SHARP BULLS GET STRONGER; JORDAN NEARLY HITS TRIPLE-DOUBLE IN ROUT OF JAZZ.

Byline: Associated Press 

The Chicago Bulls did indeed disassemble something - their once formidable opponent.

Michael Jordan was at his unstoppable best, nearly getting a triple-double, the Bulls played team defense at the highest level and Chicago humbled the Utah Jazz 97-85 Wednesday night in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

``We came out on the heels of what we did in the first game,'' Jordan said. ``We basically stayed in the same focus as last game. Right from the beginning of the game through the end we maintained our defensive pressure.''

The victory came amid considerable handwringing in Chicago over the future of the Bulls, whose coach, best player and leading rebounder will be free agents at season's end.

But if Game 2 proved anything, it's that Chicago management would have to be crazy to break up this bunch. This was the Bulls at their best in every facet of the game.

Jordan, who had 38 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists to barely miss the first NBA Finals triple double of his career, simply toyed with everything the Jazz threw at him.

As the crowd once again chanted ``M-V-P, M-V-P'' for Jordan, he burned Jeff Hornacek for 11 first-quarter points, scored nine in the second - primarily against rookie Shandon Anderson - when the Bulls pulled away for good, and added 10 more in the third as Bryon Russell tried to guard him.

By the time the fourth quarter arrived, the Bulls didn't even need him. But Jordan stayed in and went for the triple-double, barely missing it when Scottie Pippen blew a wide-open layup with 3-1/2 minutes left, a 3-pointer with 2:15 to go and a jumper in the lane a minute later - all of which would have given Jordan his 10th assist.

``Pippen made me aware of it when he missed that layup. . . . That's OK,'' Jordan said.

``I should have made the layup,'' Pippen admitted.

The series resumes Friday night at Salt Lake City, where the Jazz has a 21-game winning streak. Utah will be trying to become the first team in 20 years and the third overall to come back from an 0-2 deficit in the finals.

They'll need something out of Karl Malone, who couldn't have looked less like an MVP. Malone gave an indication of the way this game would go when he stepped to the foul line 93 seconds into the game and missed two free throws.

It was a repeat of his failure at the end of Game 1, and a roaring United Center crowd couldn't have been more pleased.

Having won four of the past six titles, the Bulls seem to have an overwhelming edge in confidence. The Jazz, meanwhile, were passing up open shots on the outside, failing to penetrate inside and relying too much on Malone to carry the load.

He finished with 20 points on 6-for-20 shooting, and had 12 rebounds. Hornacek added 19 and John Stockton 14 for the Jazz, who never led and didn't cut their second-half deficit below double digits until 1:34 remained.

It wasn't enough to undo the damage inflicted primarily by Jordan, the four-time finals MVP who made the winning shot at the buzzer in Game 1 and seems to be on his way to a fifth award.

He shot 11 for 20 from the field and 15 for 21 at the line, and it got to a point in the second half where Jordan was looking down at his defender, giving him a grin and then making his moves with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

Nobody else on Chicago did anything spectacular numbers-wise, but that didn't mean the rest of the team didn't contribute. Ron Harper scored 13 points and became the first player in a long time to contain Stockton.

Pippen scored only 10 points, with six rebounds and four assists, but he set the tone defensively for the Bulls by blocking the first shot of the game, a layup attempt by Russell.

It gave Chicago a rush of adrenaline that helped contribute to a game-opening 8-1 run, and the Bulls used their defense to overcome their one drought in the second quarter, when they missed nine straight shots.

Chicago took control of the game with a 12-0 run in the second quarter that made the score 43-29. The Bulls held the Jazz to just 31 points in the first half, one above the record-low for the finals.

The rest of the game was almost a formality, the Bulls keeping Utah behind by double digits until Hornacek hit a 3-pointer to make it 93-85 with 1:34 left.

The Jazz, who led the league in field-goal shooting at a shade above 50 percent, finished at 40 percent for their worst performance since Game 3 of the second round.

They also made only 25 of 35 free throws - a trend begun by Malone's back-to-back bricks - and committed 15 turnovers.

``I thought we were intimidated right from the beginning of the game,'' Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. ``If you allow them to destroy your will to win, it's hard to compete. . . . I didn't think we put all our energy into competing tonight.''

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--color) Would-be MVP Michael Jordan goes up and under Utah's Karl Malone to score in the third quarter.

(2) Chicago's Dennis Rodman (91) and Luc Longley (13) battle Utah's Greg Ostertag for a rebound during the first quarter.

Associated Press