Forty-four hard minutes with Clyde Drexler and the rest of the Portland Trail Blazers hounding his every move may have been too much for Michael Jordan.
"He might have been a little weary," Chicago coach Phil Jackson said. "He missed point-blank shots he usually knocks down."Jordan scored 32 points, but missed 15 of 26 shots, including his last four, and committed five turnovers as the Trail Blazers defeated Chicago 93-88 to level their best-of-7 NBA Finals series at two games apiece.
Jordan's last points came with 10:27 to play, giving Chicago a 73-66 lead.
"I got a little winded," Jordan said. "I played a lot of minutes . . . when Scottie (Pippen) got into foul trouble. I didn't have the legs to finish my shots and I overcompensated."
After Wednesday's game, Jordan said: "We played a good 42 minutes. The last six minutes we didn't execute properly. We did get flustered down the stretch."
The Trail Blazers shut down Jordan at the end. Drexler played sound man-to-man defense against the player who beat him out for league MVP honors. And when Jordan got by Drexler, other Blazers were there.
"It takes five to fill the gaps when Michael puts the ball on the floor," Danny Ainge said. "We broke through with our defense."