The ball floated toward the basket, history and the hearts of players and fans riding on its descent. Their eyes were glued to it as it cut through the tension-charged air.
Chicago's place in NBA history, one very long season and six close games involving two determined teams had come down to this."It seemed like the ball was in the air for about an hour," Phoenix coach Paul Westphal said. "I knew we were at the mercy of that ball."
There were just 3.9 seconds left when the shot John Paxson had launched from 3-point territory dropped through the net. It made the score 99-98, and left the Bulls one play away from becoming the first team in 27 years to win three straight NBA titles.
And Horace Grant, coming off what he called one of the worst games of his life, made that big play.
Grant blocked Kevin Johnson's jumper from just beyond the foul line with one second left. It was a clean block, Grant stretching his long arm around from Johnson's right side and hitting all ball.
The buzzer sounded and it was all over. The Chicago Bulls were NBA champs once again.
"This is a marvelous finish," Chicago coach Phil Jackson said. "I've never seen a final game win like this in my years in the NBA."
Now the debate about the Bulls greatness can begin. They won the best-of-7 series 4-2, taking all three games in Phoenix.
The Minneapolis Lakers from 1952-54 and Boston Celtics from 1959-66 were the only other teams to win at least three straight titles.
Jackson pointed out that seasons were shorter then, and Michael Jordan noted that there were only one-third the number of teams as there are now.
"Winning three championships is something that really hasn't hit us yet," said Scottie Pippen, who had 23 points. "But one day we'll realize we're one of the great teams."
Maybe so, but they sure didn't look like one in the fourth quarter Sunday. Their 12 points in the quarter was a finals record for fewest in a final period.
Chicago led 87-79 after three quarters, but missed its first nine shots of the fourth quarter by the time Charles Barkley's layup tied the score 88-88. They had become disorganized, they forced shots, they had three 24-second violations called on them in a little more than seven minutes.
"We were out of sync, out of rhythm offensively," said Jordan, who led Chicago with 33 points and won his third straight finals MVP award. "Their defense had a lot to do with it."
Jordan, whose foul shot gave the Bulls their first point of the fourth quarter with 5:51 to go, finally hit Chicago's first basket of the period with 5:21 left, giving the Bulls a 90-88 lead.
But Dan Majerle, who had 21 points, followed with a jumper that gave the Suns their first lead since the first quarter. Phoenix led 98-94 going into the final minute.
Jordan, who had the first nine of Chicago's points in the fourth quarter, scored on a full-court drive with 38 seconds left. Then Majerle threw up an airball from the right corner, resulting in a 24-second violation that left 14 seconds in the game.
Trailing by two, Chicago designed a play for Jordan, but he couldn't get the ball back after passing to Pippen. Pippen passed inside to Grant, who was close enough for a layup. But he hadn't hit a basket since Game 4, and passed to Paxson behind the 3-point arc.
"Horace did the right thing," Jordan said. "He missed a layup the time before so his confidence was shot."
Paxson was open because Phoenix's aggressive defense kept reacting to the ball movement.
"You don't want to give up a 3," Ainge said, "but you don't want to give up a dunk either. Tough play."
"There was no one around me," Paxson said. "That was just instinct. . . . You catch and you shoot. It's something I've done hundreds of thousands of times in my life."
"I've lived out a fantasy of mine."
And Barkley, who led Phoenix with 21 points and 17 rebounds, lived out a nightmare.
"It's just really difficult, you just hurt," he said at the end of a season in which Phoenix had the best regular-season record and he was the MVP. "We have been at this for six, seven, eight months. Now it's over. Just like that."
The Bulls capitalized on Phoenix's tight inside defense to set an NBA playoff record of 10 3-pointers. They missed just four times.
Jordan's 41.0 scoring average broke the Finals mark of 40.8 set by Rick Barry in 1967.
The Bulls dashed to the lockerroom immediately after the game. Champagne corks popped, and Paxson was the first Bull to get doused.
B.J. Armstrong sat on the floor, leaning against a folded chair. He covered his facewith a newly printed championship T-shirt and sobbed. Jackson then grabbed his two hands, pulled him upright and embraced him for 10 seconds.
"This (title) means more to me than the other two," Armstrong said, "because we had to work more as a team."
They had a tight battle with Phoenix. Each team scored 640 points in the series, and Chicago's combined margin of victory was just 18 points. One Phoenix victory took three overtimes.
"One or two plays makes a difference between making history and not making history," Jordan said.
Paxson made the play this time, a reminder of his performance in the clinching game of Chicago's first title in 1991. He hit five baskets in the last four minutes as the Bulls erupted from a 93-93 tie for a 108-101 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
As Paxson calmly put up the decisive shot Sunday, Jordan said he felt none of the uncertainty that filled America West Arena as the ball headed for the net.
"Once Paxson got the ball, I knew it was in," Jordan said of his teammate of eight years. "We didn't lose our poise down the stretch. We always believed we could win."
They did, and now they can look ahead to something no NBA team has had a chance at in over three decades: four championships in a row.