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Bulls Get Cooking, Turn Off the Heat

CHICAGO, May 28 — Michael Jordan said it would be personal. Instead, it became the Chicago Bulls' best collective effort of the postseason.

Jordan's shot was off in the last three quarters of the game and Scottie Pippen sat out the final 41 minutes with a sprained left foot, the rest of the team came together to push the Bulls to a 100-87 victory in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals and their fifth trip to the NBA Finals in seventh years.

Ron Harper scored 14 points, the missing-in-action bench carried the Bulls through the middle part of the game and Luc Longley got the better of the center matchup, outscoring Miami's Alonzo Mourning 14-13. Mourning did not get a field goal until he made a three-pointer with 2.5 seconds remaining.

Even Dennis Rodman, normally offensive in behavior only, contributed nine points.

Pippen sprained his left foot and came out of the game with 5½ minutes left in the first quarter. He went to the locker room with trainer Chip Schaefer, came back out after the start of the second quarter, but went back in again. X-Rays were taken, but revealed no fracture.

Pippen lobbied Bulls Coach Phil Jackson to return to the game, but the directive came down from up above; Bulls General Manager Jerry Krause, perhaps wanting to maintain Pippen's trade value, said Pippen could not play again.

In the first quarter, Jordan bore no resemblance to the Michael ("I am Tiger Woods") Jordan who missed his first 14 shots Monday after a day on the golf course Sunday. Jordan reportedly squeezed in another round or two Tuesday afternoon, but the weather was considerably cooler and less humid than in Miami. Tonight, Jordan shot 6-for-10 in the first quarter and had 15 points. he scored eight in the first 4½ minutes to get the Bulls off to a 16-2 start. But he made only five more field goals and finished with 28 points on 11-for-31 shooting. His second consecutive game with at least 20 missed field goals.

Tim Hardaway had 27 points for Miami, which shot 37 percent

The Bulls looked worn out Monday. They were bent over with their hands tugging on their shorts as early as the first quarter. And they never made the effort to rotate on defense, leaving Miami shooters wide open.

Tonight the Bulls fought through screens and got a hand in the face of almost every Miami shooter. They were just as tough inside, blocking five shots. The Heat missed 13 of its first 16 shots and finished the first quarter 6-for-21 (29 percent). Only the two three-pointers and 13 points of Tim Hardaway kept the Heat within view of the Bulls.

The Bulls led 33-19 after the first quarter. Monday, it took the Bulls two quarter to get 33 points in their lowest-scoring half of the season.

Jordan cooled off in the second quarter and missed his first seven shots before hitting a 15-footer at the buzzer. Chicago owed most of its 14-point halftime lead to the much-maligned reserves, who scored 20 points in the second quarter. Kukoc has been slow to recover from a foot injury that kept him out of the last month of the season and the rest of the Bulls bench had simply been off. With Pippen injured and Jordan off, the Bulls needed their reserves desperately in the second quarter. Backup center Brian Williams, getting some time at power forward at Dennis Rodman's expense, was the one reserve who had been playing well and he continued that with eight points in the first quarter.

Twice, the Heat pulled to within 10 points, but each time the Bulls came up with a little spurt. Jordan's buzzer-beater made it 64-50 at halftime. Hardaway had 20 points in the half.

Kukoc started in Pippen's place in the second half but he couldn't generate any offense until late in the quarter. The Bulls scored only 16 points, eight of them in the final two minutes. Once again, Miami could get no closer than 10.

Jamal Mashburn, who got off to a good start but then went to the bench with four early fouls, went to work in the fourth quarter to score nine early points.

The Bulls were annoyed that the Heat had cut into their personal time. They expected to have this series over, and spend some time off, resting up for the winner of the Utah-Houston series. Phil Jackson wanted to attend the high school graduation of his twin sons, which started at 5:00 tonight. He worked out an arrangement that would allow him to be there and arrive on time for the game: Jackson stayed until his sons received their diplomas, left the graduation at around 6:15 and took a helicopter from the north suburb of Deerfield to downtown Chicago.

How long did it take?

"About 18-20 minutes," Jackson said.

And how long is his normal commute?

"About 45 minutes," Jackson said.

Jackson got to the United Center shortly before 7 p.m., more than an hour before tip-off but 30 minutes after players are supposed to arrive for an 8 p.m. start. He said he would fine himself for the tardiness.