The Portland Trail Blazers have spent most of the NBA Finals trailing the Chicago Bulls. So the wall they must scale to win the NBA title and deny the Bulls a repeat championship should make them feel right at home.
To overcome its 3-2 deficit, Portland would have to win the sixth and seventh games at Chicago Stadium on Sunday and Wednesday nights. Five teams have rallied from a 3-2 deficit to win the Finals, but none of them have done it by winning twice on the road.The Blazers also face a Bulls team that appears incapable of playing poorly two games in a row. Eleven times in the last three seasons, Chicago lost a playoff game, only to win the next game.
The Blazers won Game 4 despite falling behind 10-0, then lost the fifth game 119-106 Friday night after another 10-0 run by the Bulls in the opening minutes.
"We're coming out of the dressing room slow," the Blazers' Danny Ainge said.
"It's tough to keep running up the mountain," Portland guard Terry Porter added. "We need to come out and be a lot more focused in the first quarter. We have to continue to work hard, stay aggressive and try to create something."
Porter scored 17 points Friday night, one of six Trail Blazers in double figures, but he missed his first six shots and didn't even attempt a 3-pointer. His 2-for-11 long-range accuracy in the series contrasts sharply to the NBA-record 18 3-pointers he made against Utah.
"We're a little stunned," Porter admitted about the Bulls' winning two of three games at Portland. "Chicago just came in and did the job."
Doing the best job Friday night were Michael Jordan, who scored 46 points, and Scottie Pippen, who had 24 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.
"Michael is a special kind of player," Portland's Buck Williams said. "He wasn't going to be denied. He does what has to be done to win. He put his team on his shoulders and carried them for 48 minutes."
Jordan and Pippen, the NBA's highest-scoring duo in the regular season, combined for 25 points in the first period when the Bulls took a 39-26 lead they never surrendered.
"We work hand-in-hand together when we're both playing well because the defense can't key on both of us," Jordan said. "Scottie was really big for us."
While playing well in crucial games, the Bulls also have shown a tendency to let down when they aren't under pressure. The Bulls have struggled to a 14-7 postseason record this year after going 15-2 on the way to their first NBA title in 1991.
"It's a situation where we realize we can't be complacent," Jordan said. "We have to take care of business so there's no Game 7. We know how close it is, but as it gets close, it gets harder. You have to block it all out as the game gets started."
"We can't take anything for granted," Bulls guard John Paxson
said. "Portland is not going to hand it to us. We have to be ready to meet the challenge."
Clyde Drexler, who had 30 points and 10 rebounds for Portland on Friday, said the Blazers can't afford to let the Bulls get off to another fast start in Chicago on Sunday.
"All season long, we've been able to get out of the box quickly, but Chicago has been coming out with a lot of intensity," Drexler said. "That's why it's important to establish the intensity early on Sunday."
Despite the loss, Portland scored more points in regulation than any game in the series, benefiting from tight officiating to hit 35 of 44 free throws.
But Williams said the Trail Blazers have to concentrate on defense to have a chance to overcome the Bulls.
"We aren't going to win with our offense," he said. "Trying to get in our offensive mode has gotten us into all kinds of trouble. We've been forcing a lot of things. We need to win with `D' and be a great rebounding team."