seem to understand.

“We feel we’re the better team,” point guard Mark Jackson said. “If we play the way we’re capable, hopefully, we’ll come out on top. We think Chicago has played the best basketball they can, and we haven’t scratched the surface.”

The Knicks’ next chance to prove Jackson right is Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. A sixth game, if necessary, will be played Friday night at Chicago Stadium. A seventh game would be played in New York Sunday.

While the Bulls were shooting 54%, the Knicks’ knack for accuracy was nowhere to be found. They shot 39%, with their three biggest scorers--Patrick Ewing (five of 15, 10 points), Jackson (six of 13, 12 points) and Gerald Wilkens (one for seven, two points)--shooting a collective 12 for 35 in scoring 24 points. Jackson didn’t score in the second half, Ewing in the fourth quarter.

Johnny Newman, held scoreless Saturday, scored 24 points for the Knicks.

Jordan’s grand finale started with the Bulls leading, 81-79, with about 9 1/2 minutes to play.

Jordan then ran the table, scoring five and assisting on another basket to give Chicago an 86-79 lead. Later, after Trent Tucker’s three-pointer made it 90-84, Jordan made two free throws and followed Rod Strickland’s lay-in with a jumper, meaning he scored eight of the 10 points that gave the Bulls a 96-90 lead.

Newman made two from the line with 3:48 left to make it a six-point game again. A minute later, after Newman made two more, it was 96-92 with 2:50 left. But the Knicks missed two shots and committed two turnovers in their next three possessions.

At the other end, Bill Cartwright, who scored 21 points, made two free throws for his only points of the second half, and Jordan banked in a jumper as Newman fouled him. The free throw made it 101-92 with 1:33 to play, and Jordan iced it with less than a minute remaining by making an 18-footer.

Cartwright benefited from Jordan’s ability to break New York’s press, scoring many layups as Chicago beat the Knicks’ press time and again. Jordan didn’t have any problems dribbling through the double-team defense. And it was important for Chicago that Jordan be able to do that because, as Bulls Coach Doug Collins said, he’s the Bulls’ only real press-breaker.

“I think the guys needed to see that Michael was OK,” Collins said. “I think that was a big concern for them. They know without him, we’re not very good, to say the least.”

Also, Jordan was clicking from the outside.

“I really tried to set up things with my outside shot,” Jordan said. “Doug ran plays where I could come off screens and shoot the ball without really putting pressure on myself to drive. I guess I came out and hit my outside shot. I’ve always said that if I hit my outside shots it really opens things up.”

The Knicks also are a good team, on occasion an exceptional team. They did win the Atlantic Division and came on top each time in three tough games against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round. But in the playoffs, everybody makes adjustments when things aren’t working or are taken away from them. And New York hasn’t done that yet.

For example, Cartwright spent Sunday shoving and pushing Ewing again. Jordan doubled down but Ewing appeared to be getting his shots off better. Still, his offensive output was below par on a day the Knicks desperately needed it, especially after Wilkins left the game for good early in the fourth quarter with a thigh bruise.

Ewing does not think he’s starting half-court plays further out, as has been suggested, because of Cartwright’s pushing. As evidence, consider that he missed a couple of five-footers as well as his baseline turnarounds, and clanged two free throws when the Knicks were within 81-77 with 9:37 remaining.

Said Ewing: “Everybody’s trying to make a big factor out of it (Cartwright’s play and experience with Ewing). It doesn’t make a difference where I get the ball. I feel I can score. It’s just that the shots I normally hit just aren’t falling.”

So the Knicks can’t afford to lose again in this series.

“It’s going to take a lot of emotion, a lot of excitement (to come back),” Jackson said. “It’s going to take us having our backs against the wall. That’s where we are now. That’s when we respond the best.”