The Zone

The ’92 Finals had more hype than NBC`s peacock has colors. The Chicago Bulls were looking for back-to-back titles after beating the Lakers the season before. The Portland TrailBlazers were making a return trip to the promised land after being bounced out by the Bad Boys two prior. And in the main event, it was Michael Jordan, league MVP, vs. Clyde Drexler, runner-up. Heading into Game One, Blazer coach Rick Adelman`s gameplan was to keep Jordan out of the middle. No drives to the rack or turn-around jumpers from 12. No switching-to-the-left-in-mid-flight-and-taking-it-under-and-off-the-glass layups. That would come later in the series. No, the idea was to keep him outside. Hey, it sounded good at the time. And, for the first few minutes, the strategy seemed to work. A running jumper from 10 feet brought his only points, and the Blazers ran out to an early 17-9 lead. Then things started to go sour. With Clyde giving him space like NASA, and six minutes left in the first, Jordan launched from downtown. “YES!” Marvelous pronounced as the first trey fell, like a raindrop signalling a downpour. Before the end of the quarter, MJ would drain two more, each time showin’ the fake before stepping back and letting fly. “That`s the type of shot you want him to take,” Drexler defended afterwards. Usually. With Terry Porter and Clifford (still Cliff at that point) Robinson gettin’ theirs on, outside and in, the Blazers were still hanging around midway through the second. Only, Jordan was chillin’ on the sidelines at the time. Checking back in, he canned three more threes before turning to the Chicago Stadium crowd with a shrug and a smile. “I just got hot out there,” he said afterwards. “I even surprised myself with how hot I was.” His heat tied the Finals record for triples and added up to 35 points by halftime. Twenty-four minutes later, the Bulls left the court with a 122-89 win, and although the Blazers would win Games Two and Four, the series was over in six.

Six threes.-JERAMIE MCPEEK