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Bulls vs. Knicks. 1989 Playoffs Game 6. Jordan 40pts/10asts

Uploaded by: starks23
Video Description:
May 19, 1989
The Bulls finished the 1988-89 season with the 6th best record in the Eastern Conference. After eliminating the 2nd seeded Cavaliers in the first round, they faced the Knicks who had the 3rd best record in the conference.
Jordan continued his point guard duty in this series. He averaged 35.7pts/9.5rb/8.3ast over 6 games. This includes Game 2 in which he played limited minutes mainly because of foul trouble and finished with 15pts/3asts. In the remaining 5 games he averaged 39.8pts/9.8rbs/9.4ast.
Bulls were up 3-2 but since Knicks had the home court, this was a must win situation for them. Knicks were fighting for their lives and Pippen's ejection at the end of 3rd quarter made things even more difficult.
Jordan finished with 40pts(14-22), 10asts, 5rbs, 2stls. More importantly, when Knicks hacked him in the last seconds he just didn't miss at the line. Still, Trent Tucker was almost stealing the game with an incredible 4-point play but Jordan came to the rescue one more time.
After dealing with Jordan for 6 games, Rick Pitino said Jordan "is the best player to ever put on a uniform".
Post game notes & quotes:
------------------------
Air Jordan savior again as Bulls take East semis
Houston Chronicle. May 20, 1989
CHICAGO - When all else was falling apart around him, magnificent Michael Jordan put on his Superman cape and rescued the Chicago Bulls.
One more time.
Eight Jordan free throws without a miss in the closing 78 seconds, including the two game-winners with only four ticks left on the clock, enabled the Bulls to complete their National Basketball Association playoff upset of the New York Knicks.
With a dramatic 113-111 victory in Game 6 Friday night at Chicago Stadium, the Bulls, who ranked only fifth in their strong six-team Central Division during the regular season, eliminated Atlantic Division champion New York in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series bitterly contested throughout.
If not for Michael Jordan, however.
Knick Coach Rick Pitino grimaced when Jordan went to the free throw line with four seconds remaining in the game. He had a feeling the Chicago Bulls' guard would sink the two free throws.
`Michael Jordan is the best player to ever put on a uniform,' Pitino said.
``He did the same thing against Cleveland at the end when they got him the ball. We played him as well as we could."
``We were trying to pressure the ball and force them to go to someone else,'' Pitino added. ``It just didn't work.''
Jordan won this game not with one of his twisting, impossible-angle reverse hooks, not with a buzzer-beating jump shot, not by leaping high in the air to swat away an opponent's last-gasp effort - all moves that have created his current status as a young legend.
Instead, he won it by calmly stepping to the free-throw line time after time, ignoring the stifling pressure and touching only net with every effort.
He took two shots with 1:18 remaining and the score tied at 103.
He made both.
He had two more shots with 23 seconds left and Chicago ahead 107-105.
He made both.
He shot twice again with nine seconds remaining and the Bulls on top 109-107.
He made both.
That should have been enough. But when Knicks guard Trent Tucker accomplished a four-point play - yes, a four-point play, improbable as that seems - three seconds later, Superman was needed again.
Tucker's remarkable play came when he shot in desperation from three-point range, made the basket and was fouled by Craig Hodges, either a horrible judgment on Hodges' part or an official's mistake.
``I didn't touch him,'' Hodges said.
``I don't think Craig touched him,'' Bulls Coach Collins agreed. ``I think Trent Tucker fell. I think it was a swan dive.''
Others thought they saw Knicks center Patrick Ewing push Hodges into Tucker.
Regardless, Tucker made the free throw, the game was tied again at 111 and the Bulls seemed on the brink of losing a game that couldn't be lost.
Already, they had committed one critical mistake, starting forward Scottie Pippen challenging Knicks reserve Kenny Walker to a third-quarter fight. Under NBA rules, both players automatically were ejected. At the time, Pippen had 19 points, Walker zero.
``And it hurt us badly because I had to go to a small lineup,'' Collins said. ``Otherwise, we didn't have enough quickness to stay with them.''
"We missed Scottie tremendously both offensively and defensively," Jordan said. "That meant I had to play a little bit at small forward. That created a mismatch at the other two guards - with (Gerald) Wilkins being guarded by (John) Paxson and Craig Hodges.
"That meant I had to go to the boards more and we all had to pick the slack for Scottie Pippen.
"And I think everybody made a conscious effort to make up for the loss. We felt we still could win and we went out and executed that."
And though the Bulls battled gamely to protect what was a 10-point lead, Jordan said, ``We lost our poise on offense. We didn't take care of the basketball. We didn't execute.''
And here they were, four seconds from the end of regulation time, having lost all their lead.
Even Superman conceded, ``When they made that four-point play, I thought, `Maybe it wasn't meant for us to win tonight.'''
But Jordan wouldn't let the Bulls lose. He accepted the basketball one last time, started up court, dribbled once, twice and was fouled again.
``I was a little nervous at the line,'' he said later, a characteristic Jordan hid well at the time. ``But I had great rhythm on my shot all night. And I had great concentration.''
He sank both shots, his 39th and 40th points. And when Johnny Newman missed a three-point effort at the buzzer for New York, Chicago was ensured a date with Detroit in the Eastern Conference finals beginning Sunday at Auburn Hills, Mich.
``I'm elated,'' said Jordan, who has never before reached this level of playoff competition. ``I may not show my elation, though, because I'm still shocked, still nervous.''
Jordan finished the series with a 35.7-points-per-game scoring average, and in the final four games he tallied 40, 47, 38 and 40 points.
Down the stretch this game, he showed, too, yet another dimension of his all-around brilliance.
``With Scottie Pippen out, and three guards in our lineup, I put Michael on Mark Jackson, their point guard, defensively in the final minutes,'' Collins said. ``I felt Jackson would be the man trying to make the big plays. And I wanted Michael guarding him.''
And Jordan handled the task admirably.
Jackson, who had sparkled earlier, did finish with 22 points. So did teammates Patrick Ewing and Wilkins. And in a must-win game on the road, the Knicks made 52.8 percent of their shots, outrebounded Chicago 32-27 and could easily have won.
Except for Jordan.
He was 14 for 22 from the floor. He sparked the Bulls to a 32-31 first-quarter lead, then when they fell eight points in arrears in the second period, he led them back to within 61-59 at halftime.
During one third-quarter stretch, Jordan scored seven of 12 Chicago points and assisted on the other five.
===============
(commentary wasn't English)

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