The sentiment won’t sit well with Bulls fans. It may leave as sour a taste in their mouths as the one left by Michael Jordan’s late-game tumble Friday night at Market Square Arena.
But here it is: Maybe Jerry Reinsdorf knew what he was talking about.
The Bulls chairman has been dubbed the main villain in this “Last Dance,” which may or may not reach its final stage Sunday when the Bulls play the Indiana Pacers in the seventh game of the Eastern Conference finals at the United Center.
Almost a year ago, Reinsdorf openly discussed breaking up the team, hinting that the Bulls’ best days were behind them. Reinsdorf reasoned that the franchise’s fifth title had not been won easily and might not have been won at all save for a few magical Michael moments against Utah in the NBA Finals.
With the future holding no guarantees, and with one of the league’s older teams growing another year older, Reinsdorf suggested it might be time to start rebuilding. The reaction was akin to panic in the streets. But was Reinsdorf being prophetic?
In splitting the first six games of this series, the Pacers have made the Bulls look old at times, particularly in Game 6 Friday night, when another ineffective fourth quarter may have shaken the Bulls’ confidence a bit. In short, the old guys looked vulnerable.
“You always feel vulnerable,” Jordan scoffed. “But it doesn’t mean you can’t go out and play the game with intensity and the idea of being successful. I never think that we felt invulnerable. I felt we just had a confidence about being successful. I don’t think that’s been totally eliminated. I still think we’re very confident about what we can achieve.”
Rarely in the last eight years has the Bulls’ confidence been questioned.
“I don’t think we lack for confidence,” coach Phil Jackson said. “I just felt there were some guys who weren’t on top of their games.”
But against a feisty and gutty Indiana team, the Bulls have had an inordinate amount of trouble finishing games, faltering three times down the stretch; thus, the 3-3 series standoff. It happened again Friday when a couple of defensive lapses, a couple of questionable calls–or so the Bulls claimed–and a rare Jordan miscue cost them the game.
The Bulls led for much of the third quarter, but never by more than five points. With Jordan resting on the bench, the Pacers claimed a one-point lead by the end of the quarter, which was not insignificant given the 20 lead changes and 17 ties in the series’ most closely contested game.
“We thought we were in good shape to win,” Jackson said. “We felt comfortable that we were carrying the action in the third quarter. They made a great third-quarter run to finish and get some initiative.”
And once again the Bulls looked tired when the fourth quarter rolled around. One reason that has been a serieslong problem is Indiana coach Larry Bird’s wise use of his bench players, in particular Jalen Rose and Travis Best, whose quickness has taken a toll on Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
Jordan is averaging 40 minutes a game and Pippen 36 in the series. Both played a game-high 42 minutes in Game 6. Is it a surprise Jordan was just 2 for 7 from the floor in the fourth quarter and stumbled to the floor for a key turnover in the waning seconds when the Bulls were trying to tie the game? Whether Jordan was tripped by Derrick McKey is not the the issue. The fact is, Jordan had a costly miscue.
“You have to just let it slide off your back,” Jordan said. “But it’s tough.”
If the Bulls are to advance to the NBA Finals for the third straight year, they have to take care of a few things.
They have to do something about Rik Smits, who thoroughly outplayed Luc Longley while scoring a team-high 25 points on 11-of-12 shooting in Game 6. And Dale Davis, making the most out of Toni Kukoc being in the starting lineup instead of Dennis Rodman, had 19 points, his career high for the playoffs, and a team-high eight rebounds.
That kind of production offset Reggie Miller’s 2-for-13 shooting.
“I didn’t think we’d ever see a line like Reggie Miller had and we could not beat this team,” Jackson said. “But their big guys, (Dale) Davis and Smits, they dominated the game, and we suffered the consequences.”
Which is why the Bulls are playing Game 7 of a playoff series for only the second time in six years. And what does that say about the Bulls?
“All it says is that we can lose games on the road,” Jordan said. “Outside of that, I don’t know.”
