They had decided upon the proper anti-Jordan double-teaming, used successfully by Milwaukee in last year's play-offs. Finally, Jordan's foul problems and DJ's improved defense locked upon the game's most exciting player like a seat belt. He missed a jumper to begin the second quarter and didn't shoot again, leaving with his fourth foul on DJ's three-point play at 4:21.
"The (fourth) foul was a joke," Bulls coach Stan Albeck said. "He wasn't even around the play on the foul. The replay clearly showed he hadn't even touched Dennis Johnson."
Jordan recognized DJ's D-fense. "You get to see a guy enough, you start adjusting to him," Jordan said. "I couldn't really do what I wanted to do, and he had good team help.This was a different defense -- different from what I'd seen the whole series."
What follows is the most significant compliment the Celtics could receive: Jordan admitted he stopped looking for his shot. He found himself thinking about passing first and scoring second. "Yeah, I probably did," he said. "I was almost hoping they could come to me, so I could pass it to the open man."
The open men -- his teammates -- converted 31 of 71 (44 percent). "In the future, I hope the Bulls can upgrade their supporting cast," he said. "I would like to have the kind of supporting cast Bird has. You can't double-team Bird because he can give it to Parish or McHale."
The final nail had arrived yesterday afternoon, when George Gervin's wife had informed the Bulls that Jordan's backup would be unable to play because of the flu. Albeck was not publicly upset with Gervin's absence. "He's absolutely wiped out. He's been throwing up for two days," said Albeck, adding that he wants Gervin to return to the Bulls next year.
Anyway, Jordan et al spent their final moments watching Albeck get ejected and the fans litter the court with debris. "As great as Michael is," said teammate John Paxson, "he's not going to score 56 every night."
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