We got Dennis Rodman inhaling rebounds, 'Winnington' time and an electric Garden atmosphere in Game 4 of Bulls-Knicks. But most importantly, the Bulls seized a 3-1 series lead. Observations:
A night for the unsung heroes
Michael Jordan got in foul trouble early, picking up two personals in the opening minutes and a third before the first half was over. He was the only Bulls starter not to play every minute of the first quarter. To give you an idea of how rare Jordan battling foul trouble is…
So, yeah, he didn’t foul out of this one. Even in a game that wasn’t his strongest, he led the Bulls with 27 points (though on a paltry 7-for-23 shooting), and tacked on eight rebounds and eight assists in 40 minutes.
But the role players were the story for the Bulls. Ron Harper had a postseason-high 18 points. Randy Brown chipped in a timely eight, Jud Buechler provided a first-half spark with six in the opening two quarters, and the bench, as a whole, shot 64.7 percent from the field — well above the team-wide mark of 40.7 percent.
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Then, it was ‘Winnington’ time in the fourth. Bill scored four points in the final minute-and-a-half — both field goals on setups from Dennis Rodman. The second, a stoic 10-footer from the right baseline, put the Bulls in front for good.
On a night for unsung heroes, it was awesome to watch Wennington, Rodman and John Salley (let’s not forget Spider’s defense on Ewing on the Knicks’ second-to-last possession) stymie the Knicks’ momentum and pull the Bulls in front. Jordan scored two points in the fourth quarter — on a pair of free throws with 11.2 seconds remaining — and it didn’t matter. The Bulls prevailed 94-91, their slimmest margin of victory in the '96 playoffs.
Dennis Rodman eats rebounds for breakfast, lunch and dinner
To anyone with eyes, the physicality of this series compared to the modern game (and even their first round series against the Heat) stands out prominently. On the glass, the Bulls thrived on that intensity.
Rodman led the way again in this one with 19 rebounds (10 offensive) in a team-high 41 minutes. As mentioned, he slung two late assists to help seal the game. And his 19th rebound, a contested snare off a Ewing floater, gave the Bulls the opportunity to clinch the game with free throws and a final defensive possession.
On the series, The Worm averaged 15.6 boards per game. He’s awesome.
The Garden was electric
From the jump, the rare energy in Madison Square Garden was apparent, even through the television screen. That swelled as the Knicks got off to a fast start, leading 28-24 after the first quarter and outshooting the Bulls by a wide margin in the first half (at one point, they were 16-for-25 to the Bulls’ 18-for-40).
The organist really set the tone — Sir Duke on loop beats the Power Clap any day.
When the Bulls sputtered through offensive possessions midway through the fourth, the crowd’s crescendo was palpable (the Knicks defended their absolute butts off for a long stretch). A John Starks and-one fastbreak layup to cut their deficit to 86-83 elicited a bonafide roar. Consecutive tough buckets by Patrick Ewing to cap a six-minute, 13-0 run that put the Knicks up three late in the fourth quarter incited pure delirium.
It made the Bulls pulling out the tooth-and-nail victory all the more gratifying, especially when a Starks 3 that would have tied it was waved off for traveling with 1.3 seconds left. But, man, if the Knicks ever get good again, it would be so much fun, and that crowd is evidence. You could say the same for the Bulls. I digress.
Game 5 on Monday on NBC Sports Chicago.
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