Bulls 122, Trail Blazers 89
BYLINE: By BILL BARNARD, AP Basketball Writer
SECTION: Sports News
LENGTH: 699 words
DATELINE: CHICAGO
Michael Jordan usually can do whatever he chooses on a basketball court. In Game 1 of the NBA Finals, he chose to be an outside shooter and it killed the Portland Trail Blazers.
Jordan scored a Finals record 35 of his 39 points in the first half and set another record with six 3-pointers in the first two quarters of the Chicago Bulls' 122-89 victory over Portland on Wednesday night.
Jordan, who was just 27 for 100 from 3-point range in the regular season and 5 for 16 in the playoffs, made a shambles of the ballyhooed individual battle with Clyde Drexler, who scored 16 points for the Trail Blazers.
"I was in a zone," Jordan said. "The 3s felt like free throws. I took them and they went in."
The Jordan explosion put the Bulls up as they opened defense of their first NBA championship. Game 2 is scheduled for Chicago on Friday night.
The largest margin of victory in the Finals was Washington's 117-82 win over Seattle on June 4, 1978.
On the eve of the Finals, Jordan compared himself to Drexler, saying the Portland Olympian is a better 3-point shooter "than I choose to be."
Jordan then hit 6 of 9 3-point attempts in the first half, lifting the Bulls to a 66-51 lead.
The 35 points broke Elgin Baylor's 30-year-old Finals halftime record of 33, and the six 3-pointers eclipsed the first-half record of four shared by Michael Cooper, Danny Ainge and Isiah Thomas. Jordan now shares the record for a game with Cooper and Bill Laimbeer.
Any hope that the Trail Blazers might rally in the second half ended early when Jordan's jumper capped a 15-2 spurt at the start of the third period. That gave the Bulls an 81-53 lead that Portland never threatened as Chicago continued to ride the wave of emotion raised by Jordan in the first half.
"This was one game, one game doesn't make the Finals," Jordan said. "We have three games out there."
Jordan left the game with 3:04 left in the third quarter after missing his only 3-point attempt of the third quarter, then returned briefly in the fourth period.
Chicago, hoping to become the third team in six years to win consecutive titles, has now won five straight games in the Finals. They lost the championship series opener to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1991, then won four straight for its first NBA title.
While the 1991 playoffs were a breeze for the Bulls with 15 victories in 17 games, they lost five times in the first three rounds this year. But if Chicago can win Game 2, they will eliminate any chance for the Blazers to take away the NBA title in Portland, where the third, fourth and fifth games are scheduled next week.
Scottie Pippen scored 24 points for the Bulls, who led by as many as 38 points in the third quarter and 39 in the fourth in matching the third-highest margin of victory in the Finals.
Terry Porter finished with 13 points for the Trail Blazers, who were 68 for 169 from 3-point range in their first 15 playoff games.
The Bulls' 29-for-80 3-point shooting in 16 postseason games contrasted sharply with Portland, but Jordan left little doubt Chicago could keep up in a long-range duel.
Porter scored 10 points and the Trail Blazers hit 11 of their first 14 shots, including their first seven, to lead 25-17 with 4:22 left in the first quarter. The Bulls missed 10 of 15 shots in the same span, but Jordan's first 3-pointer and his three-point play prevented Portland from breaking away.
Jordan then started a comeback with two more 3-pointers and two medium-range jumpers before a basket by B.J. Armstrong gave the Bulls their first lead, 29-28. A layup and rebound basket by Horace Grant completed a 16-3 run that gave Chicago a 33-28 advantage before the Blazers finished the quarter trailing 33-30 despite outshooting the Bulls 68.4 percent to 46.2 percent.
Jordan rested for nearly six minutes to start the second period, but it took him just 17 seconds to get it going again with a jumper. He scored 15 points, including three 3-pointers, in the final 6:17 of the quarter, keying a 19-6 spurt that gave the Bulls a 66-51 lead at halftime.
After his sixth 3-pointer of the half, Jordan turned to Magic Johnson at the NBC broadcasting booth and gave him a "What can I say?" shrug.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Copyright 1992 Associated Press
All Rights Reserved
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