THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 23, 1996 TAG: 9605230358
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: GUY FRIDDELL
LENGTH: 55 lines
At midcourt before the game Tuesday, an NBA official gave Chicago Bull Michael Jordan the trophy for being the most valuable player on the planet in basketball.
Jordan held the trophy in his right hand by its leg, waggled his left hand to quiet the applause and then handed off the trophy to somebody as if he had been asked by an automobile mechanic to ``hand me that whatsit, will ya.''
Then the game began with the Orlando Magic, and Jordan demonstrated why he merits the whatsit for the fourth time.
But not right away. In the first half Chicago was as flat as a second-day souffle. Orlando's more than 300-pound Shaquille O'Neal backed over the Bulls, a steamroller in reverse.
He stood, mountainous, down front of the basket. When a team-mate threw him the ball, massive Shaq backed up, shoving the foe, and, wheeling, rose, a breaching whale thrusting aside dolphins, and slammed the ball through the hoop.
By halftime, Shaq had scored 26 of his game-high 36 points. Well into the third quarter, Orlando led by 18 points. This was the reverse of Monday, when Chicago trounced Orlando by 32 points.
The difference Tuesday was that Chicago, spurred by Jordan, came back midway in the third quarter and earned a 93-88 victory that gives the Bulls a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with Orlando.
Jordan, who scored only 10 points in the first half Tuesday, finished with 35. Explaining Chicago's swarming comeback, he said, ``Once I got a couple of steals, everybody began to believe and we started to open it up. They are not a team that always handles defensive pressure well.''
The Bulls put a full-court press on the Magic, staying in their faces, double-covering O'Neal.
``Michael's intensity pushed us in the second half,'' said Bulls coach Phil Jackson. ``The defensive pressure was the key to turning the game around and generating our offense.''
In the final 20 seconds, hitting four free throws while the crowd chanted ``M-V-P M-V-P!'' Jordan sealed the win.
``Any time you allow Michael Jordan to go to the line 16 times, we are not going to have a chance,'' Orlando coach Brian Hill groused.
``Every time he drove to the basket, we got called for the foul, even though he initiated the contact.''
But O'Neal's style is as aggressive as Jordan's. The difference is, Jordan hit 15 of his 16 free throws while O'Neal was as apt to miss as to hit. When he strode to the line and gazed at the basket, his face, wall-eyed, was as fearful as a small boy's facing a spanking.
Games 3 and 4 will be played in Orlando Saturday and Monday. It's an engrossing show. Shaq and Mike will be back. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Michael Jordan, most valuable player on the planet, matches up
against aggressive but sloppy-from-the-line Shaquille O'Neal in the
Bulls-Magic series. by CNB