Jordan Lets Bulls Pull Off a Grand Theft, Win, 99-97

OK, Vanna, turn another letter. M------ Jo---n had another amazing day as the Chicago Bulls moved one step closer toward a very unexpected berth in the National Basketball Assn. finals. Fill in the blanks.

The Detroit Pistons would like to solve the puzzle. If only they knew how. Ahead most of the way and up by 14 points with 7 1/2 minutes to play, the Pistons were gored by the Bulls, 99-97, Saturday at Chicago Stadium, when Michael Jordan made a leaping, lunging, 10-foot bank shot with three seconds to play, two of his 46 points.

A 2-1 series advantage in the Eastern Conference championship round belongs to the Bulls, who have never been to the NBA finals.

“When you talk about a ‘stolen’ basketball game, this is the kind of game you mean,” Jordan said. “I don’t think the Pistons played that bad a game. It was just sort of stolen from them. We stole it.”

“That’s a good word for it,” Detroit Coach Chuck Daly said.

Interpretations of this word might differ from town to town. Fans of the heavily favored Pistons might wonder if Game 3 was stolen from them by referee Bill Oakes, who called an offensive foul on Detroit’s Bill Laimbeer with nine seconds remaining and the score tied.

Laimbeer was found guilty of using his hip while setting a pick on Jordan, who was attempting to keep up defensively with his man, Isiah Thomas. As Thomas maneuvered around the pick for an open 18-foot shot, which he took and missed, Laimbeer stuck out his left rear bumper just a bit farther than was deemed necessary.

“I’ve set that pick more than 1,000 times,” Laimbeer said later. “That was no foul.”

Thomas blinked twice when he saw Jordan and everybody else walking toward the other end of the court.

“I didn’t know what was happening,” Thomas said. “I heard the whistle, but I didn’t know what the call could possibly be. I thought maybe a fan ran down from the stands onto the court.”

Nope. The crowd of nearly 19,000 sat spellbound as the Bulls, who never led in the second half until the final shot, took advantage of Laimbeer’s mistake.

Scottie Pippen in-bounded to Jordan, who passed off to nobody. Jordan knew better than to let the ball leave his hands. With defensive star Dennis Rodman all over him, Jordan dribbled to his right and searched for an opening.

He zigged to his left, but Rodman cut him off. He zigged right, but Thomas filled the space. There was no place left to go, so Jordan left his feet and went between them, trying to release a clean shot without charging into either defender. Somehow he succeeded, and banked the ball home off the glass.

Detroit called time to set up a last shot, but Joe Dumars’ jumper banged off the backboard a bit too high and too hard.

That’s how the Pistons took the defeat--hard. “They’re on a downer,” Daly said after leaving the locker room. “They aren’t going to go out tonight to celebrate, I can guarantee you that. Jordan just pretty much took over the game. Showed everybody the superstar that he really is. Basically, when a team takes over a game like that, they deserve to win it.”

Chicago outscored Detroit in the final period, 33-20.

Even Jordan, who scored 10 of the Bulls’ last 14 points, was somewhat amazed at the outcome, considering the way Detroit manhandled his team most of the day. “It’s kind of shocking,” Jordan said. “I always had faith in myself and my teammates, but that faith was getting dimmer and dimmer.”

Besides the 46 points, Jordan held Thomas to five.

As in Game 1, the Pistons self-destructed. They wasted a 25-point effort by Mark Aguirre, his playoff high, and 19 off the bench by Vinnie Johnson. They also failed to capitalize on sub-par efforts by three of Chicago’s starters, guard Craig Hodges (two points) and forwards Horace Grant and Pippen, who made two baskets apiece.

Air Jordan got little help from the Jordanaires.

“We were desperately waiting for the three of them to contribute,” Jordan said without rancor. He did have plenty of praise for center Bill Cartwright, who had 15 points, and particularly for backup guard John Paxson, who made up for Hodges’ misfires with six baskets, most from long range.

At halftime, in fact, when they trailed by 11, the Bulls had only one starter with more than one field goal: Jordan, who had 22 points.

The shot of the day, though, for the Bulls was delivered by Pippen. Although he had been a questionable starter because of an injured foot, and although he already had missed 8 of 9 shots, Pippen came through when Chicago needed it most, with 4 1/2 minutes to play.

Detroit had a 10-point lead and the ball when Pippen stole it, tight-roped the sideline to stay in bounds, then sank a three-pointer to make the score 90-83. That one--Chicago’s only three-pointer in nine attempts--woke up the team, the crowd, even the Pistons, who immediately called time, sensing danger.

It didn’t help. Detroit’s downslide had begun. Aguirre missed a free throw. Jordan scored. Dumars committed a turnover and Vinnie Johnson fouled Jordan, who made two free throws. Aguirre shot an air ball, then fouled Pippen.

Even so, Detroit still had a six-point lead with two minutes remaining, on Johnson’s left-handed layup. But that would be their last basket.

After another Jordan jumper, Johnson threw an elbow into Paxson. Big turnover, because Grant, on the other end, rebounded a Paxson miss and scored to make it 95-93. It was only the third rebound (and first on offense) for Grant, who had been a 20-rebound force in Game 2.

Dumars, with two free throws, put Detroit up again by four with 1:10 to play. But his team would never score again.

Jordan answered with a leaner from the lane: 97-95. Laimbeer, who scored four points all day, missed everything from 20 feet, and Rodman fouled reaching for the rebound, giving Grant two free throws that made the score 97-97 with 28 seconds left.

Rodman smiled from ear to ear as he returned to the bench for a timeout, denying that he had laid a finger on Grant.

Nineteen seconds later, while going for the game-winner, Laimbeer committed the fateful offensive foul and did the same thing, smiling all the way to the timeout huddle, insinuating that the referee needed to get his eyes examined.

Jordan had the last smile.

“Did Laimbeer foul me? Yeah, I thought so,” Jordan said.

Daly, possibly, did not, but said: “I learned a long time ago that even if the Good Lord Himself comes down to say otherwise, or the Supreme Court, there’s nothing to be done about it. The call has been made.

“All I know is that we have to win one game here and hold service at home, or the Lakers aren’t going to be seeing us again.”

Notes

Mr. Optimism himself, Chicago owner Jerry Reinsdorf, walked off the court saying: “Now it’s got to go at least six games.” . . . Michael Jordan missed every three-point shot he took. And you thought he was perfect. . . . Still another reason to know that you are not watching Denver: High point total in this series is Detroit’s 100 in Game 2. . . . Jordan made 14 of 15 free throws. And you thought he was perfect. . . . Mark Aguirre said of his hometown team: “The Bulls are really rolling right now. When things are going your way, it doesn’t matter if you don’t match up, if you don’t have the best talent on the floor. Your momentum carries you until you hit the wall. I just hope it’s our wall.” . . . Jordan played 45 of 48 minutes. And you thought . . . Oh, never mind.