If Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen comprise the NBA’s quintessential dynamic duo, then the combination of Toni Kukoc and Ron Harper deserves “Best Supporting Actors” honors after their performances in Sunday’s 96-54 blowout of the Utah Jazz.
Kukoc delivered 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals in 34 minutes. Harper had eight points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, a steal and a blocked shot in 30 minutes of action.
“I just had a lot of energy today,” Harper said.
“We came out today, moved the ball around, passed the ball, and we just had fun playing. You have to understand, we have guys who have five championship rings. I only have two championship rings.”
Kukoc helped discourage the Jazz in the first half as the Bulls took a 49-31 lead at intermission.
“We knew the game was not over and we had to go out and do the same job in the second half,” he said. “That was the thing we talked about at halftime. We went out there with that idea.”
With a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, Kukoc says his team cannot afford to become complacent for Wednesday’s Game 4 at the United Center.
“We have to forget about the game and just see the good things that we did,” he said.
“We have two days before Game 4 and we just have to take this as a game that we won and we have two more games that we have to win if we want to become champs again.”
Whatever signs of fatigue that the Bulls displayed in the opening two games were not evident Sunday.
“It’s the Finals and we are not saving anything for later,” Kukoc said. “We didn’t expect this game to be. . . . I don’t want to say this easy, but we just played really good basketball tonight.
“We came out with the same energy and the same intensity and played the whole second half as well as we did in the last minutes of the first half,” Kukoc said.
The animated home crowd of 23,844 seemed to buoy the Bulls.
“Today, I got out of bed and I said: `There ain’t nothing like home.’ It just felt like being at home was the thing,” Harper said.
The Bulls’ record-setting defensive effort saw them overcome a hot start by Karl Malone, who finished with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting. No other Jazz player finished in double figures.
“Karl Malone started pretty good, but we held everybody else. They were not scoring,” Kukoc said. “Once we found a way to close (down) Karl Malone, we did a pretty good job.
“I think we played aggressive on the pass, we played aggressive on Malone. When we needed a double-team we double-teamed.”
