RICHFIELD, Ohio -- It came down to one superstar against a well-balanced team and one man beat five.
Michael Jordan hit a 15-foot jumper with no time remaining to help the Chicago Bulls beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 101-100 Sunday in the fifth and deciding game of their first-round playoff series.
The Bulls advance to the second round against the New York Knicks, a best-of-seven series which opens Tuesday in Madison Square Garden.
The Bulls are en route to New York because of a singularly brilliant performance by Jordan, who scored 44 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter. He scored 50 points Friday when the Bulls lost in overtime and averaged 39.8 points in the five-game playoff series.
'I think you saw one of the great clutch performances you'll ever see from Michael Jordan,' said Bulls Coach Doug Collins.
In the final 4 minutes the lead changed hands nine times and was tied twice while a full house of 20,273 rattled the rafters of the Richfield Coliseum on every shot.
The lead changed hands four times in the final minute.
Craig Ehlo nailed a 3-pointer for the Cavaliers with 51 seconds left to put Cleveland on top, 98-97. Jordan canned a jumper with six seconds and the Bulls led by one.
Ehlo's driving layup with three seconds left gave the Cavaliers a 100-99 lead.
'Ehlo scored with too much time left,' Jordan joked afterward.
When the Bulls put the ball in play at halfcourt for one final shot after a timeout, everybody knew who would take the shot. Jordan worked himself free for the pass in from Brad Sellers. He gave Ehlo the slip and had the winning shot in the air when the buzzer sounded.
'When he went up in the air, he seemed to be there forever,' said Cleveland's Brad Daugherty. 'I saw people jumping at him. People were flying past him.
'It's the most outstanding shot I've ever seen. I didn't see it go in. I heard it go in.'
Jordan, who has led the league in scoring the last three seasons, converted 17 of 32 field goals and 9 of 13 free throws.
Cleveland Coach Lenny Wilkins said the Cavaliers had no intention of fouling Jordan.
'You don't put a great player on the line. Not at that point in time. Not when you're up by one, unless it's a guy that's a real brick shooter,' said Wilkins.
Jordan said he was determined not to be fouled.
'That's why I pulled up,' he said. 'We were gonna live or die on this thing. No way I'm going to the free throw line.'
Ehlo was guarding Jordan on his winning shot. On the pass in, Larry Nance was in front of Jordan and Ehlo was behind him. When Jordan caught the inbounds pass, he left both Nance and Ehlo grasping at air.
'He's exceptionally quick. He just popped out,' said Ehlo. 'I'm going to try to forget this as soon as I can because he did hit that shot on me. Guarding Michael Jordan is like a nightmare. I have dreams at night about it.'
Collins said he was concerned about wearing out Jordan in the first half and cautioned the Bulls about that. The Chicago coach wanted to conserve his superstar's strength for the fourth quarter.
'I don't want Michael coming down and taking every shot,' said Collins. 'The other guys have to look for the shots. I kept telling the guys in the huddle. When we look for him late, he's got to have some legs left.'
Jordan was careful to pace himself and scored only 14 points in the first half.
'My conscious effort in the first half was to get other people involved so that when it came down to the stretch, we got all cylinders,' said Jordan. 'I didn't go all out in the first half. In the second half I changed cylinders a little bit and started to look more for my penetration.'
While Jordan carried the Bulls on his back, the Cleveland offensive load was spread around, as usual.
Sixth man Ehlo led the Cavaliers with 24 points, including four of seven three-pointers. Mark Price had 23 and Ron Harper scored 22. Nance added 16 for Cleveland.
