Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 19, 1993 TAG: 9305190132
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: RICHFIELD, OHIO LENGTH: Medium
Just when you think Michael Jordan's resume can't take another line, he does something like that.
Does this man live his own commercials?
I mean, didn't he already do this once? Is he now reduced to redundancy?
How many gasps can one man cause without blushing? How much breath can he wring out of the world? How often can he stun the decent citizens of Cleveland into gape-mouthed silence?
As often, apparently, as he needs to.
Monday night, there was Gerald Wilkins, the hired nuisance in Jordan's face, tighter on him than Craig Ehlo was those several years ago when Jordan hit The Shot that Slapped Cleveland Forever.
"I had all ball," Wilkins said. "It seemed like he went back a couple of inches and let it go. I said, `no way' and it went down."
The ball did touch a little rim, not that it matters, but the net accepted the ball like carpet takes bare feet, quietly and gratefully.
There was the clock, relentless and remorseless, counting backward by decimals, and there were the Cavaliers, having found just enough pride on the night the Bulls were taking their destiny for granted. Couldn't Jordan allow them one tiny morsel of self-respect?
"He just knew it was going in and end our season," Cleveland coach Lenny Wilkens said. "That's what great players do."
That's what this one does.
He ended Cleveland's with that shot, 103-101.
This was not The Shot II. It was A Shot, just one of 24 on a night when more than half of them had not gone in, when once again an ouchy wrist was being overused.
"The other one was tougher," Jordan said, "because if I miss that, we lose."
B.J. Armstrong, who was not here for the first shot, could look at it with a fresh appreciation.
"I was just frozen in time," Armstrong said. "It took an instant before I realized what happened out there."
Had the Bulls played better or the Cavs continued their polite flinching, it would not have been necessary. It ended a night when duty seemed more motive than joy.
All it meant was that the Bulls could now search the rest of the week for something to occupy their time while New York gets on with its half of The Showdown.
Had Jordan missed, overtime was the worst option. Had the Bulls lost, another skirmish with the Cavaliers at the Stadium would have been a way to pass a Wednesday night.
"We weren't very good tonight," Chicago coach Phil Jackson said. "Maybe it's better to be lucky than good. We were lucky we could hang around for three-and-a-half quarters. We were lucky Michael can do what he does at the end of the ball game."
It may not even have been a good thing, for it allows the Bulls to postpone the real world even longer. Their journey through the playoffs has been prepaid, without the first challenge until Monday night.
There were hints of how hard this is supposed to be, playing against a real center for the first time. Brad Daugherty finally earned his pay.
Wilkens was touched by something inspired, if only dumb luck, but offered an omen of what can happen when ciphers get hot.
The officiating leaned to sympathy, the first time the Bulls have gotten the worst of it.
Maybe the playoffs finally started for the Bulls on Monday night.
What comes next will be as different as a jackhammer from a Q-Tip.
Can't wait.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB