Bulls Get Fifth Element

By SCOTT HOWARD-COOPER

June 14, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

CHICAGO —

About 11 p.m. Friday night, inside a United Center that had finally matched its finals counterpart for sound and fury, with the red streamers coming down and the players in the celebration of first-timers, it did not matter who may be leaving this summer. Only about what was staying.

The championship trophy.

For the fifth time in seven years--otherwise known as the fifth time in the last five years that Michael Jordan has played the entire season--its sweet home is Chicago after the Bulls’ 90-86 victory over the Utah Jazz before 24,544 clinched a 4-2 series win. An uncertain future meets an expected present.

The likely outcome, the Bulls having been the heavy favorites since Jordan and Coach Phil Jackson re-upped a year ago, came with an unlikely hero. Steve Kerr, eight of 24 from the field in the series, made a wide-open, straightaway 17-footer with five seconds left to break an 86-86 tie.

“It was a redemption shot,” Jackson said.

More than that. It was a historic shot for the 31-year-old reserve guard from Palisades High, one that will match John Paxson’s Game 6 jumper at Phoenix in 1993 for replay value, maybe even the two by Jordan earlier in the series that set up this moment.

When Utah’s response out of a timeout in the wake of Kerr’s shot was Bryon Russell throwing the ball inbounds to Scottie Pippen instead of a teammate, the victory was sealed. When Pippen scooped the ball to Toni Kukoc for a layup with 0.6 remaining, the final margin was decided, helped by Jordan, feeling better but still low on energy after his stomach problems Wednesday, getting 39 points and 11 rebounds.

“I had a bad series, I didn’t play well,” Kerr said. “But the thing I kept telling myself the last few days was there’s still more games to be played. We were up, 3-2, coming in here and I had every reason to be upbeat.

“We had two shots at home to win this championship and I wasn’t about to let some missed shots in Utah get me down. Although I was down for a little while in Salt Lake. But I had a feeling something good was going to happen tonight.”

Jordan’s showing two nights earlier in Salt Lake City will rank as one of his greatest achievements, which is saying something, and it won’t be too far down the list for the Bulls either. That’s what put them in position, after all, to go for the title Friday, instead of the save and the task of having to beat the Jazz twice in a row at home.

The Bulls, of course, had done as much to start the series. But this would have been different. They would have trailed for only the second time in five trips to the finals and for the first time since losing the opener to the Lakers in 1991. That was promptly erased and turned into a 4-1 victory and the first title. This time, the Jazz would have had the momentum.

Instead, because of Jordan’s effort, it was the Bulls who had control. But even that could not save them from the reality that this matchup presented the biggest challenge of them all.

“I would have to say yes,” said Scottie Pippen, who had an outstanding series.

Maybe the whole playoff run had been. Even while sweeping the Washington Bullets and needing only five games to dispose of the Atlanta Hawks and then five more for the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals, the Bulls did not even try to talk anyone into believing they were steamrollering along. The offense sputtered, leading rebounder Dennis Rodman was a non-factor at the most critical of times, the nagging injuries and old age were evident.

It was a strange sight that a title run should be such a struggle. Of course, that also made for the most memorable of the heroics: Jordan, breaking the 82-82 tie in Game 1 with a jumper at the buzzer, Jordan nearly fainting in the third quarter of Game 5 and instead scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter and 38 in all for another two-point victory.

If only it meant as much to the people here, unable to muster the same enthusiasm as in years past and unable to match the backing the Jazz had in Salt Lake City. That’s what happens when dominance has become blase.

“I don’t know if you want to criticize,” said Jordan, the easy choice as finals MVP for the fifth time. “I think there’s a certain difference. And the reason that it’s different is that you’ve got a crowd that’s won four times, so the expectations are a little different. You’ve got a crowd [in the Delta Center] that’s never been in the finals, so the enthusiastic crowd is incredible. There’s a difference.”

But come the fourth quarter Friday, there was none. The Bulls had overcome a nine-point deficit with 11:24 left, getting a couple of ties and a brief lead before it was even again, 86-86. The Jazz had chances to pull back ahead, but missed, the last time when Shandon Anderson failed inside. Rodman got the rebound, one of his 11 in what marked only the second time in the six games he broke double figures, and the Bulls called time.

Twenty-eight seconds remained. Of course the ball went to Jordan, even on a night when he was only 15 of 35 from the field, but this time the Jazz double-teamed, John Stockton coming to help Russell on the left flat. That left Kerr open near the free-throw line. When Jordan passed over, Stockton tried to get back, but he lost his balance and fell.

Kerr caught the ball and shot without hesitation. Swish.

Then, the arena really erupted.

“The crowd in Chicago took a hit, the fans took a hit, because everybody said they sit on their hands, they have got high expectations,” Jordan said. “So what? They should have high expectations. We spoil them.”

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MORE BULL TROPHIES

Most team championships by decade:

1990s

Chicago Bulls: 5

Houston Rockets: 2

1980s

Los Angeles Lakers: 5

Boston Celtics: 3

1970s

New York Knicks: 2

Boston Celtics: 2