They shackled Shaquille O'Neal, stifled Anfernee Hardaway and completely discombobulated the only dimension of Dennis Scott's game. The Chicago Bulls have come to be known as a great offensive machine in the open court, but they get their hands dirty, too.
As a result, Shaq, Anfernee and their bandaged teammates looked like mud today.
Because they made the Magic chip paint off the rim in the fourth quarter of an ugly 86-67 victory, the Bulls are one game from returning to the NBA finals for the first time in three years.
The Magic's point total was the second lowest in league playoff history, 3 more than Portland's 64-point debacle 20 days ago in Game 5 of its series with Utah. Orlando entered the final period down by 63-57. In the final 12 minutes, the Magic proceeded to shoot 3-for-18 and crumble horribly under the weight of Chicago's defense.
"Guys are kind of upset, kind of embarrassed," O'Neal said.
They should be.
How Orlando went from a budding Eastern Conference dynasty to another doormat for Michael Jordan and his Bulls could take a crack research team months to unearth. What is clear from Game 3 of the conference finals is that Hardaway (8-of-24 from the floor) and O'Neal (1-of-9 from the free-throw line, 5 turnovers) have a long way to go to become prime-time players along the lines of Scottie Pippen (27 points, 11-of-14 from the field, 6 rebounds, 7 assists) and Jordan (17 points on 5-for-14 shooting, 7 rebounds, 4 assists). Pippen picked up the slack today for Jordan, who scored only 4 points in the second half. Those two had plenty of support, too, most notably from the typically feisty Dennis Rodman, who gathered in a game-high 16 rebounds.
Game 4 will be Monday at 3 P.M. at Orlando Arena. No team in league history has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a four-of-seven-game series, and the Magic, with its injuries and execution problems, does not appear a likely candidate. Orlando shot 33.8 percent for the game, made only 5-of-23 3-pointers.
"We're in trouble," Anthony Bowie said.
The Bulls had their concerns, as well, especially regarding the health of Jordan. He went down hard after losing his dribble on a drive with more than seven minutes left in the game. He crumpled to the floor as Anderson fell alongside him. Jordan rose slowly and limped back to the bench during a timeout with 7:01 left.
He massaged his twisted left ankle on the sideline, and then had a slight limp when he returned to the game after the timeout. With about two minutes left and the outcome decided, Jordan came out of the game and retired to the locker room.
"I'll get treated and I think it'll be O.K. by Monday," he said.
Orlando, of course, had much bigger problems.
The Magic made one run at the Bulls, closing within 55-52 with less than four minutes left in the third quarter when Scott and Anderson each dropped in long 3-pointers. After each shot, though, Pippen came down the floor and hit hanging jump shots -- silencing the arena before it reached unsafe decibel levels.
Pippen, who had been shooting 39 percent in the series made up for Jordan's quiet day.
"I felt great today," he said. "I had a good rhythm on my shot."
Orlando, which had gone 25-0 before losing a game at the Orlando Arena on March 26, finished the season 37-4 at home and had been 5-0 here in the playoffs.
It is almost unbelievable how fast the Magic's aura of invincibility disintegrated. Nearly one year ago, Anderson was poking the ball away from Jordan in the waning moments of the conference semifinals, O'Neal and Hardaway were being lauded as the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson of the 90's and the story of the NBA playoffs was how quickly this emerging basketball kingdom in Central Florida was built.
Today, that kingdom is crumbling with even more astonishing swiftness.
After today's game, the Magic's Jon Koncak surveyed an empty locker room. "Everybody's gone", he said. "Stick a fork in it. We're done."
Информация по комментариям в разработке