Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 20, 1995 TAG: 9503210076
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Medium
Michael Jordan scored 19 in his return to the NBA after quitting the game for 21 months.
But the former All-Star missed 21 of 28 shots as his Bulls lost to the Indianapolis Pacers.
The double-pump fakes? Check. Mid-air hangs, explosive drives, out-of-nowhere passes? Check, check and check.
In his dramatic return to the game he dominated, Michael Jordan showed all the elements that made him great, a tantalizing reminder of what the NBA had missed during his 21-month hiatus.
Only his shooting touch was missing, and no one - including Jordan - expects that to be absent for long.
``I got something to build upon,'' Jordan said. ``If I score 60, it looks boring. I have to build myself up to my caliber of play.''
He took 28 shots, but made only seven - a .250 average that was better than the .202 he batted in the Class AA Southern League last season. He had 19 points, six assists, six rebounds and three steals in 43 minutes of play Sunday during the Bulls' 103-96 overtime loss to the Indiana Pacers.
``The expectation is, `Can he do the same things he did two years ago?''' Jordan said. ``I look forward to the challenge.''
Late in the game, he answered it. With two neat jumpers, he kept Chicago close in overtime, tying it at 94, then pulling Chicago to 97-96 with 1:32 left.
That kind of competition is what brought him back from his sudden retirement in October 1993 and a yearlong flirtation with professional baseball.
``I tried to stay away as much as I could,'' he said, ``but when you love something so long and you walk away from it, you can only stay away so long. I missed my friends and my teammates.''
Jordan didn't exactly pick up where he left off in his last game, when he led the Chicago Bulls to their third consecutive NBA title in June 1993.
For one thing, his shorts were on backward. The NBA logo that was supposed to be on the front of the right leg of the Bulls' shorts was on the back of his left leg.
But on the defensive end of the court, it was as though he never left. Assigned to guard Reggie Miller, one of the league's best shooting guards since Jordan, he didn't embarrass himself, even though Miller finished with 28 points in a game the Bulls never led.
``He's still got all of his stuff,'' Miller said. ``I'm sure conditioning is going to be a problem for him for a game or two. But once he gets in the rhythm ... oh my goodness.''
Jordan's best play of the game came in the third quarter, when he blocked a shot by 7-foot-4 Rik Smits from behind, stripping the ball and sprinting upcourt for a driving, tongue-wagging finger-roll layup. That basket, with 8:55 left in the quarter, cut the Pacers' lead to six points, at 50-44.
``I thought Michael showed his brilliance in many ways,'' said Bulls coach Phil Jackson, whose team lost for the first time in four games.
With 19 seconds to play, Scottie Pippen's 3-pointer tied the score at 92. With three seconds left, Jordan fouled Miller hard and both players went down. After staying down for several seconds, Miller limped to the bench with a bruised right thigh.
Jordan stayed down longer, holding his left knee, but was on the court when the game went into overtime. The crowd at Market Square Arena actually booed him.
The Pacers put away the game when Chicago's Luc Longley fouled Byron Scott as Scott drove to the basket, the ball bounced in and Scott hit the floor. Scott converted the free throw to make it 102-96 with 29.8 seconds left.
Jordan scored Chicago's only points of the extra period.
``It's a miracle with the limited time he had to prepare to play like that,'' said Larry Brown, the Pacers's coach. ``People have to be a little realistic. It's going to take him some time to play at the level people expect him to play at.''
``I started cramping up toward the end,'' Jordan said.
He went 1-for-7 in the fourth quarter, but that hardly mattered.
Jordan was back in the game.
by CNB