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March 28, 1995
Well, everybody knows this game. And I know
there are other shorter versions of this game
which are also excellent. Considering the
circumstances, it is an extraordinary game
even for Jordan's standards. Also, it's the
game in which he declared he's "really" back.
So I wanted to make another version with more
replays, more context, a post-game interview
with Jordan, quotes, articles and so on.
Since almost everything has already been said
about this game, I'll just point out a couple
of quick things. First off, it should be
mentioned that Riley's 94-95 Knicks was the
#1 defensive team in the NBA, measured by
points allowed per possession.
The only player who was able to score 40 or
more points against the Knicks that season
was young Shaq (41). Other than him, only 3
players managed to score 30 or more points at
Madison Square Garden against the Knicks in
the entire regular season. And here comes a
guy who hasn't played basketball for 18
months, scores 55 points on 21-37 shooting
(57%) in just his fifth game, commits only
two turnovers, and dishes out the game
winning assist. Just too good to be true by
any standards.
One other thing is that there's a crucial
play towards the end of this game which is
not included in most of the highlights.
Jordan is about to sink another jumper over
Starks 1:20 to go in the game. Ewing comes
out to double and manages to block the shot
with his fingertips.
It's very important because after the game
Jordan said that play was on the back of his
mind and as soon as he saw Ewing coming out
to double him in the last play, he knew his
man would be wide open. Knowing that provides
more context for the final assist and makes
it even more special.
Post game notes & quotes:
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NEW YORK -- Message delivered. Message
accepted.
Michael Jordan, in only the fifth game of his
comeback, used the NBA's biggest stage to
offer some irrefutable evidence that he still
is the game's best - hands down, no doubt
about it.
It was a game for the ages.
It was a game that at least 100,000 people
will probably swear they saw at Madison
Square Garden. In the end, it was Jordan who
made a remarkable play that gave the Chicago
Bulls a victory.
Jordan's pass to Bill Wennington for an
uncontested dunk with 3.1 seconds to play on
Tuesday night lifted the Bulls over the
Knicks, 113-111. Jordan scored 55 points on
21-for-37 shooting, but it was his pass that
won it.
The 55 points also established a new high for
points scored in an NBA game this season. The
previous high was 53 points by Willie Burton,
but Jordan needed only four games and eight
practices to beat that total.
Some statement, huh?
"I just let my game go, let my game come to
me," he said. "I forgot how to make a
statement."
Yeah, right.
"It was a statement that Michael Jordan is
back to play basketball," said Bulls coach
Phil Jackson. "That's one thing we can count
on."
With the score tied, 111-111, and the final
10 seconds ticking away, Jordan drove into
the lane against John Starks, drew New York's
defense to him, then spotted Wennington alone
underneath the basket. Wennington caught the
bullet pass and stuffed the ball through the
net.
Jordan said he was thinking shoot-first, but
couldn't because of the Starks-Ewing
double-team. "In the huddle," Bulls guard
Steve Kerr said, "we decided to clear out and
let Michael go. We put four shooters on the
floor in case they tried to double-team
Michael. Michael made his move, Ewing
double-teamed and he threw it down to Bill.
When he caught it, it didn't take a shooter
to make that one."
"On the play before, I seemed to have Starks
beat, Patrick came in to help and made the
play," Jordan said. "I knew that. But I'd be
lying if I said I came out to pass the ball.
I came out to score. This time when Patrick
came, I was able to make the pass and he was
open."
The Knicks still had one last chance to
answer, but it slipped away. Anthony Mason
inbounded at midcourt to Starks, but as he
went to make a spin move around Jordan,
Starks slipped and lost control of the ball.
It trickled beyond midcourt, and when Starks
retrieved it he was called for a backcourt
violation with 1.3 seconds to play.
"A lot of times when we came in here, I
wanted to go out and do well and I was too
enthusiastic and I was tense," Jordan said.
"This time, I had low expectations for
myself."
"I knew I wasn't that far away. As much as I
practiced, I needed to play games. I guess it
took four games to get a rhythm down."
