NBA Playoff 97-98 Game3 (recap)

Chicago 96, Utah 54

SUNDAY, JUNE 7

While Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls proved to be immune to Finals fever, the rest of the Utah Jazz caught the bug that was bothering Karl Malone.

Michael Jordan hits the fadeaway jumper in Game 3 as Utah's Karl Malone can only watch.

Jordan scored 24 points and the Bulls forced the Jazz into a sickly performance that led to a record-setting 96-54 victory and a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals, putting to rest talk that their dynasty was dead.

"We're not afraid to attack," Jordan said. "We're in a situation where either we kill or be killed, and I like the way we have to attack, instead of letting people attack us."

Helped by the home court, Chicago's defense swarmed all over Utah, forcing bad shots and turnovers and taking everyone out of the offense except Malone, whose quick start was nowhere near enough to carry the Jazz.

"It was one heck of an effort defensively for our team," Bulls coach Phil Jackson said. "We were very quick to the basketball. Malone did shoot the ball well, but other than that, we stopped the rest of the team."

"I don't know if I've ever seen a team play better defensively since I've been in the business," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "They ate us alive. We couldn't get in the offense, we couldn't get the ball up the floor."

Utah shot 38 percent, committed 12 turnovers in the first half and trailed 49-31 -- matching the second-lowest total in Finals history. The Jazz did not get their usual bench boost and were not aggressive on either end of the court. And that was their good half.

Utah's 23-point second half was the worst in the history of the Finals. The Jazz struggled to the lowest total in playoff annals as they shattered the 43-year-old Finals record of 71 and absorbed the worst defeat in Finals history.

A missed jumper by Jacque Vaughn at the buzzer prevented the Jazz from surpassing the 55 points scored by the Indiana Pacers on March 29, the lowest total of any game in the shot-clock era.

"This is actually the score," Sloan asked, looking at the boxscore. "Is this the final? I thought it was 196. Seemed like they scored 196."

"I'm not going to put too much significance in it," Jackson said. "I know that it's an awesome score to look at, it's overwhelming in that respect. But I think if you look at the momentum surges in the game, and understanding the direction of the ballgame, you can see how the possibility might happen."

For the first time in the series, the Bulls were effective on offense as well. They closed the first quarter with an 8-0 burst and went for the kill at the end of the second quarter, scoring 12 of the last 14 points. They had another burst at the end of the third quarter and limited the Jazz to nine points in the fourth period, another Finals record.

"Our offense has been sporadic to some degree, but we've somehow found a way to make sure we finish our game," Jordan said. "And tonight was a great offensive game from everybody."

Toni Kukoc scored 16 points and Scottie Pippen added 10 for two-time defending champion Chicago, which hosts the next two games Wednesday and Friday and can close out the series at home unless Utah puts together a complete game very soon.

The Bulls got strong games from Scott Burrell, who collected 10 points and nine rebounds, and Ron Harper, who added eight and 10. Chicago shot 49 percent (37-of-76), held a 50-38 edge in rebounds and forced 26 turnovers.

"I think our team defense has been a key from Game One," said Pippen. "We've kept continually running them out of their sets. Our defense is what's carrying us throughout the series."

"This is a game we thought might be a possibility, but we don't want to set our hopes on this as being a steady kind of thing for the rest of the series," added Jackson.

Malone, who shot just 14-of-41 in the first two games at Utah, bounced back with 22 points on 8-of-11 from the field. But his teammates shot just 24 percent (13-of-59). Chicago eventually found a way to slow down Malone as well, allowing him just five shots after the first nine minutes.

Game One hero John Stockton had two points, seven assists and five turnovers as the Jazz lost two in a row with him in the lineup for the first time this season. Shandon Anderson had eight points, but Utah's bench was outscored for the first time in the series, 30-17.

"They had a hell of a defensive game and we didn't respond," Malone said. "It's an old-fashioned beating we got tonight."

Malone made his first six shots, including a fadeaway jumper that gave the Jazz a 14-9 lead with 3:32 left in the opening quarter. Then the Bulls came alive on both ends of the court.

Luc Longley threw in a hook and a free throw before finding Kukoc with a nice pass for a layup. Kukoc grabbed a missed free throw by Ron Harper and scored, giving Chicago a 17-14 lead after one period.

"He made his first six shots. I think he found his rhythm early," Jordan said. "I think the thing for us was we never let anyone else get started."

"I thought the breaking point was when they got an offensive rebound off the free throw," Sloan said. "They've gotten some rebounds earlier, but when you start letting that happen, that's a total lapse in your concentration."

With Malone on the bench at the outset of the second quarter, the Bulls continued their surge. Pippen made a running hook and a jumper in the lane to give Chicago the lead for good. Until Anderson answered with consecutive inside hoops, Malone was 6-of-6 and his teammates were 1-of-18.

Jordan went backdoor for a dunk, elbowing Anderson in the head along the way, as Chicago opened a 29-21 lead with 7:04 to play in the period. Bryon Russell's two free throws kept the deficit at 37-29 with 2:39 left before the Bulls attacked.

Jordan scored on a drive and Malone's first miss led to Kukoc's layup. Jordan stole Stockton's pass and switched to the left hand on a tough driving layup before Ron Harper scored inside for a 45-29 lead in the final minute.

Jeff Hornacek made a jumper, but Dennis Rodman got into the act with a 15-footer of his own with 6.7 seconds left. Burrell stole the inbounds pass, then rebounded Harper's miss and drew a foul. His free throws boosted the advantage to 18 points.

"Defensively they turned it up a couple notches," Stockton said. "We did not respond by gritting our teeth and executing. We tried to do it our own way, and that doesn't work. And that just snowballed on us. I think it was the start of what just continued on."

Excluding Malone, the Jazz made 7-of-27 shots as they barely surpassed the 30 points managed by Houston against Boston on May 9th, 1981. Utah also scored just 31 points in the first half of Game Two last year.

Any chance the Jazz had of getting back into the game ended when they went scoreless for almost the first three minutes of the third quarter. The Bulls again closed the quarter with a vengeance as Jordan scored five points in an 11-3 run that widened the lead to 72-45 and turned the fourth quarter into a combination of garbage time and a record watch.

Both teams emptied their benches to the bottom, but no matter who played for the Jazz, they could not score. Chicago's Steve Kerr finally found his shooting touch with two three-pointers and Jud Buechler added a pair from long range. Utah managed just three points over the final six minutes and missed 17 of 21 shots in the period.

The previous largest margin of victory was a 35-point win by Washington over Seattle in Game Six of the 1978 Finals. The Jazz also made just 21 baskets, breaking another record.

"Look at our history," Jazz guard Jeff Hornacek said. "When things go bad, they go real bad. There's no middle road."

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