Charles Barkley called it “the greatest basketball game I ever played in.” Let it reflect on Barkley that it was an awkward, ugly, scrapping battle, the sort that routinely results when two teams are not given adequate time to travel long distances between games in the National Basketball Association finals–the sort, also, it should be pointed out, that the Bulls have managed to win the last two years. The Bulls have typically marshaled their concentration if not their strength in such situations, and that has usually been enough to win; on this evening they did not. Yet it was as Barkley said, a great game; it would take a bitter and allegiance-blinded sports fan to deny that. But its greater import? That was still up in the air.
In the second game, when the Bulls fell behind 2-0, Pippen had argued and been thrown out after being called for palming the ball. In the fifth game, he threw the ball out of bounds when he confused a referee on the wing for a teammate, and all he could do was smile. Somewhere, he had regained the relaxation and poise essential to all great athletes. “Damn the critics,” he said with some satisfaction after the series was over. And asked if he had “finally arrived,” he responded, “What do you think? I got two rings so I think I arrived some time ago.”
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Sunday, the Suns came out showing defensive intensity, contesting every pass. But the Bulls ran with them, just as they had to open the second game before puffing away. Jordan hit a three to tie the game at 17, Pippen followed with a 20-footer, and Armstrong drove for a lay-up. One Phoenix basket later, Pippen added a jumper, Jordan followed suit, and then Jordan stripped the Suns’ rookie center, Oliver Miller, in the lane and went the distance for an uncontested layup and a 27-19 lead.
Giving Jordan, Pippen, and Horace Grant their final rests of the game, Jackson watched helplessly as the second team let the Suns run out to a double-digit lead midway through the fourth quarter. Then Jackson sent in Jordan, Armstrong, Pippen, Grant, and Scott Williams, the lumbering backup center who had played particularly well in the first two games. He came up here with an inadvertent steal–simply had his arm out in a passing lane–and Pippen converted it into a thunderous dunk to bring the Bulls to 99-90. Majerle finally threw up an air ball and Armstrong hit a three on the fast break, making it 101-94. Johnson, who had found his lost range from outside in the second half, finally missed an open shot and Jordan hit a 15-foot jumper–101-96.
But when Pippen rose from the bench 90 seconds into the frame, neither team had scored. Once in, Pippen fed Williams in the lane for a basket and Jordan down low for a lay-up. The Bulls were up four with two minutes to go.
The Bulls were unable to answer. Pippen lost the handle on the ball and hurled it straight up into the air; that turned into a Barkley dunk. Grant fouled out and was replaced by Stacey King. He came down with a clutch rebound, then threw it straight to Barkley, lurking under the basket between King and Jordan. Barkley jammed it for a five-point lead. The outcome from there was academic.
