When Michael Jordan takes his last jump shot, and presumably he will one day, there should be more than enough moments for Bulls fans to lie about witnessing.
Consider Tuesday night at the Stadium among them.
No, not a footnote-heh, heh-but a chapter of its own this night in which he surprised few, fooled even fewer and mystified all.
It is redundant by now to marvel about his physical comebacks, but after a six-day layoff from the basketball court, including three spent in a hospital bed with a bacterial infection in his left foot, this deserves one more pause for further reflection.
This was no one-dimensional performance, but rather some over-the-back passes and a few no-looks; a handful of steals; his familiar barrage of jumpers; and just so no one would feel sorry for him, a few more drives to the hoop than anyone expected.
On a night when his teammates needed all the support they could get against a very talented Seattle team, Jordan showed no ill effects of his ouchie toes, nailing his first five shot attempts of the game and scoring 15 of the Bulls’ last 19 points to wrap up the 86-83 victory.
He finished with 38 points, scoring 15 in the first and fourth quarters, and added nine assists and six steals in 41 minutes-more minutes than anyone on both teams.
Go figure.
“I am surprised after laying in bed for six days,” Jordan admitted. “I was really nervous about getting enough lift on my shots. Psychologically, (the first quarter) helped a lot.”
The Bulls (41-18) took advantage of 25 turnovers by Seattle (40-19) leading to 30 points and ended up ensuring the victory by holding the Sonics to just 14 points in the final quarter.
“It was one of those ballgames that looked more like rugby than basketball,” said Bulls coach Phil Jackson. “There were more kicks and boots and scrums than passes. The big thing was Michael Jordan’s performance under pressure.”
Jordan got little help from his teammates; Pippen was just 7 of 20 shooting, and among the starters, only B.J. Armstrong-at 5 of 10-shot 50 percent or better.
“He was on a high tonight,” said Horace Grant. “We really needed his offense and his leadership, and he came through-like always.”
The Bulls cut a five-point deficit to one with just less than 10 minutes remaining in the game on a Jordan jumper, and were still trailing by one following a drive by Jordan at 6:14.
Trent Tucker and Darrell Walker gave the Bulls a boost at the start of the quarter, and Jordan took over at the close, taking their first lead on a Jordan jumper at 5:10 and extending it to three on another to push the Sonics back on their heels.
The Bulls never lost the lead thereafter, but didn’t seal the outcome until two free throws by Jordan with :09 left pushed their lead to five.
In the beginning, the Bulls looked as if they had the Sonics all figured out, like maybe there would be a repeat performance of their earlier victory in Seattle, in which they led by 17 after the first quarter.
The Bulls led by eight at 18-10 and 21-13 behind Jordan, who scored 15 points on 6 for 8 from the floor in the opening quarter. But Jackson pulled a winded Jordan for Tucker with 3:14 remaining in the first, and the Bulls turned sloppy with three turnovers the remainder of the period.
The Sonics closed the quarter with a thunderous dunk by Kemp, and they controlled the tempo into the second.
With the exception of Jordan, the Bulls struggled with their shooting throughout the first half, connecting on just 43 percent in the first quarter and 37 percent in the second. They committed nine turnovers leading to 12 Seattle points, and were saved only by the Sonics’ carelessness, which resulted in 15 turnovers accounting for 14 Bulls’ points.
The Bulls managed just 16 points in a second quarter in which the Sonics erased their deficit and eventually built a six-point lead, closing the half up by three at 44-41.
Kemp led the Sonics with 12 points-including four dunks-and six rebounds. Jordan finished the half with 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting while Pippen and Grant each struggled at 2 of 7 and 2 of 6, respectively.
The Bulls offensive troubles continued into the third quarter as the Sonics bulled their way to an 11-point lead on a three-point play by Ricky Pierce, who scored 13 in the quarter.
That play followed an elbow by Kemp into the midsection of Will Perdue, both trailing the play. It went unnoticed by officials, but not by Perdue’s teammates, who seemed to get fired up for the moment, reeling off the next seven points-two Pippen jumpers sandwiched around a three-pointer by B.J. Armstrong-to close to within four at 53-49.
The Bulls eventually narrowed the gap to three on a three-pointer by Tucker with 3:15 left in the third. They still trailed by three following a slam by Pippen off the steal at midcourt. And the Sonics took a five-point lead into the final quarter.
