76ers Are Flat, Get Flattened by Bulls

Simply, the Philadelphia 76ers came to the Windy City and blew their chances.

The Chicago Bulls didn’t so much win the opener of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals Monday night as they didn’t lose.

Take away a 17-6 start and what became a 96-85 victory before 18,676 would might not have been. Instead, it’s a 1-0 Chicago lead, with Game 2 Wednesday at Chicago Stadium.

Consider that the Bulls, though they never trailed, opened the fourth quarter by failing to score on their first seven possessions and didn’t get a field goal until Michael Jordan’s dunk at 4:12, two of his 15 points in the period. Or that the 76ers shot six of 22 (27%) in the third quarter and lost only two points from beginning to end, giving them just an eight-point deficit heading into the final 12 minutes.

This was a comeback waiting to happen for Philadelphia. It just didn’t.

“We didn’t compete like we’re capable of,” said Charles Barkley, who did his part with 30 points and 20 rebounds, nine of which came on the offensive end.

Like how?

“Intensity would be a good word,” Barkley said. “We didn’t play with any intensity. . . . I can’t put a finger on it. We just didn’t do it.”

The answer of why seemed a little obvious, especially in the Chicago locker room. The concern among some there, Jordan namely, was that a layoff from not having played since beating Milwaukee in the opening round last Thursday would make the Bulls lethargic. Perhaps, but they found the 76ers’ wear-and-tear from going five games to beat Cleveland to be more of a factor.

“I kind of think they didn’t have the energy,” rookie center Stacey King said. “Charles was still going strong, but it was like the other guys ran out of gas. They were settling for jump shots instead of penetrating and posting up, like they did against the Cavaliers.”

Added guard John Paxson: “Emotionally, they were probably a little tired after Saturday (Game 5). Then after that, they had to travel and prepare for the new series. They probably were not as focused as they want to be.”

Certainly not at the start, when Chicago, which won both home games this season against Philadelphia and lost both meetings at the Spectrum, took control. The Bulls had an 11-point lead on several occasions early in the first quarter and pushed it to 33-21 when Craig Hodges hit a three-point jumper from the right side with 10 seconds left.

As further evidence of the 76ers lack of intensity, Barkley dribbled out the final ticks of the clock standing around the three-point circle, not realizing the situation.

Chicago led, 53-47, at halftime, and Jordan, who finished with 39 points, hadn’t even really gone supersonic yet.

The double-figure lead that was revived early in the second half held as late as 71-61, with 2:20 left in the third quarter. The lead was down to eight heading into the fourth, soon to fall to 73-71 when the Bulls’ offense stalled and Barkley made a layup with 8:36 remaining.

“We really got sluggish late in the third quarter,” Jordan said. “Nothing was being generated. But the defense stood up for us. We went 0 for six, but they were two for six.”

The Chicago stand lasted long enough to build the lead back up to 86-79 with five minutes left. When the 76ers got to within 86-83 with 4:06 remaining, the Bulls pushed the cushion to eight. Jordan hit a three-point jumper with four seconds left, a move to beat the 24 second clock and not pour it on.

“It was a hard-fought game,” King said. “We were just the team that wanted to play defense most.”

Which makes sense since no one had much in the way of an offense when it mattered.