It was almost as if Bulls picked up where
they left off during the 1993 playoffs, the
last time the Knicks had played against
Jordan. Patrick Ewing (36 points) carried the
Knicks down the stretch and almost carried
them back, but just like he has done so many
times, Jordan found a way.
All the Knicks could do afterward was shake
their heads and regroup. None of them was
surprised by Jordan's heroics.
"That's Michael Jordan. That's why he's the
best," Starks said.
"I tried. I tried to throw everything I had
at him. It was a matter of time before he
played one of those games like you just
weren't there."
Ewing, who had stepped away from Wennington
and toward the ball on the winning play, had
little to say after the game. Little except
praise for Jordan.
"He's a great player _ the best in the game.
And he proved it tonight," Ewing said.
Said Charles Oakley, "Everybody who played
against Michael knows what he can do.
Nothing's changed."
Charles Smith lamented the fact that Jordan,
who has now played five games since coming
out of retirement, waited until the Knicks
game to look like his former superstar self.
"Now, he decides to play well?" Smith said.
"I think it's all a joke that he's not
playing well and he comes to the Garden and
drops 50. He carried the whole team."
The game was the hottest ticket in town since
Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals last year.
Seats were said to be selling for as much as
$1,500.
Fans came carrying posters welcoming back
Knicks forward Anthony Mason, playing his
first game at the Garden since a five-game
suspension. But there were plenty of No. 45
Jordan jerseys in the crowd, too, and Jordan
drew gasp after gasp once he began raining
down jumpers.
"It's been a far bigger event than I wanted
it to be," Jordan said. "It's been absurd, to
an extent. It's almost embarrassing. I mean,
I've been treated great, but. . . ."
He's been treated as a god. His comeback has
been bigger than Elvis', bigger than almost
anyone's.
"No, I'm not surprised," said Coach Pat
Riley, looking out at the hundreds of media
members during his post-game news conference.
"That's why all of you are here. Some players
simply transcend every aspect of the game. No
one in the history of this game has had the
impact that he has had. He got it started the
other night against Atlanta, sort of building
up to New York."
====================
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MAD ABOUT MICHAEL // Chicago fans `figure
best is yet to come'
by Greg Boeck, March 30, 1995. USA TODAY
His comeback is only five games and 12 days
old, but Michael Jordan already has outdone
the original.
Yes, the shaved head and wagging tongue are
familiar.
But "Michael Madness" has lured media from
Japan and Australia, put Jordan jerseys on
the backs of rival Indiana fans, sparked
unheard-of applause from normally
cold-shouldered Boston fans, produced a rare
sellout in Atlanta and paralyzed Chicago
since his NBA return on March 19.
Still, who would have expected Jordan's
55-point performance for the Chicago Bulls
against the New York Knicks Tuesday - the
most by a player in a game this season?
Everybody's talking about Jordan: From
corporate board rooms to mailrooms, from posh
New York eateries like the "21" Club to pizza
parlors, from the streets to the subways he
was Topic A in New York Wednesday.
"He's very charismatic, very positive," says
Dee Patton, a systems analyst who bet a New
York bagel on the Knicks. "Everyone's happy
to see him doing well. It's wonderful to see
someone excel to that degree."
Adds Courtney Callahan, a free-lance writer:
"He's the antithesis of O.J. And maybe that's
what people like most - they want a sports
hero to come out like a gentleman."
They also like the way he shoots, hustles,
passes and brings energy and graceful
sportsmanship back to the game. "Jordan is
unbelievable. He's the best ever," says John
Tabert, an electrician from Old Ridge, N.J.
In Chicago, where the Bulls play Boston
tonight and Philadelphia Saturday, radio
station WMAQ asked listeners Wednesday to
vote on whether Jordan "should be proclaimed
King of the World." Results: 41% said yes.
The world is watching.
Steven Tick, of Los Angeles-based Murray's
Tickets, says the broker has had inquiries
about tickets to Bulls games "from
everywhere: Vienna, Sweden, Australia." The
cost: starting at $200. "People love a
comeback," says Tick.
