Remember that first step Kevin Johnson took away from Michael Jordan’s drives in the Bulls’ triple-overtime loss in Game 3 of the NBA Finals?
Jordan took it right back Wednesday in the first half of Game 4, burning Johnson for 33 points on 14-of-20 shooting to help give the Bulls a 61-58 advantage.
Jordan’s 22 points in the second quarter were only three shy of the finals record of 25 held by Detroit’s Isiah Thomas. And Jordan did it from every conceivable angle. He hit 9 of 12 attempts in the quarter, and it was his 16 straight points at the outset of the period that initially put the Suns on their heels.
As many expected, Jordan quickly rebounded from an off night Sunday-that is, if a 44-point effort can really be called an “off night.”
The memory of John Starks was on everyone’s mind. After the New York Knicks’ guard got the best of Jordan in the opening two games of the Eastern Conference finals, Jordan fired back in the Stadium, scoring 54 points on Starks in Game 4 of that series.
Johnson found himself in a situation similar to Starks’, guarding a man on a mission in another Game 4.
After a flip shot started Jordan’s second-quarter splurge, Jordan added another inside basket at the 10:13 mark of the period. But a turnover to Charles Barkley really seemed to turn on the Air show.
He gave up chasing Barkley on the eventual slam by the Suns forward, but Jordan made up for the miscue by slamming on the Suns on the Bulls next possession.
Then came a finger roll, two free throws and a fadeaway jumper to give the Bulls a 43-38 lead with 7:50 left in the half. Two more free throws and another fallaway jumper over Johnson ended Jordan’s 16 straight points. John Paxson’s three-pointer with 5:18 left ended Jordan’s scoring monopoly.
Jordan scored six more points to end the half, including a poster-ready, one-handed flying jam over Danny Ainge with 50 seconds left.
Jordan’s scoring was complemented by aggressive inside defense by Horace Grant, who outrebounded Barkley 7-1 in the first quarter and kept him from scoring for the first seven minutes. The Bulls wound up with an 11-4 edge on the boards in the quarter, with Grant grabbing three offensive rebounds while the Suns came up empty-handed.
The Bulls took it to the hole with more authority at the outset of Game 4, scoring 10 of their first 15 baskets in the lane.
They began and ended the first quarter with bookend jams by Grant and Scottie Pippen. Grant started off with a slam off of a Bill Cartwright feed, and Pippen ended it with slam on a lob from Armstrong, as the Bulls blitzed the Suns interior defense.
The only apparent matchup problem the Bulls had early was when Scott Williams came into the game at the start of the second quarter and couldn’t locate his man on the court. Barkley, it turned out, was sitting under the basket by the Suns bench with the Luvabulls as the clock began ticking. After immediately flashing a panicky look, Williams soon spotted Barkley, who finally decided to get up. Williams could only laugh as he trudged downcourt and found his man.
The fun was only beginning.
