Head coach Phil Jackson called Toni Kukoc and Pete Myers the “X factors” of the Bulls’ playoff run. He meant not X as in X-Men–although with his new two-tone, black-and-white goggles Horace Grant looks, more than ever, like a Marvel Comics hero. Not X as in exceptional, because Kukoc and Myers have been exasperating as often as they’ve excelled. But X as in “X the unknown,” that pet phrase of algebra teachers, for the unknown quantity of their performance under pressure.
Myers was a nonfactor in the second half, and Kukoc got flustered later in the fourth quarter, just at a point when the Bulls couldn’t afford to get flustered. Early on, the Bulls’ rest advantage had helped carry them to the lead–52-42 at halftime–and in the third quarter they maintained their advantage, even as the Knicks increased the defensive pressure, because the Bulls’ offense just kept churning. The Knicks played that tough man-to-man defense, but the Bulls kept making passes and cutting around screens until finally, with four seconds or so on the shot clock, someone would come free. But a couple of Kukoc turnovers ignited a New York charge. The Knicks cut the lead to 76-72, and Kukoc came out for Myers. The offense continued to sputter, and Jackson sent in John Paxson, the team’s pacemaker, to regulate the heartbeat. But Paxson couldn’t stay with his man, John Starks, on defense, so Jackson sent Kukoc back in with the score tied at 79 halfway through the final quarter. The Bulls took a final, short-lived lead, but the Knicks came back–the Bulls coming apart in the final minutes–to win 90-86.
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After the second game, he was receptive with reporters and open about the Bulls’ defensive strategy, in which he was called on to pay as much attention to the Cavs’ dangerous point guard, Mark Price, as to Wilkins. “If Mark Price breaks the defense down, I’ve got to come over and help,” he said. “You all should realize, we prefer Gerald taking that three rather than Mark Price.
In the third game, Kukoc led the Bulls on a 16-point run late in the third quarter and early in the fourth, as they rallied from a nine-point deficit to take the lead. The Cavs regained their balance to tie the score and force overtime, but the Bulls won 95-92, with Kukoc scoring 18 points.
Pippen has always been a great and promising player, but he’s developed a new and unexpected aspect of his game this year–a smoothness in his presentation, a confidence, elan. This can be seen most clearly in his new, elegant turnaround jumper, but he can also amaze with silky smooth moves in the open court. Against the Cavs, he came down once on a fast break, dribbled into traffic, went up, and then, palming the ball in his left hand, softly swung it up and into the hoop. With both Pippen and Kukoc peaking for the playoffs, the Bulls seemed to offer too much talent for even the Knicks to handle.
