Bull Reserves Take Title by Horns : Chicago: Supporting cast earns starring role in fourth-quarter comeback, then thanks Jackson for believing in them.

Of course Bobby Hansen, Stacey King, Scott Williams and B.J. Armstrong were on the court and Michael Jordan wasn’t. The game was over. As the fourth quarter began, the Bulls were behind by 15 points to the Portland Trail Blazers, who were in the midst of their best showing of these NBA finals.

“It was a lineup that we (used because we) just had to get some energy out there,” Chicago Coach Phil Jackson said. “We were tired.”

Meet the wake-up call: Hansen opened with a three-point jump shot from the left corner, then followed by stripping the ball from Portland’s Jerome Kersey on the ensuing possession. King made three of four free throws soon after.

The Bulls were on their way to a 14-2 run without Jordan to open the quarter, to a 97-93 title-clinching victory at Chicago Stadium. More than ever, it was proof that accomplishment could come while the city’s biggest shoulders, the set that carries uniform No. 23, became part of the supporting cast.

Maybe it was payback. The Trail Blazers stole the momentum with the overtime victory here in Game 2, despite Clyde Drexler having fouled out. This time, Jordan sits and Chicago cuts the deficit from 79-64 to 81-78.

“That’s probably the most I’ve cheered outside--the way you guys could see the emotions,” Jordan told the media. “I was so happy for them. . . . I felt like Cliff Levingston for a minute. It was very emotional, very energetic.”

Cliff Levingston? He wasn’t settling for feeling like a mere mortal.

“This wave,” the reserve forward said of the fourth-quarter charge, “was the granddaddy of them all. The biggest. The best. And we rode it like we were real surfers. Real big Kahunas.”

Said King: “Last year was Michael vs. Magic. This year was Clyde the Glide versus Air Jordan. But there’s supporting actors. And they give out Oscars to best supporting actors.”

Who could know it would happen with this cast?

King, still being zinged by teammates as overweight, was averaging a team-low 7.3 minutes in the playoffs on his way back to the trading block. Hansen, who may not even get his option picked up for next season, was just ahead of King at 8.0 minutes. Armstrong was shooting 42.9% in the series.

Hansen fired the opening volley.

“That got us rolling,” he said. “I had been shooting the ball well the whole series. I had been taking extra shots in practice. (Defender Danny Ainge) left me, and I got my feet under me. On the Portland bench, they were screaming, ‘That’s no good’ and ‘Go for the rebound.’ But I’d be saying the same thing if I was on the bench. But it was so ‘no good’ it went in.”

The Trail Blazers were about to be done in by afterthoughts: people such as Williams, not even drafted, and King, whom nobody may want.

“It was like a motley group out there,” Williams said. “We call ourselves the Red Team, the Red Dogs, the Bench Brothers. We just went out and said, ‘we’ve got nothing to lose. They (the starters) already lost it for us.’ ”

He laughed.

“We wanted to keep it close. Then it started getting closer and closer.”

Williams grabbed a rebound. King hit the free throws. Immediately after Jordan returned, Terry Porter, the Trail Blazers’ 6-foot-3 guard tried rushing the ball upcourt but never got more than a step ahead of the 6-11 King. Along the left sideline, Porter dribbled off his foot and out of bounds.

“ ‘Big Fella’ was out there and moving his feet,” Williams said. “I couldn’t believe it. I told him to go out there and play like someone is trying to take food off your dinner table.”

The Trail Blazers called time out, clinging to a three-point lead with 5:45 left. Scottie Pippen, the lone starter on the court to start the quarter, came out from the Bulls’ huddle, as did Jordan. But instead of John Paxson, there was Armstrong. Williams and King returned to the court, too, not Horace Grant and Bill Cartwright.

The subs were also going to be the finishers.

When it was over, Hansen and Jackson hugged in the Blackhawks’ locker room, where the championship trophy was being presented. Hansen, who had carried his load, now carried a message:

“I told Phil thanks for believing in us.”

By then, everyone believed.