Mvp? Maybe It’s Jordan Bulls Win Opener On Shot At Buzzer

Michael Jordan had no control over who won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award.

But the Chicago Bulls’ star made sure that Karl Malone and the Utah Jazz wouldn’t beat him out Sunday night.

Jordan, who was denied a fifth MVP honor when Malone edged him out last month, began his quest for a fifth NBA title Making Vital Points. Jordan swished a 19-foot jump shot as time expired, sending the Bulls to an 84-82 victory in Game 1 of the NBA Finals at United Center.

As the ball went through the hoop, the defending champion Bulls took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 2 is Wednesday.

Jordan just turned and pumped his right fist once moments after his triumph. Afterwards, Malone’s status as MVP wasn’t questioned. But the Jazz star was actually asked who he thinks is the best player in world.

“What do you want me to say? Michael Jordan like everybody else?” Malone said. “Obviously it’s Michael Jordan no matter what Karl Malone says.”

Malone had a chance to have a big say in the final moments. With the score tied 82-82, Malone missed two free throws with 9.2 seconds left. Jordan rebounded the second miss, and the Bulls called a timeout with 7.5 seconds remaining in the game.

When Jordan got the ball with Utah’s Bryon Russell draped on him, he dribbled right, then quickly shifted left. Russell stumbled and Jordan pulled up for the game-winner.

“Once I got the ball, the options were limited,” said Jordan, who finished with a game-high 31 points and eight assists.

Jordan said he was surprised Russell guarded him, especially because the Jazz rotated Jeff Hornacek and Shandon Anderson on him the entire game. Utah’s other amazing maneuver was not to double-team Jordan.

“We thought about it,” Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. “But then we thought we’d play as straight as we could. We probably made a mistake.”

When asked if he now expects Jordan - a master at hitting game-winning shots - to make game-winners every time, Bulls coach Phil Jackson responded with a chuckle and an emphatic “no.”

“I’m not that confident yet,” Jackson said.

Jackson and Jordan both joked about the last time the Bulls were in a similar position during one of their previous championship runs. Jordan missed a last-second shot that could have beaten the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the 1991 Finals.

The Bulls beat the Lakers four straight games after losing that series opener. But Jordan said he won’t make predictions about what will happen with the Jazz.

Jackson won’t either. Until the shot, Utah didn’t play like a team that was jittery about being in the Finals for the first time. Utah, which won 64 games during the regular season, played toe-to-toe with the heavily favored Bulls.

“We were very fortunate to win this game,” Jackson said. “It’s obvious we couldn’t push the ball and run. They did a good job of controlling the tempo.”

Utah led 75-70 with 5:45 left in the fourth quarter after Malone got hot from outside and scored six straight points. The Bulls took their first lead in 10 minutes when Luc Longley’s layup put them ahead 76-75 with 3:30 left. From there, the game see-sawed.

“I don’t want to hear did them being here before make a difference. Absolutely not,” said Malone, who led the Jazz with 23 points and 15 rebounds. “The important thing now is don’t get our heads down. We did a lot of good things here.”

The NBA got just what it wanted for its season finale. It got the two best teams this season matched up. And it got the players who highlighted the closest MVP voting since 1981 pitted against each other.

So it figured a game that started out so poorly played would end up in thrilling fashion.

Utah led 18-17 after the opening period and 42-38 at halftime.

Bulls 84, Jazz 82

Reb

UTAH Min FG FT O-T A PF Pts

Russell 40 2-9 2-2 1-6 1 2 7

Malone 41 10-22 3-6 5-15 3 1 23

Ostertag 18 1-4 0-0 3-7 0 3 2

Stockton 38 6-10 2-3 1-3 12 2 16

Hornacek 32 5-9 0-0 0-3 1 3 11

Eisley 10 4-5 0-0 0-0 1 3 9

Foster 17 3-4 0-0 0-0 0 2 6

Anderson 19 1-3 0-0 0-2 1 2 2

Carr 20 3-8 0-0 2-7 1 4 6

Morris 5 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Team 7

Totals 240 35-76 7-11 12-50 20 22 82

Reb

CHICAGO Min FG FT O-T A PF Pts

Pippen 43 11-19 2-2 2-9 2 2 27

Rodman 33 2-7 0-2 4-12 1 4 4

Longley 28 3-6 0-0 0-2 3 2 6

Harper 29 1-6 1-2 2-6 3 0 4

Jordan 41 13-27 5-7 1-4 8 3 31

Kerr 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0

Kukoc 22 2-6 0-0 0-1 3 0 6

Buechler 12 1-2 0-0 1-1 1 1 2

Williams 15 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 2 0

Brown 10 1-3 2-2 0-0 0 2 4

Team 6

Totals 240 34-76 10-15 10-42 23 17 84

Utah 18 24 22 18 - 82

Chicago 17 21 24 22 - 84

3-Point goals-Utah 5-11 (Stockton 2-4, Hornacek 1-1, Eisley 1-1, Russell 1-3, Foster 0-1, Anderson 0-1), Chicago 6-16 (Pippen 3-7, Kukoc 2-3, Harper 1-3, Buechler 0-1, Rodman 0-2). Technicals-Chicago assistant coach Winter. A-24,544 (24,544).

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: THE STOCK REPORT A quick glance at Spokane’s John Stockton at the NBA Finals. Pts Ast Reb Stl Game 1 16 12 3 3 “There’s a lot of room for improvement, especially on the turnovers.” John Stockton