NBA FINALS : LAKERS vs. CHICAGO BULLS : NOTES : Jordan Has Toe Injury, Misses Practice

The Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan didn’t practice Saturday because of a bruised big toe on his right foot, but team physician John Hefferon said he expects Jordan to play today in Game 4.

Jordan suffered the injury when he landed awkwardly after making a 14-foot jumper with 3.4 seconds left in regulation that sent Friday night’s game into overtime tied, 92-92.

“When he landed, rather than landing on the ball of his foot, he landed more on the tip of his toe like a ballet dancer would,” Hefferon said.

“If you watch the replay, he landed on both feet, but the way his right foot came down, his toe was pointed more down toward the floor than usual.

“He jammed the end of his toe and we expect that he’ll recover fairly quickly. Tomorrow it will be sore getting it into the shoe, but I think once he gets it warmed up I’d be hopeful he’d play well.

“Knowing Michael, I’d be very surprised if he didn’t play.”

Hefferon instructed Jordan to stay off his foot, so Jordan remained at the team hotel during Saturday’s practice session.

Laker guard Magic Johnson expects Jordan to play.

“I never underestimate Michael,” Johnson said. “I don’t care if he had a broken toe, as long as he can get on the court he’s going to give them a lift.”

When Pat Riley coached the Lakers to four NBA titles, one of his favorite sayings was “no rebounds, no rings.”

And if the Lakers don’t start rebounding better than they did in Game 3, when the Bulls beat them on the boards, 46-29, they probably won’t get a championship ring this season.

Forward James Worthy had only one rebound in 48 minutes and has only nine in three games. By contrast, Laker forward Sam Perkins and Jordan each had nine rebounds in Game 3.

“Even James was saying, ‘Man I went 48 (minutes) and only got one (rebound).’ That’s not James Worthy,” Johnson said.

Is Worthy unable to rebound because of his sprained ankle?

“I hate to make excuses,” Worthy said. “(The ankle) is not what I would like it to be. I’m having problems in traffic. I just don’t have the spring. I’m doing the best I can. Hopefully, I can box out and try to get a hand on something. I’ve got to make more of a major effort to get in there and just get in the way or something.”

The Lakers were outrebounded, 11-3, in the first quarter of Game 3.

“Last night I can’t tell you in words how I really felt when we had (three) rebounds through the first quarter,” forward A.C. Green said.

“It was 5-1 at one time and I asked one of my teammates, ‘Is that rebound board working or is it stuck on one?’ I couldn’t believe it, but it was indicative of how the night went for us.

“I’ll be very surprised if that happens tomorrow, very surprised.”

A command performance?: The Bulls regained the home-court advantage by winning Game 3, but they are being careful not to make it into anything more than a 2-1 series lead.

“Nobody is ever really in command of the Lakers,” Jordan said after getting 29 points, nine assists, nine rebounds, four steals and three blocks in 52 minutes. “This is a team that has been here before. It’s our first time. We’ve got to keep pushing.

“We know we’re at least going back to Chicago. We got at least one here. Let’s get another.”

Said Sam Perkins: “If we don’t do the things we said we are going to to, we’re going to look foolish.”

The Lakers were frank in their assessment of Portland as a more talented team than they are.

Now they concede the Bulls are more athletic.

“They got to all the loose balls,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said of the Bulls’ rebound edge in Game 3.

“We have to be conscious of their athletic ability. They’re quicker to the ball and they jump higher so . . . We’ve got to concentrate on having our bodies on them all the time.”

But don’t say it’s because the Bulls are younger.

“I’m not going to say the older-younger stuff has anything to do with it,” says 30-year-old Byron Scott.

“I think it was just a matter of having a bunch of guys on our team who have been there before and a bunch of young guys on their team who’ve never been there before and are starting to taste blood.

“They’re starting to really go after it. They got every loose ball. They got every crucial rebound. They basically just out-hustled us, and that’s what won the game.”

Lost amidst shots by Vlade Divac and Michael Jordan at the end of regulation in Game 3and the Bull run that followed in overtime was that Sam Perkins had another big game: 51 minutes, more than any Laker, a team-high 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting, nine rebounds (a team-high four on offense) and five blocked shots.

Perkins, who had 22 points and made the winning shot in Game 1, is averaging 18.3 points and 8.1 rebounds and shooting 59.3% in the playoffs.

“It’s not something worth praise or talking about,” he said. “I haven’t really won a game with any of that, except maybe Game 1. After the second and third games, no matter what I did, it was not enough.

“I did OK, but I’m not satisfied with the way I’ve played. My family is pleased, but when it comes to me, I am not happy with what is reflected on the stat sheet.”

Times staff writers Scott Howard-Cooper and Mark Heisler contributed to this story.