Michael's miracle saves Chicago

NBA Finals page

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Michael Jordan buries the crucial 3-pointer.
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Jordan steals the ball and finishes with a follow jam.
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Dr. Jack Ramsay says MJ added to his legend.
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Scottie Pippen was amazed by Michael Jordan's effort.
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Phil Jackson was amazed Jordan played at all.
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Bryon Russell isn't convinced Jordan was sick.
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Pippen ranks the win among the Bulls' greatest.
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Luc Longley wants Pippen to get some of the credit.
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Steve Kerr's defense was a key, Ramsay says.
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The exhausted look on Jordan's face gave no indication that he had just landed the knockout blow on the Utah Jazz in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

Jordan looked too weak to even walk, let alone score 38 points.

With agent David Falk supporting his left arm and having just received a treatment of intravenous fluids, Jordan walked through a media horde toward the team bus -- his legend growing with each struggling step.

"This is the worst," he answered softly when asked if he had ever felt sicker on the court during his 12-year career.

"I was really tired and very weak."

But neither a case of stomach flu nor the Utah Jazz could not stop the Chicago Bulls star from willing his team to a 90-88 victory.

Could this have been the most dramatic chapter in the many volumes of Jordan highlights?

Well, Jordan has had better games statistically than his 38 points on 13-for-27 shooting.

And he arguably has hit shots as big as the 3-pointer he sank with 25 seconds left to put the Bulls ahead for good in the game that gave them a 3-2 series lead.

And he's had games where he pulled down more than seven rebounds, dished out more than five assists and picked off more than three steals.

But Jordan never did all that on a day when he struggled just to get out of bed and got dizzy nearly every time he stood up.

Jordan led Chicago's comeback by shooting 6 for 10 in the fourth. Click here for complete shot charts of Game 5.

This was certainly a defining performance -- even for the guy with basketball's most accomplished résumé.

"I would have been devastated if we wouldn't have won this game," he said. "I didn't know (how long I could go). I was hoping we'd have an easy win, but it makes you feel better once you put the effort out there."

Jordan said he woke up about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday morning with "some type of virus" and was up all night. Team doctors later diagnosed him with "viral gastroenteritis."

He missed the team's morning shoot-around in Park City, and coach Phil Jackson said the club actually had preliminary discussions about developing a strategy to win without its superstar.

"He didn't look good early today," Ron Harper said bluntly.

But in the back of their minds, the Bulls knew Jordan would be there.

"The illness didn't really worry me as much with Michael as it would have with somebody else," guard Steve Kerr said, eluding to MJ's history of playing big games when he's a bit under the weather.

Scottie Pippen, whose 10 years playing with Jordan are the most of any Bulls teammate, said he has yet to encounter an illness that can keep Jordan down.

Scottie Pippen helps Michael Jordan to the sideline.

"I've played many seasons with Michael, and I've never seen him as sick to the point where I didn't even think he was going to be able to put his uniform on," Pippen said. "He was dehydrated, felt like he was going to pass out. We were feeding him fluids and cold towels and things of that nature.

"But he just really came out and gave us the performance that we needed. There's nothing else to say. He's the greatest, and he's definitely the MVP in my eyes."

Jackson described Jordan's 44 minutes as an "heroic effort." Still, the Bulls coach had no intention of letting Jordan play all but four minutes of the game.

"He said, 'Let me play, and I'll regulate my minutes, and I'll let you know how I'm doing out there,'" Jackson said.

What he was doing was making sure that Chicago stayed in line to win its fifth title in seven seasons.

He did it with 17 points in the second quarter, helping get the champs off the ropes after Utah's blazing start.

He did it with 15 more points in the fourth, when he hit six of his 10 shots.

Q&A WITH THE BULLS

Question for Phil Jackson from Steve Pagano of Endicott, N.Y.: It seemed that team defense keyed all of the Bulls' runs, rather than the offense. Could you comment? Answer from Jackson: "We had good defense to crowd them and not let (Karl Malone) get the rhythm he needed off the post. We created a fighter area for him to work in. ... We were fortunate that Karl didn't have one of his better games in the playoffs. Some of it was by design, and some of it was his own fault." Question from Greg Suddreth of New York: What changed in the game plan to spark the 16-point comeback? Answer from Jackson: "We started to have a little bit of momentum going into the second period. And we got a group out there that was more offensive-minded and did a few things defensively. Toni Kukoc stepped up and hit a 3-pointer here and there, and that got us back in the game, and we made a quick run. When we got it to 37-31, down six, suddenly we knew we were back in it."

He did it by grabbing the rebound off his crucial missed free throw with 42.9 seconds left.

And then, he did in the Jazz with the game-winning 3-pointer from the left arc.

"It was just determination," Jordan said. "I was just trying to get it done."

The only thing Jordan couldn't do was make it to the postgame press conference. That created a surreal scene outside the Bulls locker room, with reporters and cameramen staking out every exit.

Charles Barkley, in town to do broadcast work, bypassed the crowd to get his own update on his friend's condition.

Like a scene out of "Jerry Maguire," Falk paced anxiously in the hallways while his most famous client received treatment. Once His Airness emerged, Falk helped him every step of the way out of the arena.

"The mark of a true champion is not simply winning but coming up big when all the chips are down," Falk said. "I think he proved tonight why it is a mockery to have anyone else but Michael Jordan be the MVP of the NBA."

"I'm not sure anything short of a broken leg would have stopped him from being out there."

Pippen is confident Jordan will be back out there for Game 6, and he joked that he wouldn't even mind if his teammate wasn't completely healthy Friday night.

"If he's not 100 percent," Pippen said, "I think we'll be better off."