Jordan jukes Jazz in Game 1

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Jordan describes what Phil Jackson said during the final timeout.
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Jackson details the last play. (Courtesy: NBA/NBC Sports)
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Jordan amazes even himself. (Courtesy: NBA/NBC Sports)
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Ten minutes later, in the Chicago Bulls locker room, it seemed like a different building.

These Bulls didn't have the look of a team that had just rallied to win Game 1 of the NBA Finals. And you'd have never guessed these guys needed any last-second heroics to vanquish the Utah Jazz 84-82 on Sunday night.

Michael Jordan tries to maneuver past Jeff Hornacek.

Such is life when you have No. 23 on your side.

To Michael Jordan's teammates, his fallaway jumper from 19 feet away at the buzzer wasn't that exceptional. It was expected.

"We've really gotten used to it," Bulls center Luc Longley said of Jordan's ability to make the spectacular look routine.

"But it was an amazing shot -- an amazing fallaway shot."

Scottie Pippen said the thing he would've found most amazing would be if Jordan had missed.

"He's an effective scorer," Pippen said in a deadpan. "And he has made a believer out of a lot of teams.

"Once I saw him release his shot, it's like you could almost tell that it was going in."

Ron Harper used to be on one of those believing teams -- the Cleveland Cavaliers -- but now he has a different appreciation of Jordan.

"I saw him do that as an opponent," Harper said. "But I'm more happy to see him do it as a teammate."

The Bulls' belief in Jordan made it almost unnecessary for coach Phil Jackson to call a play in the huddle when Chicago took timeout with 7.3 seconds remaining.

"We know just to get him the ball and get out of the way," guard Steve Kerr said. "When you've got Michael on your side, it's a no-brainer."

Jordan lofts a fadeaway jumper over John Stockton.

Jackson called a play that Jordan said the Bulls "have worked on all season long."

It was designed for Jordan to get the ball on the left wing, look for a double-team and then either pass or go one-on-one for the game-winner.

When Utah sent only forward Bryon Russell in single coverage on Jordan, the Jazz's fate was sealed.

"Well, the play has a lot of options," said Jordan, who then paused and raised his eyebrows as laughter broke out in the postgame press conference.

"But once I got the ball, Phil knew the options were limited."

Bulls forward Brian Williams was one of the few with wavering faith in Jordan, perhaps because of a recent television commercial in which MJ recalls the times he failed in the clutch.

"He has been trusted over and over again to take the game-winning shot, and he's missed 26 times -- don't you watch television?" Williams said.

Jordan also was thinking about of the one of those misses, recalling a shot he failed to convert in the closing seconds of the 1991 NBA Finals as the Bulls dropped Game 1 to the Los Angeles Lakers.

He said that failure was on his mind as he took the court in the closing seconds.

"I always think of the misses first," he said, "but then I think of the makes to end on a good thought."

On Sunday night, he ended on a great one.