After a controversial offensive foul gave his team the ball late in the game, Michael Jordan soared toward the basket for an eight-foot bank shot over two defenders with three seconds remaining Saturday to give the Chicago Bulls an improbable 99-97 come-from-behind victory over the Detroit Pistons at Chicago Stadium.
Not only did the Pistons have a chance to win this third game of the NBA Eastern Conference finals, but they also botched an opportunity to re-establish their swagger and psychological edge, both of which had taken a beating in the opening two games of this best-of-seven series.The Pistons, the most feared team in the league entering the playoffs, had silenced a sellout crowd of 18,676 and apparently crushed Chicago's spirit in taking a 14-point lead with just over seven minutes to play. But the visitors couldn't come up with the knockout blow. Instead, that was provided by Jordan, the man who makes the spectacular merely look routine.
"To have all that in the palm of their hands and then have it taken away from them; what does that do to them?" asked Jordan. "And look at us; we didn't play a game that we deserved to win but we still got a victory - that's got to hurt them a lot."
The Pistons still have not given up 100 points in any of their 10 playoff games, but that seemed rather hollow in the face of the Bulls' 27-11 spurt that cost them Saturday's contest and put Detroit on the short end of the only statistic that counts - Chicago's 2-1 series advantage. Game 4 will be played here Monday afternoon.
"We should be a stronger team than that," said Detroit forward John Salley of the Pistons' inability to hold on at game's end. "Everyone should be the most alive in the fourth quarter - maybe we need a heart check."
Jordan ended with 46 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals. Ten of his 17 fourth-quarter points came in a three-minute span down the stretch. And yet, for most of the afternoon, Chicago, the fifth place team in the Central Division and sixth in the conference, looked very much like a team that didn't deserve to be playing this late in the season.
Trailing 86-72, the Bulls had shot just 44 percent from the field. Jordan was Jordan, but the all-star was receiving virtually no help. Starting forwards Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen had combined for six points and six rebounds and off-guard Craig Hodges was in the throes of a one-for-seven, two-point day from the field.
But just as was the case in Chicago's 94-88 victory in the series opener last Sunday, the Pistons blew a gasket down the stretch. Pippen missed two free throws and Dennis Rodman scored on a layup to give the visitors a 93-87 lead with 2:48 remaining. Jordan scored for the Bulls but Vinnie Johnson came right back with a basket of his own for Detroit with 2:15 left.
Very few could have known that it would be the last field goal the Pistons would score. Jordan made a jumper and Grant added a tip-in a short time after Johnson was called for an offensive foul to make it 95-93 with 1:24 to play. Joe Dumars made two free throws at the 1:10 mark but Jordan scored again and, when Rodman was called for a loose ball foul, Grant tied the game with a pair from the line with 28 seconds left.
Detroit took a timeout and when play resumed, the team went to its bread and butter play - a two-man game with Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer at the top of the key. In most cases, Thomas either uses the center's pick to drive to the basket or shoot an open jumper; if both defenders chase the guard, he passes back to Laimbeer for another open shot.
Saturday, neither happened. Referee Bill Oakes whistled Laimbeer for throwing a hip at Jordan while setting his screen, the turnover giving the ball back to Chicago with nine seconds left.
"I didn't know what happened," said Thomas. "I came off the pick, the next thing I knew there was a whistle. I was surprised because I didn't know what the call could be - I thought maybe a fan had run out on the court and the refs wanted to stop the game."
"Basically, the offensive player must give the defensive player an opportunity to go around a screen," said Oakes afterwards. "In this instance the defensive player ran into the offensive player and he (Laimbeer) did not give him that room."
While bemoaning that call, as well as the charge against Johnson and the foul on Rodman in the closing minutes, the Pistons knew that given their lead and killer reputation, Chicago still shouldn't have been able to close the gap.
"Up 14 with seven minutes to go, you're supposed to win," said Detroit Coach Chuck Daly. "It's difficult to lose a game like this; we didn't score down the stretch and they took the game away from us. They deserve it because we just didn't respond when we had to."
By now, fans in Chicago and around the NBA should be used to Jordan coming through when it matters the most. Already in the playoffs he's ended series against Cleveland with a last second jumper and against the New York Knicks with two free throws with four seconds remaining.
Following the offensive foul against Laimbeer, Jordan took the basketball near the top of the circle.
"I think that was the most important thing, just getting the basketball; everybody in the gym knew it was coming to me," he said. "After I got it, the next thing I did was look at the clock because I wanted to make sure we got the last shot.
"Rodman's played me tough before but I knew that I had the advantage because I had a step on him. When I left my feet for the shot I jumped horizontally so that I could avoid the charge and still keep a good eye on the basket."
The only thing that went wrong in Jordan's equation for game-winning success was that there were still three seconds to be played after the ball settled through the net. Dumars got off a three-point attempt that almost banked home, but when it bounded off the rim, the Bulls had escaped with the victory.