Jordan steals, seals sixth title for Bulls
Michael Jordan

Jerry Sloan

GAME 6 AT A GLANCE

High Five
Michael Jordan hit the game-winner with 5.2 seconds left, stole the ball to set up the shot and scored 45. 'Nuff said.
Low Five
Greg Foster played just three minutes, but it was long enough to commit two of Utah's 14 turnovers.
Key numbers
33,140,000.00 -- That was Jordan's salary this season. And he was probably underpaid.
Bulls' next move
Convince Jordan and Scottie Pippen to re-sign with the Bulls. If the two Jerrys don't do everything possible to bring back Pip and Air (and what about the Zen Master?), the citizens of Chicago should invoke martial law and overthrow Reinsdorf and Krause. On the more serious side, the Bulls must decide if Dennis Rodman is worth all the um, distractions. If Rodman takes his circus sideshow elsewhere, then the Bulls have to find another player to handle the rebounding chores.
Jazz's next move
It's time to decide about the future of the franchise. Do the Jazz keep the same nucleus (but add someone who can defend Jordan -- if he returns -- and maybe a center who won't disappear during the NBA Finals), or do they bust apart their team and start the rebuilding process? Karl Malone and John Stockton aren't getting any younger, so Jazz management has to decide if it's in the franchise's best interest to look to the post-Stockton and Malone era.

Karl Malone
Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman tangle in front of referee Hue Hollins.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- For one more and perhaps one last time, Michael Jordan delivered an NBA championship to the Chicago Bulls -- almost single-handedly and with just seconds to go.

Jordan scored 45 points and made the key play as only he could, stealing the ball from Karl Malone and hitting a jumper with 5.2 seconds left to give Chicago an 87-86 victory over the Utah Jazz on Sunday night and a 4-2 series win.

It was an incredible moment for the greatest player in the game, as dramatic as anything he has done in a title-clinching game during his magnificent career.

With the Jazz ahead 86-85 and the clock ticking inside of 15 seconds, Jordan snuck up behind Malone and poked the ball away. The sound of 20,000 people gasping filled the Delta Center as Jazz fans collectively feared what was about to happen.

And Jordan did exactly what they feared, dribbling to the foul line, pulling up to lose defender Bryon Russell and draining a jumper.

The Jazz still had one more chance, but John Stockton missed a 3-point attempt just before the buzzer.

Jordan ran to midcourt and held up six fingers to signify six championships -- one for every full season he has played this decade.

"Of all the championships we've won, this was the toughest," Jordan said. "It was a long road with lots of bumps."

What made this championship even more special was the way Jordan had to work in the clinching game. With Scottie Pippen severely hobbled by a sore back, Jordan pumped up 35 field goal attempts and 15 free throws.

He made 15 shots, including three 3-pointers, and had his highest scoring game in the Finals since scoring 55 against Phoenix in 1993.

He was rewarded with his sixth Finals MVP trophy and avoided playing his first Game 7 in the Finals.

The Bulls have never lost a Game 6, clinching the title four previous times -- beating Portland in 1992, Phoenix in 1993, Seattle in 1996 and Utah in 1997 -- without having to face a seventh game.

Now, the basketball world awaits the answer to the question of the season: Will this be the final championship for the Bulls -- or even Jordan's final game?

If it was, Jordan left everyone with something special to remember him by. But he said he'd "love" to have a chance to defend the title again.

"That's something that will be determined over the summer," he said.

In the best-played and perhaps hardest-fought game of the series, it looked like Malone and the Jazz were going to force a seventh game.

They made Jordan earn many of his points from the foul line, got a spirited performance from Malone (31 points) and led for most of the fourth quarter.

Russell gave the Jazz an 81-79 lead on two foul shots with 3:20 left, and Utah stayed ahead until Jordan made a pair of free throws with 59 seconds left, making it 83-all.

Stockton hit a 3-pointer for Utah with 42 seconds left, and Jordan made it 86-85 by making two foul shots with 37 seconds left.

That set up the sequence where Jordan made the play of the game, leaving his man and coming around the baseline to sneak up behind Malone.

"We fought hard," Malone said. "The guys did a good job. It's a tough loss. Give them credit.

"I'm not a quitter. I've just got to get away for a while to think about things."

Pippen, a leading contender for the Finals MVP until he had a poor Game 5, scored only eight points with four assists, three rebounds and two steals in 26 minutes, as he played in obvious pain.

Toni Kukoc had 15 points, Dennis Rodman had seven points and eight rebounds and Ron Harper scored eight.

Those contributions ended up being just enough to help the Bulls win perhaps their last Jordan-era title. Jordan, Pippen, Rodman and coach Phil Jackson may have played their last game together.

Jordan will be a free agent this summer and has spoke of retiring. Jackson has insisted that he doesn't expect to be back, and Pippen, Rodman and six others will be free agents.

The way things were going at the outset of Game 6, it looked like the Bulls might waltz away with the trophy.

Getting balanced scoring from Jordan, Pippen, Harper and Kukoc, the Bulls opened a 17-8 lead seven minutes into the game.

But Pippen then left to go to the locker room to have his back treated, and he took his team's momentum with him.

The Jazz quickly caught up, and Malone scored seven of Utah's final eight points in the quarter as Utah finished the period ahead 25-22.

A controversial call cost the Jazz a chance to go ahead by seven. Howard Eisley made a 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired, but referee Dick Bavetta waved it off and ruled it came late. The Bulls quickly pulled even, and the game stayed tight for the rest of the first half as Jordan, with 23 points, and Malone, with 20, carried their teams.

Utah led 49-45 entering the third quarter after shooting 61 percent in the first half, and it was 59-59 with 3:01 left in the third when Pippen again left for the locker room.

The Bulls scored only two more points the rest of the quarter -- both on Jordan going 1-for-2 at the line -- and Utah took a 66-61 lead into the fourth.

Pippen returned to the game with 9{ minutes left and the Bulls trailing 70-67, and a 3-pointer by Steve Kerr tied the game 90 seconds later. Shandon Anderson answered with a three-point play, making it 73-70 before Jordan re-entered the game with 7:42 left.

Jordan quickly scored Chicago's next four points to give the Bulls a one-point edge, and there would be three more ties the rest of the way.

Russell gave the Jazz an 81-79 lead on two foul shots with 3:20 left, and Utah stayed ahead until Jordan made a pair of free throws with 59 seconds left, making it 83-all.

Notes

Jazz owner Larry Miller, a devout Mormon who refused to attend Sunday games, was absent from his courtside seat. ... One Jazz fan brought a handmade sign that read: "How Was the Parade?" ... Harper missed Sunday morning's shootaround because of an upset stomach. ... Howard Eisley of Utah played despite an inner-ear infection. ... Jordan has scored at least 20 points in 35 consecutive Finals games.