ANALYSIS : Learning From Job, Johnson Does a Job

Having exhausted his few alternatives to guard Michael Jordan, Phoenix Sun Coach Paul Westphal hit upon a new plan:

Call it the Baby Carriage Defense.

In this scheme, one shoves a baby carriage in the path of the oncoming traffic in the hope it will slow down.

The part of the carriage would be played by Kevin Johnson, a 6-foot-2 tot compared to the 6-6 Jordan.

Maybe Westphal thought Johnson was too numb to care.

Having scored 15 points in Games 1 and 2, with eight assists and nine turnovers, Johnson had been driven to his Bible to find a way to go on, to the Book of Job, specifically.

Job was a man God tested severely, though, as someone remarked, Job never had to guard Michael Jordan.

“I looked in there,” Johnson said, laughing. “You’re right. He sure didn’t.”

Westphal explained his decision in seven words: “We thought basically, what would it hurt?”

He announced it Saturday, explaining that Johnson had volunteered for the assignment.

Westphal left out the part about Johnson doing his volunteering before the series started, before his own game went south.

“Man, that’s exactly what I said,” Johnson said. “I asked Paul before the series, maybe I could guard him a little bit. But we’re down 0-2, and the way I’m playing, that was the last thing I needed: guarding Michael Jordan in Game 3.

“I was on the plane. I was sitting there, reading my book. Paul knelt down and told me that. I went right to sleep. I knew I needed to get some rest.”

Maybe Westphal thought he could get KJ’s mind off his problems by giving him a new one.

In the way of finals’ slumps, Johnson’s had been greeted with the standard hysteria. The hometown press had done everything but run his obituary. There was trade talk and a gentle rumble of boos in America West Arena that so angered Charles Barkley that he told Sun fans if they wanted to do that, “please don’t come to the . . . game.”

Of course, the next home game figured to be next season, but Johnson still had to get through this one.

“I’m not one to dodge,” Johnson said. “I read the papers. I saw the headlines--how my dream had become a nightmare, how the Phoenix fans were deserting me. I got to Chicago and the fans in the hotel lobby were cheering for me. At first, I thought they liked my game, but then I figured out they liked the way I was playing.

“It didn’t seem real. I really couldn’t believe I was in the finals and this was happening to me. I guess you could call it a nightmare.

“I just got a lot of sleep. I was like a groundhog. I barely stuck my head out to let room service in.”

Ground Hog Day arrived.

Jordan took one look at his new mismatch and started asking himself how many points he wanted to score and when he wanted to score them.

Bull Coach Phil Jackson saw it, too, and suspected a trap.

“We didn’t want to take the bait and go Michael post-up,” Jackson said. “We wanted to save it.”

So Jordan took a discreet 16 shots in the first half, making 10.

He took seven more in the third quarter, making three.

In the fourth quarter, he took dead aim on Johnson . . . and started missing. He missed 14 of his last 20 shots and finished 19 for 43 for 44 points.

Another time, with 12 seconds left in regulation, the score tied and a chance to win it, he didn’t even get a shot off. Johnson stole the ball from him out front.

All the while, Barkley was trying to keep Johnson loose.

He kept telling him “18-36.” Johnson kept asking what he meant.

Finally Barkley told him: “If we win, we’ll play 18 holes. If we lose, we’ll play 36.”

Johnson doesn’t play golf, but he appreciated the sentiment.

For whatever reason--”the law of averages” suggested Johnson--his own offense came back. He made 11 of his 24 shots, scoring 25 points, with nine assists and seven rebounds. “That was the first time KJ’s ever guarded me,” Jordan said. “He’s quicker and it’s tougher to get that first step, but I do have size on him. I think we will look at that. If they continue to play that way, we’ll have to make adjustments.”

Translation: Roll that little fellow out there again and see what happens.

For the Bulls, the whole thing was a major inconvenience, seeing as how they had planned to finish sweeping this thing Wednesday, which meant they could have the victory celebration over the weekend and be in Aruba or Tahiti by Monday.

The Bulls even took the liberty of bringing “TripBull” T-shirts to Phoenix. Horace Grant put one on before Game 2.

“I have never seen one of our players in a TripBull T-shirt,” Jackson said. “They’ve never worn one in my presence.”

And if someone sneaked into one when his back was turned, how would he feel about it?

“It ain’t over yet,” said Jackson, smiling.

The real smiling was done by the Suns, ritual targets until Sunday, a legitimate basketball team for a night.

Barkley hugged Johnson coming off the court.

“He said, ‘I love you,’ ” Johnson said, grinning.

“Lotta love going around when you win.”