AN OPENING STATEMENT : BULLS WIN GAME 1 BY 38; MAGIC LOSES GRANT WITH INJURY CHICAGO 121, ORLANDO 83.Byline: Terry Armour Chicago Tribune Chicago Tribune Daily newspaper published in Chicago. The Tribune is one of the leading U.S. newspapers and long has been the dominant voice of the Midwest. Founded in 1847, it was bought in 1855 by six partners, including Joseph Medill (1823–99), who made the paper The Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are a professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They play in the National Basketball Association. The team was founded in 1966, and has won six NBA Championships since. had a year to ponder what the Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). History Early years The Orlando Magic officially entered the NBA as an expansion franchise in 1989. did to them. The Magic has just 48 hours to think about what the Bulls did to it. The last time Orlando made a postseason trip here, the Magic effectively ended the Bulls' season and left them wondering what they'd have to do to be in a position to get back at Orlando. Some work was done. A few changes were made. And Sunday, the Bulls gave the Magic something to think about, pounding Orlando 121-83 at the United Center and taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals. Except for getting a leg up on the Magic - something the Bulls failed to do against Orlando in the first game of last season's Eastern Conference semifinals - the Bulls aren't putting too much weight on what happened Sunday. That's because the Magic has until Tuesday to dissect dissect /dis·sect/ (di-sekt´) (di-sekt´) 1. to cut apart, or separate. 2. to expose structures of a cadaver for anatomical study. dis·sect v. over and over what the Bulls did to it. It probably won't take a year to forget about its worst playoff loss. ``We understand it's one win - that's all,'' said a completely reserved Bulls coach Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson (born September 17, 1945 in Deer Lodge, Montana) is the current coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, an American professional basketball team. . ``We just go on from here.'' Funny. Orlando coach Brian Hill has the same sentiment. ``All we have to worry about now is Tuesday's game,'' Hill said. ``Obviously, we're down O-1. We just have to find a way to play a lot better basketball. I don't think we gave a good account of ourselves.'' The Bulls had a lot to do with that. It goes beyond Michael Jordan This article is about the former basketball player. For other uses, see Michael Jordan (disambiguation). Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player. , who led them with 21 points, proving he could peacefully coexist with his teammates. That was a problem last year when the Magic beat the Bulls in six games. Sunday, every Bulls starter except Ron Harper
Ronald Harper (born January 20, 1964 in Dayton, Ohio) is a retired American professional basketball player whose career spanned from 1986 to 2001 with four teams in scored in double figures, and he had another solid all-around postseason game with eight points, seven rebounds and six assists. In fact, every Bull who played scored, with the Bulls breaking the 100-point mark for the first time in six playoff games. James Edwards was the only one who didn't play, and he wasn't needed because Dennis Rodman (13 points, 21 rebounds) was ably guarding Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal (pronounced "shak-KEEL") (born March 6, 1972 in Newark, New Jersey), frequently referred to simply as Shaq, is an American professional basketball player, generally regarded as one of the most dominant in the National Basketball Association (NBA). (27 points on 13-of-21 shooting) whenever he was asked to. The balanced scoring is just one thing Hill and his team are worried about. The Bulls basically let O'Neal and Anfernee Hardaway, who had a career playoff-high 38 points, do whatever they wanted on offense, preferring to concentrate on Nick Anderson For the editorial cartoonist, see . Nelison "Nick" Anderson (born January 20, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois) is a retired American basketball player. He spent thirteen years in the NBA (beginning in 1989), most of them with the Orlando Magic. , Dennis Scott Dennis Scott may refer to:
Grant was forced to leave the game when he injured his left elbow after running into O'Neal, but X-rays were negative. Hill didn't know how many games - if any - Grant would miss. Grant already was having a bad day. In 28 minutes, he took just one shot and missed, and had just one rebound. As for Anderson and Scott, they were a combined 0 of 10 from the field, with Anderson's two points coming on a pair of free throws. Harper hounded Scott so much that he hardly touched the ball. Anderson was so riled rile tr.v. riled, ril·ing, riles 1. To stir to anger. See Synonyms at annoy. 2. To stir up (liquid); roil. [Variant of roil.] Adj. 1. by Jordan's defense that when he found himself open, he rushed his shots. That's the defensive philosophy the Bulls used against the Magic in taking the regular-season series 3-1. The Bulls did double-team O'Neal, but only sporadically. Scottie Pippen Scottie Maurice Pippen (born September 25, 1965 in Hamburg, Arkansas) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). would back down into the paint and swipe at the ball to break his concentration just as Luc Longley (14 points in 13 minutes) or Rodman would put a body on him. At least O'Neal recognized the double-teams and kicked the ball back out, accounting for his team-high six assists. But if O'Neal is leading Orlando in assists, that means the Bulls also are doing the job on Hardaway, who had just three assists. ``Scottie may not get the credit for guarding Hardaway because Hardaway got 38 points,'' explained Jordan. ``But what he did was to get us to a point where we didn't have to double-team Shaq.'' The Bulls also were successful at controlling the boards, thanks to Rodman, who had as many rebounds (13) by halftime as the entire Magic team. TURNING POINTS The keys to the Bulls' easy Game 1 win over the Magic: Off the mark: Aside from Penny Hardaway (38 points) and Shaquille O'Neal (27 points), the Magic starters did nothing. Horace Grant, Dennis Scott and Nick Anderson combined for two points on 0-for-11 shooting. On the ball: Is he worth the trouble? Sometimes. Dennis Rodman finished with 13 points and 21 rebounds, grabbing seven of the Bulls' 20 offensive rebounds. The Bulls outrebounded the Magic 62-28 CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, Box PHOTO (1--color) Orlando's Shaquille O'Neal finds i t's hard to shoot when Chicago's Toni Kukoc and Dennis Rodman defend. (2) Horace Grant shows the pain after injuring his left elbow in the fourth quarter. Associated Press Box: Turning Points (see text) |
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