O’Neal Returns Early, but Bulls Win It Late

If Sunday was a preview of the Eastern Conference finals, the NBA is in for a treat.

Michael Jordan made a turnaround jumper with less than a minute to go, and Anfernee Hardaway and Shaquille O’Neal missed shots in the final 10 seconds as Chicago and Orlando battled down to the last possession before the Bulls escaped with a 90-86 victory.

The Magic, which won its first 33 home games this season, lost for the third time in four home games.

“It’s unfortunate that we had to lose that game,” Orlando Coach Brian Hill said. “I thought in the second half, we did everything we had to do to win. We said going in that if we held them to 90 points, we would win the basketball game.”

In the final 10 seconds, Hardaway missed on a drive and O’Neal, who returned to Orlando’s lineup at his mother’s insistence after sitting out two games because of the death of his grandmother, rushed up an airball.

Dennis Rodman rebounded and got the ball to Toni Kukoc, who sealed the outcome by making two free throws with less than a second remaining.

Jordan had 27 points despite 10-for-30 shooting. Kukoc made five three-point shots and scored 20 for the Bulls, who won their sixth consecutive game to move within four victories of becoming the first NBA team to win 70 games. The earliest they could reach the mark is next Sunday at Cleveland.

Scottie Pippen had 17 points and made Hardaway alter his potential game-tying shot.

“It was a sweet win,” Jordan said. “We really kind of lost our rhythm in the second half, but we found ways to scrap and win. I think it shows the character of this team.”

Hardaway led Orlando with 25 points. O’Neal had 21 points and nine rebounds despite missing the first quarter after arriving at Orlando Arena as the game was starting.

The Magic battled back from a 79-70 deficit to tie the game, 86-86, on Horace Grant’s jumper with 1:09 left. Jordan scored over Brian Shaw 13 seconds later, but then gave Orlando one more chance to tie or take the lead.

The Bulls held on despite shooting only 41% from the floor and scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter. Jordan was two for 10 in the period.

“A win is a win,” Jordan said after the Bulls captured the season series between the teams, 3-1. “Sometimes you escape, sometimes you dominate and you’re in control. I think in the first half we dominated. The second half we lost control, yet we were able to control it down the stretch.”

The Lakers took some of the luster off the last meeting of the regular season between the top contenders for the Eastern Conference title by ending Orlando’s 40-game home winning streak on March 26.

The Bulls and Magic were both trying to become the first team in NBA history to go an entire season without losing at home. Chicago, which lost in its only other appearance at Orlando Arena, can accomplish the feat by winning its last four games at the United Center.

Hill said Sunday’s result will not have a bearing if the teams meet again in the playoffs.

“I think they’re a very mature basketball team and they know the same thing that we know--that when the playoffs begin, what happened in the season series doesn’t matter,” the Orlando coach said.

O’Neal arrived at the arena shortly before tipoff and received a standing ovation when he trotted out of the tunnel from the locker room and took a seat on the bench with about four minutes remaining in the opening period.

Team officials who attended the funeral of O’Neal’s maternal grandmother in Jersey City, N.J., said they had not spoken with the player since the services Saturday afternoon.

O’Neal said he had not planned to play, but caught an afternoon flight to Orlando from New Jersey at his mother’s insistence.

“I was going to take another week off,” said O’Neal, who left the team Tuesday.

“My mother paged me, she put out [a message]. ‘Call me back right now.’ I thought something else was wrong. But then she said, ‘You need to go play. Stop sitting around crying. You need to go back.’ ”

O’Neal entered the game at the start of the second quarter and scored 11 consecutive points for the Magic.