They like each other. They really like each other.
And just like that, the Bulls are the hammer and the Jazz is the thumb.
Whap. That is Michael Jordan slamming the ball in over Karl Malone, Jordan willing his body into late-game pileups, Jordan chasing down point guards.
Thump. There is Scottie Pippen, keeping his early dinner down and his fourth-quarter energy up.
Bop. And that is Luc Longley bollixing up Malone in the low post, keeping him out of his comfort zone.
Thwack. Oh, Toni Kukoc, you brute, you.
Plink. There is Steve Kerr rebounding his own shot for the play of the game or bouncing up after taking another charge. Kerr spent so much time on the floor, he can change his name to Mop ‘n’ Glo.
Conk. See Dennis Rodman. First he is attracting pigeons. Then he is all elbows and attitude. Did someone break smelling salts under his nose or just open a window and let the Great Salt Lake in?
Bump and grind. That’s Ron Harper or Pippen or Jordan or all of the above, treating the famed Utah pick-and-roll like it was pick-and-panic.
“We didn’t think we were going to come out here and lose both of these games,” said Pippen.
Suddenly, the Jazz is trailing the Bulls, one game to one.
“Two things we have to do to get back in this thing,” said Karl Malone.
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Name them, please.
“Karl Malone has to play well, and we all have to play more aggressive,” said Malone.
Ah, the old third-person reference, the finger-pointing equivalent of sticking a digit down your own throat.
“All year I make those shots,” Malone said. “It comes at a (crummy) time not to make ’em.
“If Karl Malone doesn’t play better, we do not win this series.”
For fans of irony, consider this: After Game 1, the Bulls were accused of bickering with each other. After Game 2, Malone is bickering with himself.
The simple truth is that these are two very evenly matched teams, who have played two terrifically exciting basketball games and offer the prospects of more of the same.
TV ratings are high, anticipation is acute and both teams are settling in for the long grind, three games in Chicago and, count on it, more back out here.
“We anticipate all the games being this close,” said the Jazz’s Jeff Hornacek.
If this is the end for the Bulls–and don’t believe this is not the Jazz’s last dance also–this is as it should be. The script could not be more compelling if the music already had been added.
And here’s the name of that tune. Sing along. Thanks for the Mailman. For lousy low-post play, jump shots that go astray. Oh, thank you, so much.
“This is going to be a donnybrook of a series,” said Phil Jackson.
With three games at home, the Bulls do have a distinct edge, but the difference so far has been as uncomplicated as this: Jordan has been Jordan, but Malone has been someone else.
“We got away with it in the first game,” said Malone, “but not in the second.”
Reports of the demise of the Bulls are not just premature but almost wishful. It has become clear the world not only wants this to end for the Bulls but wants to be first in line at the autopsy as well.
One overtime loss should not have been enough to send such loud alarms.
“There has been a lot of talk about age, about my minutes,” said Jordan. “But we’re here and we beat good teams to get here and we’ve played good basketball to be here.
“If that is considered dead, then I don’t mind being dead a little bit longer.”
Hold the epitaphs. And the champagne.