There’s a Final Chapter for Bulls

Never mind.

Reports of Michael Jordan’s imminent retirement have been exaggerated, even if they were looking pretty good for a while Sunday, until the Bulls came from 13 points behind by hook and by crook but mostly by offensive rebounds, scraping past the Pacers, 88-83, to win the Eastern Conference finals in seven games.

Now they have 72 hours to rest before starting the NBA finals for the sixth time this decade on Wednesday, including their travel time to Utah.

Showing how beatable the Bulls were, Jordan shot nine for 25, missing nine of 12 shots in the second half. The other starters went six for 21 in the first half. If the Pacers watch the tape, they might cry until the Fourth of July.

Of course, Jordan had 28 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

“That’s why he’s the best player in the league,” said a glum Pacer Coach Larry Bird. “That’s why he’s probably the greatest player ever.”

The harder the going got, the harder the Bulls worked. They out-rebounded the Pacers, 22-4, on the offensive boards, creating 20 more shots from the field, scoring 24 points on second-chance shots, to Indiana’s three.

As Jordan noted later, “It’s about heart,” or losing yours.

“We’ve talked about this [rebounding] all year. . . . Today we were just overmatched,” Bird said. “With the number of offensive rebounds they got, they just ripped our hearts out.”

It was a strange and eerie time, with fans sure the Bulls would close the series out on their home court but everyone aware that if they didn’t, the local careers of Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Phil Jackson might be over. Jackson even took the unusual step of telling his players it was OK if they lost as long as they tried their hardest, as a way of lightening the pressure.

Then the Pacers came out, made their first eight shots and jumped into a 20-7 lead. . . .

What, the Bulls worry?

Not that they’ll ever acknowledge it.

“At no time in the course of the 48 minutes did I ever think negative,” Jordan insisted. “Sure, OK, maybe we got off to a slow start. Maybe we were a little nervous. But at no time did I ever think negative about what we could accomplish as a team.”

So the Bulls turned up their defensive pressure and sure enough, the Pacers started missing and the defending champions swooped into the lead, going ahead by eight late in the second quarter . . . before Reggie Miller dropped two three-point shots on them before halftime.

At halftime, Jordan, who has been known to give speeches that peel paint off the dressing room walls, gave his teammates another one.

“I said to leave the referees alone,” he said. “. . . I told them, ‘Shut up and play.’ ”

It’s another reason he’s the best player in the league and probably the greatest ever. He scores, he rebounds, he leads.

And he defends, too. With Ron Harper slowed because of a sore back, Jordan switched onto Miller in the fourth quarter, which meant racing through the forest of screens the Pacers set for their star. Miller, moving well on his sprained ankle for the first time in a week, was hot too, having already scored 22 points, but that was what he finished with after Jordan held him to one shot attempt in the quarter.

It was a good thing for the Bulls because one hot shooter could have finished the dynasty.

The Pacers took the lead for the last time, 79-77, on Antonio Davis’ 10-foot jump shot with 5:50 left but Jordan--in the words of Bird, “putting his head down and driving” until he could find someone to glance off and draw a foul--made two free throws to tie it and Scottie Pippen, who missed 12 of his 18 shots, got an 18-foot shot to fall with 4:45 left.

There was nothing memorable about the stretch run. There were only two more field goals, one for each side, and the Bulls kept their noses in front.

Bird, lamenting the fact Rik Smits spent much of the game in foul trouble, noted: “If you’re going to beat the Chicago Bulls when they’ve got home-court advantage, you’ve got to win one [on their home court] early. We didn’t do that.”

And with that, he prepared to take his Cinderellas home. A reporter paid him the unusual compliment of thanking him.

“Thank you,” said Bird, rising to leave, “and the referees still . . .”

At least the Pacers let the Bulls know they were there. Late in the game, Jordan was bent over and exhausted, When it ended, he pumped his right fist three times, in delight and relief.

“Today it was just lay everything on the basketball court,” Jordan said. “Tomorrow you can rest. . . .

“Was some of the championship swagger lost in this series? Probably. No one has taken anything away from us so thus far so we still have what we have and we still have an opportunity to maintain it.”

If it’s harder than this, they’d better hurry up and rest.

NBA FINALS

Utah vs. Chicago

(Best-of-seven)

All games on Channel 4

* Wednesday at Utah, 6 p.m.

* Friday at Utah, 6 p.m.

* Sunday at Chicago, 4:30 p.m.

* June 10 at Chicago, 6 p.m.

* June 12 at Chicago, 6 p.m.-x

* June 14 at Utah, 4:30 p.m.-x

* June 17 at Utah, 6 p.m.-x

x-if necessary

FIRST LOOK

How do the Jazz and Bulls compare and who will win the NBA finals? Scott Howard-Cooper tries to answer those questions in his first analysis of the series. C11