There were 18 seconds left to play, the Bulls were up a point in Orlando against the Magic, and the ball was in Michael Jordan’s hands. Moving low to the ground and in that distinctively fluid, floppy fashion of his, he dribbled past Nick Anderson and across center court. At that moment, however, everyone watching in the stands and on television saw what was about to happen–everyone, that is, except Jordan. It was a trap, a designed play called a “backwash” (in the terminology of basketball analyst and former coach Dick Versace on Channel Five later that night). Anderson let Jordan go by, but then followed in his wake, and at the instant Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway stepped out from his man to halt Jordan, Anderson reached out and swiped at the ball, sending it right into Hardaway’s hands. Hardaway dribbled around Jordan, the Bulls’ Toni Kukoc backpedaled into place between Hardaway and the hoop, and Hardaway delivered a crisp pass to Horace Grant cutting down the far wing for a slam dunk.
Still, if Jordan is mortal he is no mere mortal, and in the wake of that crushing defeat he came back as only he can, leading the Bulls to a series-tying victory in Orlando with a 38-point performance, making 11 of 13 shots from the field in the second half. Of course, even Jordan needed a little help psyching himself up after game one, so he returned–forevermore, one assumes–to his old number, 23. For a few days, that created the sort of off-court controversy that has frequently followed the Bulls through the playoffs. By the end of the six-game series, however, it was forgotten by everyone but those who had invested in truckloads of number 45 Bulls jerseys.
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The defensive key to that game two victory was the Bulls’ renewed synchronicity in their double-teaming scheme. In their first-round playoff triumph over Charlotte, most basketball writers had given the Hornets the edge in individual matchups. Yet the Bulls had confounded Charlotte by switching Jordan onto five-foot-five point guard Muggsy Bogues on defense. This allowed Jordan to follow Bogues’s entry pass to low-post center Alonzo Mourning and poach on the double team. The Hornets never really solved that scheme, as Bogues couldn’t flow to the hoop because of his size and he never shot well enough from outside to make the Bulls pay. Again, against the Magic, most writers gave Orlando the edge in individual matchups, with clear advantages at point guard, with Hardaway, and at center, with Shaquille O’Neal, and a probable advantage at power forward (no one then knew how overwhelming an edge) with Grant. The Bulls once more hoped to overcome ability with tactics, and in game two they were sharp in double-teaming O’Neal, with Pippen coming across the lane and–this was the difference from game one–either Jordan or Kukoc then flowing into place opposite Grant, to pick off or inhibit the pass from O’Neal.
In the third quarter, with Jordan performing a little prestidigitation on a reverse lay-in driving through a triple team, the Bulls managed to reclaim the lead. But with the score 86-80 early in the fourth quarter, Kukoc turned the ball over on a three-on-one fast break. The Magic scored on the next possession, and what would have been an eight-point lead was back to four. Coach Phil Jackson was enraged, and the Bulls never really reclaimed the initiative. They had been running the ball up throughout the game, attacking the Magic before they could set up their defense, but now the Bulls just went flat. The Magic were the younger team, and it showed. They outscored the Bulls 17-4 down the stretch to take the lead in the series with a 110-101 victory.
That led to game six at the United Center a week ago Thursday. The Bulls by this time were clearly the older, more weary team; their double-teaming had been lax in the previous game. And the Magic were determined not to let the Bulls slow the pace. Orlando hit everything in the early going. They had 25 midway through the first quarter–a 200-point pace–and the Bulls had to run to keep up.
After a time-out Jordan came down, drew a triple-team at the free-throw line, passed to Luc Longley under the basket–and Longley missed the bunny. An Orlando free throw later, Jordan again drove and again attempted a pass to Longley–a more difficult bounce pass through traffic–and this too went awry. And that was it.
“I don’t have a lot to say, guys, really. It’s the end of the season. It’s a bit of a drag. And I’ve got nothing colorful for you.”
