Michael's miracle saves Chicago

NBA Finals page

Here were the Chicago Bulls, down 13 points after the first quarter and apparently headed toward a 3-2 deficit in these Finals against the Utah Jazz. The disoriented defending champs hardly resembled a team bidding for its fifth title in seven seasons.

By going strong to the hoop, Jordan found his way back to the foul line.

Here was Michael Jordan, their reliable superstar, looking a little less than reliable as he battled stomach flu through a rough opening 12 minutes.

And here were 19,911 screaming Jazz fans, thrilled by what they had seen in the early going and anticipating three more quarters of the same.

The Bulls needed something from someone early in that second quarter -- and they got it when their ailing star reached a place he hadn't been in five days.

With 10:43 left before halftime, Jordan was fouled by Jazz forward Antoine Carr on a strong drive to the basket. The call earned Jordan his first two free-throw attempts in 82 minutes, 25 seconds of Finals action.

You�d have to go all the way back to early in the third quarter of Game 3 to find the last time MJ had gone to the line.

And once Jordan got back to the stripe, the Bulls got back on track.

He would go on to score 17 points in the second period as Chicago trimmed a 16-point deficit down to only a four-point gap at the half.

Nine of those 17 points came at the free-throw line, as Jordan shot 10 freebies in the period. With MJ driving to the hole, the result was almost always positive for the Bulls. Either Jordan would shoot from the line -- where he's an 83-percent shooter -- or he would dish off to open teammates for easy shots.

Jordan goes baseline for a layup.

As Jordan warmed up, the Bulls offense became a smooth unit -- not the group that was throwing passes of each other's backs or kicking balls out of bounds in the first quarter.

Bulls guard Steve Kerr says Jordan was following the old shooter's credo of getting into a rhythm by getting the chance to bury some uncontested shots.

"He didn't go the line at all (Sunday) night, so I think he tried to take it to the basket a little more by being aggressive and getting to the foul line," Kerr said. "He was able to do that and get into a rhythm."

Following Jordan's lead, the Bulls went to the hoop more aggressively and changed the whole tone of the game. They finished with 30 free-throw tries in Game 5 after getting only 11 attempts in their Game 4 loss.

Scottie Pippen said it was just one of the ways that Jordan was able to lead the Bulls to within one victory of another title.

"He just kept everybody patient, and he made big shot after big shot," Pippen said. "He just kept wanting the ball."