After a strong showing Friday in Game 2, Terry Porter turned up missing on Sunday, although Trail Blazers coach Rick Adelman didn`t find his point guard completely at fault.
Porter was 3 of 7 from the field for only seven points, after scoring 24 and hitting a clutch three-pointer that sealed Portland`s Game 2 win.
”We`ve got to get Terry Porter more than seven shots,” said Adelman.
”Terry was probably a little bit tired.”
”That happens in our offense,” said Porter. ”Sometimes I pass the ball and it doesn`t get back to me. We don`t do a good enough job of moving the ball.”
John Paxson, who guarded Porter much of the night, refused to take the credit for Porter`s near invisibility.
”He just had an off evening,” Paxson said. ”We just tried to keep it out of his hands. Don`t get carried away. It wasn`t anything I did.”
– Off the trail: Another Blazers casualty was Danny Ainge, the star of the overtime period in Game 2. Ainge misfired early and often, winding up 4 of 12 from the field and 1 of 5 from three-point range. Those easy transition baskets that he made on Friday were not to be, as the Bulls sealed off the lanes and played tight defense all night.
”Basketball is a game of momentum,” said Ainge, repeating the comment he made after Portland`s Game 2 win. ”They played more confident on defense than we did on offense. We never got Terry Porter involved in our offense, and we missed a lot of easy shots. We just weren`t converting.”
No support: With Ainge and Cliff Robinson (2 of 11) throwing up brick after brick, the Blazers` bench combined to shoot 6 of 25 (24 percent).
The Bulls` bench was 7 of 17, and outscored Portland`s 18-17.
– Off the deck again? Can Portland come back from Sunday`s drubbing? Some counted them out after Game 1, and surely some will do likewise after their 36-percent shooting performance in Game 3.
”It`s going to be tough for them to do,” said Scott Williams. ”We`re so comfortable and confident on the road. Our guys are focused, and it all starts with Michael (Jordan). Whether he scores or not, he`s our leader. There`s no cutting up in this locker room.”
– Jordan OK: Bulls fans experienced a few nervous moments in the second quarter when Jordan was limping downcourt. Television got into the act by using some close-up shots of the superstar to heighten the drama of a potential injury.
”I got kneed in the thigh in the first half,” Jordan said after the game. ”It didn`t bother me too much.”
– Radar missing: Going into the finals, Porter was 34 of 66 from three-point range, or 51.5 percent. In the first three games of the title series, he is 1 for 8 and the Blazers are 5 for 29 overall (17.2 percent). Ainge and Clyde Drexler are each 2 of 10.
The Bulls, who were 29 of 80 (36.2 percent) during the Eastern Conference playoff rounds, are 13 for 34 (38.2 percent) from long distance in the finals. Jordan is 6 of 15, Paxson is 4 of 9, Scottie Pippen is 0 of 5 and Bobby Hansen is 2 of 3. B.J. Armstrong is 1 for 1 and Cliff Levingston missed his only attempt.
– Still off line: It may sound like the same old song, but the Bulls were singing it again after Game 3. They continued their cold hands at the free-throw line, connecting on only 19 of 29 attempts. For the series, the Bulls are a combined 51 of 77 (.662). . . . Pippen is 12 of 34 (.352) with 11 turnovers in the last two games.
– No sweet home: With the Blazers` loss, the Western Conference teams have lost nine straight home games in the NBA Finals, dating back to 1989. The culprits are the `89 Lakers (2), the `90 Blazers (3), the `91 Lakers (3) and the `92 Blazers (1). The last Western Conference home victory was the Lakers` Game 7 victory over Detroit in `88.
The Blazers` 84 points tied their all-time playoff low, set against Seattle on April 23, 1978. It was also the Blazers` first loss at home in the `92 playoffs.
– Minute details: Some observers of the finals say coach Phil Jackson has played Jordan too much in recent games, particularly in the Bulls` overtime loss Friday. Here are some timely facts on the matter.
Jordan played 41 minutes Sunday, taking a long rest in the second quarter, after logging 50 minutes in Game 2 and 34 in the Game 1 blowout. That works out to a 41.7-minute average in the finals, or right on his overall playoff average. He leads Scottie Pippen by a mere 20 seconds per game.
In last year`s championship series against the Lakers, Jordan played an average of 44 minutes per game. Pippen averaged 43.6 minutes.
– Restricted viewing: Normally, watching game films is required. But the Bulls were given the option of viewing Friday night`s disaster on the plane flight from Portland to Chicago on Saturday.
”This one was like going to the dentist,” said Jackson, who did have to watch it. ”This was to be viewed at your own discretion.”
Actually, Williams said he and Hansen watched on the plane, but turned it off for the last five minutes of the game. ”It was like `Enter the Dragon`
time with Bruce Lee.`
”There`s not too much you can learn from watching anyway. We know we gave the game away.”
– Name game: The lead columnist for the Oregonian sports section referred to the Bulls` Brian Williams and Cliff Levingston in the lead paragraph of his Sunday column.
And how did Scott Williams feel about the typo?
”That`s all right,” he said. ”They`ll know who I am one day.”
– Unprecedented double: There are, of course, only three players remaining in the world who have a chance at becoming the first ones to win an NBA championship ring and an Olympic gold medal in the same season.
Drexler is one of them, and he doesn`t even want to think about the Olympics just yet.
”Both of them are possible,” Drexler said. ”I want to be greedy and get `em both. But I haven`t had time yet to think about international competition. I don`t even have time to brush up on my Spanish.”
– Early exit: Bill Cartwright fouled out of a game for the first time all season. Four Bulls have now fouled out of playoff games this year; Pippen, Paxson and Will Perdue are the others. During the 82-game regular season, only three Bulls left early at the referee`s whistles-Pippen did it twice, Perdue once and Jordan once.
Blazers center Kevin Duckworth also fouled out for his first DQ of the playoffs and his team`s sixth. Duckworth was whistled out five times during the regular season, second on the Blazers to Robinson`s 11. The reserve forward has fouled out twice in the playoffs.
