Bulls Reflect on a 2-0 Series Lead : Eastern finals: They beat Pistons, 105-97, as Jordan scores 35 points.

Having already derailed history by winning the Central Division title and home-court advantage from the Detroit Pistons, the Chicago Bulls have the two-time defending champions looking in a mirror.

An exhausted group heading toward an early vacation stares back, the latest push toward elimination coming Tuesday night in the Bulls’ 105-97 victory at Chicago Stadium for a two-games-to-none lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals.

The good news for the Pistons as they head home for Games 3 and 4 Saturday and Monday?

They blew the same 2-0 lead in the same round against the same opponent last year, proving the odds can be overcome. Detroit even allowed the Bulls to make it a seven-game series before winning.

As a Piston Bad Boy, you take positives anywhere you can get them these days.

A difference: In 1990, Michael Jordan put the Bulls on his shoulders and took them for a ride. In ‘91, Jordan has had only a couple of tremor-like showings, and the Pistons are taking on water fast.

“I don’t even worry about (winning) four out of five,” said Detroit Coach Chuck Daly, whose team came back from a 2-1 deficit to win three in a row and beat Boston the previous round. “How about one?”

Tuesday, the Pistons got only as close as six points late in the fourth quarter, again good in the comparative sense. Jordan, after all, kicked in during the second half to help Chicago build an 18-point lead, 95-77, with 6:12 left.

It took Detroit, seeking to become the first team since the Celtics of the mid-1960s to win three championships in a row, until only 53 seconds remained to chip it down to half a dozen. The Pistons were forced to foul from there, and the Bulls took advantage by making six of eight free throws, Jordan sinking four of four.

That gave him 35 points, but, a day after being voted the league’s MVP, Jordan had only eight in the first half, when the Bulls were ahead by as many as 16. For the second consecutive game, Jordan wasn’t half bad as a decoy.

“I think my teammates responded very well,” he said. “They (the Pistons) double-teamed me, and my teammates stepped up. I’m pretty sure those guys (the Pistons) were surprised. But I hope they maintain their surprise.

“I just waited until I had my opportunities. The other guys stepped up and gave us some good balance. I think I took only six or seven shots in the first half (seven), but the shots were not there for me. The shots were there for the other guys.”

The target practice was only beginning. After Jordan got his 35, Scottie Pippen 21 and 10 rebounds and six Bulls combined for 15 offensive rebounds--eight more than Detroit--Daly took some shots of his own. All hit the mark.

“They (the Bulls) were very aggressive on both ends of the floor,” Daly said after Pistons fell behind in a series 2-0 for the first time since the Eastern finals against Boston in 1987.

“We couldn’t counter. We couldn’t match their intensity on both ends of the court. We’ve got to find it. They were a step faster, quicker after loose balls, and playing with more intensity. No question about it.”

The other non-question in his mind is whether Detroit is struggling because of fatigue. “That’s a cop-out,” Daly said. “That’s an excuse. There are no excuses in this business. You either do it when the schedule says, or you don’t.”

The schedule now says Saturday. “It’s not going to be easy going into their building to win two games,” Jordan said. “But it wasn’t easy here, either.”

Eastern Conference Notes

A reserve led the Pistons in scoring for the second game in a row, Vinnie Johnson getting 29 points on 12-of-18 shooting. . . . Detroit was called for three flagrant fouls, prompting players and coaches to make the obligatory stand that the Pistons are not a dirty team. The Bulls’ Michael Jordan is not buying it. “They dirty up the game of basketball,” he said the other day. “I think the game is a good game. Sportsmanship should always be a part of any sport, but they have taken that away. Now other teams want to play that way because of their success.”