Jordan Knows Tricks to Make Magic Vanish

In this land of the child prodigy and instant, commercially manufactured superstar, of Shaq-Fu and Little Penny, Michael Jordan showed them what the real thing looks like.

Embarrassed here a year ago in a second-round elimination, Jordan closed out this series in his inimitable style, dropping 45 points on the Magic as the Chicago Bulls won, 106-101, Monday to sweep the Eastern finals, 4-0.

The Bulls are 11-1 in the post-season (83-11 overall) and await the winner of the Seattle-Utah series.

The Magic is on vacation, trying to deal with an awful truth: injured or not, as a group it was younger, stronger and had as much raw talent as Chicago and wasn’t competitive.

“I think to a man,” said Bull Coach Phil Jackson, continuing the gracious tack he began in this series, “if you asked our team, we would have liked to have beaten the Orlando Magic with their best players on the floor. . . .

“We beat the Orlando Magic, but it wasn’t the Orlando Magic with their starters, with Brian Shaw off the bench. . . . It’s not a revenge issue and it’s not a payback situation. This is a different team that we beat today.”

Well, maybe it wasn’t quite to a man.

“There’s no question we’re going to take full satisfaction,” said Scottie Pippen. “Injuries are part of the game.

“Last season, they came at us and Michael was fresh off the baseball field. They didn’t feel sorry for us.”

Yes, it’s a hard world at this level of competition and the Magic, at least, learned that. After losing the first three games, Orlando was getting insulted in its hometown, as if it were Chicago.

Sunday, the pastor at the First Baptist Church of Orlando asked his congregation for a “love offering” to hire a free throw-shooting coach for Shaquille O’Neal. A local radio station held a Beat Shaq free-throw contest like the one in Chicago last week; the Orlando Sentinel reported that among the kids who beat O’Neal’s mark in this series--25% for the first three games--were 9-year-old twins from Daytona Beach.

At Bull practice Sunday, Jordan was asked if he still considered the Magic a threat.

“This year or next year?” he asked, grinning.

Without three of its top six players--Horace Grant, Nick Anderson and Brian Shaw--the Magic stormed out for Game 4 and grabbed a 15-4 lead in the first 4:41. O’Neal had 19 points by halftime, even making five of six free throws. Get those twins back and see if they can matchthat.

Unfortunately for the Magic, Jordan could.

After gasping through a 17-point Game 3, Jordan said he was going to “vindicate” himself and the Magic was in trouble. Jordan rarely puts bad games back-to-back, and when he cares enough to talk about vindication, everyone had better come ready.

Monday, Jordan made his first seven shots, most of them from the perimeter. The Bulls started trying to get back into the game.

The Magic led by nine points at halftime. After the third period (Magic 18, Jordan 15, other Bulls 13), Chicago had the lead and never looked back.

“That answered any question that anybody certainly had about the heart and will of our basketball team,” said Orlando Coach Brian Hill.

“Unfortunately, there was a guy wearing No. 23 out there that had a pretty big impact on the game. We just couldn’t overcome what he did today, quite honestly.”

Jordan took only five shots in the fourth quarter, making four. The Magic swooned, the other Bulls started making shots and Jordan didn’t have to score.

Said Jackson: “We rode the coat tails of Michael Jordan tonight.”

Said Pippen: “Just from the look in his eyes, we could have rode him all day.”

Orlando has made the playoffs three times and has lost by a sweep all three times. It lost four games in this series, with Pippen failing to shot 40% in three. Before Monday, when Orlando scored more than 100 points for the only time in the series, it put up totals of 83-88-67.

In this land of 100-degree temperatures and humidity readings almost as high, there are no short summers, but this promises to be one of the long ones.

The Bulls get at least three days off. If Seattle wins Game 5 tonight at home, the NBA finals are tentatively scheduled to start Friday in Chicago.

“Quite honestly,” Hill said, “I don’t think Michael is going to be denied. I think this is all about a testament to his will, his excellence as a player.”

Quite honestly, that’s what most of this decade has been about.