Chicago 93, Utah 88

FRIDAY, JUNE 5

Michael Jordan and Karl Malone spent Game Two of the NBA Finals dueling misses. Malone won, and so did the Chicago Bulls.

Michael Jordan, who led all scorers with 37 points, hits the game-clinching shot in Game 2.

Jordan finally converted the go-ahead three-point play with 47 seconds left and Malone suffered through another meltdown, going without a basket in the second half, as the Bulls took advantage with a 93-88 victory over the Utah Jazz that evened the Finals at one game each.

The NBA's top two superstars did not look the part. Jordan scored 37 points, but needed 33 shots, making just 14. His go-ahead basket came after two forced misses as Chicago blew a six-point lead.

"I missed some easy shots tonight, I must admit," Jordan said.

But Malone was even worse. For the second straight game, he settled for jumpers instead of driving to the basket. After Jordan's play, he missed an open jumper with 25 seconds to go, capping an awful game. He shot 5-of-16 from the field, including 0-of-4 in the second half, and finished with 16 points as he was hounded by Dennis Rodman.

"All year I make those shots," Malone said. "It just comes at a (bad) time to not make them. I wish I could make a lot of excuses. But I don't have any."

"We anticipated Karl to come back and have an extremely good game after the first game," Jordan said. "But I think defensively we made our adjustments to force him to shoot jump shots, keep him off the free-throw line, don't give him direct looks at the basket." The Jazz won the opener in overtime despite Malone shooting 9-of-25 from the field. He is off to the same bad start he had in last year's Finals, when he shot 16-of-42 in a pair of losses at Chicago.

"We will not win this series if I don't play better," Malone said. "That's just the way it is. We have other guys that step up, but if I don't play well, we don't win this series.

"I keep taking opportunities if they're there, and I keep trying to do other things. But I think the worst thing in the world for me to do now is try to put the whole weight of the team on my shoulders."

Game One hero John Stockton was unable to rescue Utah this time. He went scoreless in the fourth quarter, when the Jazz went almost seven minutes without a basket and missed 11-of-15 shots. Stockton finished with nine points and seven assists.

Jeff Hornacek scored 20 points and Shandon Anderson added 12 off the bench for Utah, which lost at home for the first time in nine playoff games since the opener against Houston and blew a lead entering the fourth quarter for just the third time in 68 games this season.

"We came out very soft, and they were the aggressors," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "You're not going to win if you're not aggressive."

It could not have come at a worse time, as Chicago finally won a road playoff game after four straight losses by a combined 10 points. The Bulls gained the home-court edge and will host three straight games beginning Sunday night.

"These are two teams well-matched, have played a lot of games against each other," Bulls coach Phil Jackson said. "This is going to be some series."

"It's interesting to see what a little adversity does to your team," Sloan said. "I think we're pretty competitive. Maybe we'll come back and play pretty hard going in there. We have to, otherwise we go home."

Scottie Pippen scored 21 points for the Bulls, who grabbed 18 offensive rebounds, six in the fourth quarter, and also forced 20 turnovers. Chicago's last three hoops came after offensive rebounds.

"That's one of our strong points," Jordan said. "Dennis (Rodman) is a very active guy, so I think he takes a lot of the focus from the defense to try and keep him off the boards, and Scottie and myself and the guys can sneak in and get offensive rebounds."

"We gave them too many second opportunities on missed shots," Jazz center Greg Foster said. "We shot ourselves in the foot again."

Pippen hit a jumper after an offensive rebound as Chicago opened an 85-79 lead with 3:08 remaining, but while Jordan was missing twice, Shandon Anderson had a layup and two free throws, and Hornacek drilled a three-pointer for an 86-85 lead with 1:46 to go.

Pippen missed a shot, but Stockton threw away a pass with just under a minute left. Steve Kerr, the all-time leading three-point shooter, missed one but grabbed his own rebound. He fed Jordan, who was fouled by Stockton as he scored, completing the three-point play for an 88-86 lead.

