Jordan Didn’t Have to Do It All Himself

The supporting cast showed Friday, making a big difference for the Bulls even as Michael Jordan scored 37 points and Scottie Pippen added 21.

Steve Kerr made the play of Game 2, grabbing an offensive rebound off his own missed shot and dishing it to Jordan for a critical three-point play with 48 seconds left. Dennis Rodman made a key shot earlier in the final period to earn a tie. And Ron Harper, having lost second-half playing time to Kerr, came through with a big defensive play when he reached around John Stockton to steal the out-of-bounds pass from Bryon Russell as the Jazz trailed by four with 20 seconds remaining.

“We just moved the ball better,” Pippen said. “The opportunities were there, as we said after the last game. We needed other guys to step up and shoot the ball, and they did. Steve especially.”

Said Kerr: “It’s important for guys off the bench to score once in a while. They [the Jazz] have a great bench and a lot of scorers coming in there and it’s important for us to try and do as much as we can. We know we’re going to get outscored, but to make a few plays in the game and help our cause, that’s all we can do.”

It helped to have Toni Kukoc back. After making four of 12 shots in the opener, he responded by going four of six in the first quarter Friday to spark the Bulls early and finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.

“I thought Toni had the right attitude,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “He’s a player that was not pleased with the game he played on Wednesday night and felt that he hadn’t carried his share of the load. I was confident that he would come back and give us a good start, which is what we needed.

“Scottie was in attack mode and Toni was in a good attack mode. Michael didn’t have to carry the scoring the first half, and I thought it made the game easier.”