NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Bulls : A Hollywood Ending?

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When we left our band of intrepid NBA finalists, Michael Jordan was fouling up incoming traffic over O’Hare, John Paxson was teaching Open Jump Shot 101 and Horace was becoming the most beloved Grant since Lou.

What all this did Wednesday night was get the Chicago Bulls a 107-86 victory in Game 2 at Chicago, evening the championship series at a game apiece.

This was after the Lakers had broken serve in Sunday’s opener, 93-91, when Sam Perkins’ three-point shot rattled in and Jordan’s two-pointer rattled out.

So now it’s time to put the 3 in the NBA’s 2-3-2 travel plans, three games in six star-filled nights. And for those 52,515 lucky enough to have tickets, Air fare is included.

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The Lakers went into Game 2 feeling like a quarterback who drops back to pass and sees the defensive line jump offside. It was almost like a free play. Sure they got sacked, but it would have been much tougher to rebound had the blowout in the Windy City come in the first game. And they still have the famous home-court advantage.

Of course, to keep that edge, a team needs to win at home. Any losses by the Lakers here tonight, Sunday or Wednesday and the advantage shifts back to the Bulls, who would love to win their first NBA title with the noise knocking the paint off Chicago Stadium.

And the Lakers don’t need much of a history lesson to see how the best of plans can backfire. They need only to look back one year to the Portland-Detroit series, when the Trail Blazers were brimming with momentum after getting a split on the road. Then the Pistons went to Portland and cut down the Trail Blazers in three games.

So, will Magic pull three more victories out of his hat? Will Michael ever come down? Will Bob Costas and Pat Riley ever grow up?

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