Bulls Give It to Jordan, Who Does It to Pistons : NBA playoffs: He scores 47 points--31 in the second half--as Chicago cuts Detroit’s lead to 2-1.

Michael Jordan, who seemingly has crashed every barrier except Mach 1, broke the rules Saturday.

The Detroit Pistons, who played Jordan into a rare display of frustration Tuesday in Michigan, were on the receiving end when the pendulum swung back. In one motion, the alleged stability of a 14-point third-quarter lead and the most trustworthy of all Bad Boy defensive schemes, those so-called Jordan Rules, were sent crashing by the person they were designed to stop.

Jordan scored 47 points--31 in the second half--as the Chicago Bulls rallied to beat the Pistons in Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals, 107-102, at Chicago Stadium. The result seemed to say that Jordan still rules and said little about the worth of the Jordan Rules.

By most accounts, it wasn’t exactly a brilliant move that cut the Pistons’ lead in the best-of-seven series to 2-1.

Detroit had held Jordan to 20 points on five-of-16 shooting in Game 2. It was another example of Detroit keeping the game’s premier offensive player in relative check better than any other team. Chicago’s answer was to have Jordan starting the offense at the top of the three-point circle with the ball in his hands, rather than waiting for point guard John Paxson to get it to him.

“He can always score 47 points if he has the ball all the time,” Coach Chuck Daly said after the Pistons surrendered more than 100 points for only the fourth time in 28 playoff games dating back to last season. “They completely abandoned their offense.”

The Bulls--who had 21 offensive rebounds, nine more than the Pistons--laughed at such a notion.

“I don’t think I’d call it ‘abandoned,’ ” Coach Phil Jackson said. “That’s a good choice of words by Chuck, but we used the offense the same way, only off the dribble and putting Michael on top instead of on the wing. That stretched their defense a bit.”

Broke it, actually, rare a sight as that was. Having gone through all other possibilities, Detroit let Dennis Rodman try Jordan late, largely one on one.

“They went with their best player, the defensive player of the year, and I think I am one of the league’s best offensive players, frankly,” said Jordan, speaking with the media again after saying that his Game 2 outburst had been blown out of proportion. “I took it as a challenge. I felt I had the advantage offensively. I’m sure they felt they had the advantage defensively.”

Jordan scored 13 points in the third quarter and 18 in the fourth. He was especially unstoppable when it mattered most, connecting on back-to-back jump shots from the right side 23 seconds apart with about seven minutes left in the game. That put the Bulls, who host Game 4 Monday afternoon, in the lead for good, 86-82.

They had trailed, 67-53, with 5:48 remaining in the third quarter, Isiah Thomas having opened the half by scoring nine of his team-high 36 points. With the lead, Chicago had to hold on to beat Detroit for the second time in eight tries this season.

Scottie Pippen’s tip-in of a miss by Jordan gave the Bulls a 101-94 cushion with 1:03 to play. Forty-eight seconds later, after a three-point basket by Thomas, it was 105-102.

A bad entry pass by Pippen at halfcourt after a timeout by the Bulls resulted in a jump ball and, subsequently, another Piston possession. Detroit called timeout with 8.3 seconds left. Even with Bill Laimbeer, an outside threat, having fouled out, there were still plenty of three-point possibilities.

Reserve Mark Aguirre, who had made nine of 13 shots and scored 22 points, sent the ball in to Vinnie Johnson, who passed it back to Aguirre on the right side. Aguirre launched a three-point shot that went long and hit the far side of the rim, bounding off to the Bulls. Jordan was fouled, and his two free throws gave Chicago its final margin of victory.

“Chicago didn’t beat us, we beat ourselves,” Rodman said. “They played well, but not that well.”

The Pistons had 18 turnovers that accounted for 30 points by Chicago, but Rodman’s accuracy ends there. For once in this short series, Bulls other than Jordan played well.

Pippen had 29 points--16 in the second half--and 11 rebounds. Horace Grant had 10 points and 11 rebounds, helping Chicago to a 53-42 advantage in that category.

Still, it came back to Jordan. This was his game, no matter the rules.

“Michael was definitely more aggressive offensively than in those first two games,” said Detroit’s Joe Dumars, usually the first line of defense against Jordan, who averaged 40.2 points and shot 54% in the first two rounds of the playoffs but opened at 27.0 and 40% in the first two games against the Pistons. “When he’s aggressive and playing like that, you just hope he misses a few shots and play him as best you can.

“Today, with Michael hitting his jumper, it makes it really tough to stop him. In fact, it’s almost impossible.”