Jordan is so hot that tickets to Tuesday's
game were said to be fetching up to $1,500
outside Madison Square Garden. And courtside
seats were dotted with awestruck celebrities.
The Bulls' five remaining road games - New
Jersey (April 5), Cleveland (April 9),
Detroit (April 12), Miami (April 17) and
Milwaukee (April 23) - are sold out.
But that doesn't stop fans from calling or
stopping by ticket offices searching for
admittance.
Bruce Trout, the Detroit Pistons' box office
manager, says his office gets 50 to 75 calls
a day about tickets.
People are watching even if they can't get in
the arenas. The Bulls-Knicks telecast on
Turner Sports was watched in an estimated 3.2
million homes, the most for any
regular-season game in Turner's 11-year
association with the NBA.
Even teammates are caught up in Michaelmania.
"We have Superman on our team," says Bulls
guard Steve Kerr.
It's all taken Jordan by surprise.
"This is far bigger an event than I wanted it
to be," Jordan says. "Initially it's fun; you
feel wanted; you feel respect. Then it became
absurd, a little embarrassing for me."
The Knicks' John Starks might have felt
embarrassed himself, trying to guard Jordan.
But he's realistic: "That's Michael Jordan.
That's why he's the best. I tried to throw
everything I had at him. It was a matter of
time before he played one of those games like
you're just not there."
Jordan clearly felt relieved. Tuesday's game
came on the heels of Saturday's 32-point game
in Atlanta, where he nailed the game-winning
shot. Until then, he had made more news off
the court than on the floor - where he looked
rusty, at times out of sync with his
teammates and often tired.
"It's a statement that Michael is back to
play basketball," says Bulls coach Phil
Jackson of the 55 points.
"Statement?" asks Jordan. "I forgot how to
make a statement. I'm just trying to get
myself back in a rhythm and not chase the
game. I guess it took four games to get the
rhythm down. I was nervous it'd take longer."
For fans, Tuesday's effort comes as a
vindication.
"We have people here who don't really prefer
Michael Jordan," says Rochelle Randall, who
works at the Chicago Title and Trust
accounting firm. "They think he is arrogant
for thinking he could go and play baseball
and then come back and play basketball when
he wants to. But he backed up his talent with
his 55 points."
Says fellow accountant Maxine Towers:
"Awesome, awesome, awesome. Now, those people
are saying, `OK, OK, OK.' "
And they pray for more.
Andre Spaulding says customers at the candy
shop he manages in Chicago's State of
Illinois building were abuzz about the
future. "It set a very nice tone for the
playoffs," he says. "They said he hadn't lost
his step. They figure the best is yet to
come. Nobody would be surprised now by a 62-,
63-point game."
For fans of other teams, that's not an
appetizing thought.
Patrick Ward, a public relations executive in
New York, is concerned if the Bulls meet the
Knicks in the playoffs.
"He's going to psyche them," says Ward. The
Knicks could fall "to the Michael mystique."
Personal loyalties are almost secondary,
however.
"It's nice to see finesse back after watching
all these arrogant young guys trying to make
up for the talent they lack," says Charles
Bollerman, of Flushing, N.Y.
While Jordan is uncomfortable with all the
hoopla surrounding his return, he's enjoying
the hoops. He shoots on off days and is
getting to know his new teammates - seven
weren't part of Jordan's three title teams -
with one-on-one games.
"He looks like he's really in the mix," says
coach Jackson.
"I missed the challenge," said Jordan. "I
have a renewed appreciation for getting back
to the level I was at. I'm not afraid of the
work it'll take.
"I knew I could still do it; but when, I
couldn't say. . . . I'm starting to get the
hang of this," Jordan says, grinning.
So, is a repeat performance in store tonight?
"I don't know. That's the fun thing about
it," says Jordan. "You don't know what I
might do."
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Tags : Michael Jordan Bulls Knicks 1995 Chicago New York Bird Kareem Wilt Lebron Wade Kobe Tmac Iverson |