"It was just a lucky play, really," Kerr said. "I missed the shot but the ball bounced right to me and Michael was wide open."

Malone missed and Kerr made two free throws with 19 seconds left. Chicago's Ron Harper made a steal and Jordan's two free throws sealed it.

Toni Kukoc scored 13 points -- all in the first half -- for the Bulls, who shot 42.5 percent (34-of-80), including just 3-of-16 from three-point range. Rodman battled foul trouble and Malone to grab nine rebounds.

"I thought Dennis did a great job on him as far as bodying him off," Jackson said.

Through three quarters, Utah shot 56 percent and held a 73-70 lead. Overall, the Jazz shot 49 percent (33-of-67), including 7-of-13 from behind the arc, and held a 32-15 edge in bench points. Bryon Russell scored 11 points.

Jordan scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, but had to work for them, missing 5-of-9 shots. But the Jazz were ice cold to start the period, missing their first six attempts.

"We made them go away from where their strengths are," Jackson said.

Jordan had a banker and a three-point play to cap an 11-1 surge that gave the Bulls an 81-74 lead with 5:19 left. Russell's three-pointer ended Utah's dry spell from the field with 5:01 to go.

The Bulls led by four points at halftime, and Jordan scored eight in the first 5:23 of the third quarter, including a lonely dunk after a transition steal by Rodman that gave Chicago its largest lead at 61-53. A missed jumper by Malone had Chicago looking like it was going to break it open, but Utah suddenly rattled off 11 straight points.

Malone made two free throws and Russell hit a three-pointer before Jordan took a costly rest with 5:15 remaining. A three-pointer by Hornacek tied it and Stockton dribbled the length of the court for a layup and the lead. Hornacek added a free throw for a 64-61 edge as Jordan returned with four minutes to go.

Malone missed a jumper and committed his fourth foul with 2:34 left, but the Jazz fared better without their leading scorer. Howard Eisley came on for Stockton and scored Utah's last seven points of the period, helping the Jazz take a 73-70 lead to the final quarter.

The Bulls began the game by again going to Jordan in the post for a jumper, but relied more on their triple-post offense and attacked the basket. Going hard to the hole was Pippen, who turned three drives into seven points, giving Chicago a 15-14 lead with 4:46 to go in the first quarter.

"Scottie was in an attack mode and Toni was in a good attack mode," Jackson said. "Michael didn't have to carry the scoring."

Meanwhile, Malone continued to struggle. He missed a jumper and layup around an inside basket, but three-pointers from Stockton and Russell kept the Jazz in it. Malone had a dunk off the screen-and-roll, but committed turnovers on consecutive trips.

Kukoc scored inside twice around Malone's first successful jumper to give Chicago a 23-20 lead after one quarter, but Jordan sat down to start the second period and Utah's bench again provided a boost. Anderson went into the post for six straight Jazz points and a left-handed layup from Antoine Carr gave Utah a 28-27 lead with 9:05 remaining.

Jordan returned and the Bulls went on a 9-2 run, featuring a three-pointer from Scott Burrell -- Chicago's first bench points. Malone drove for a three-point play and Greg Ostertag scored inside to cut the deficit to 36-35, but a pair of inside baskets by Jordan and three-pointers from Kukoc and Kerr built the lead to 46-39 with 2:39 left.

"We never destroyed their rhythm except for a couple of times and we have to do that to compete against them," Sloan said.

The referees needed a security escort off the court at the half after an eventful final minute. Hornacek was whistled for an offensive foul against Jordan, then tried to draw one from Jordan with a flop at the other end. Malone was bumped to the floor without a call before Ostertag's three-point play cut the deficit to 50-46 at halftime.

Jordan scored 14 points and Pippen added 13 for Chicago, which shot 52.5 percent (21-of-40). Malone shot 5-of-12 and scored 12 points and the bench added 19 for Utah, which shot 54 percent (19-of-35).

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