NEW YORK -- Michael Jordan scored 15 of his 33 points in the third quarter Tuesday night, leading the Chicago Bulls to a three-game sweep of the New York Knicks with a 103-94 victory over the Knicks.
The Bulls face the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round. The 76ers completed a sweep of the Milwaukee Bucks Tuesday night.
Jordan's third-quarter outburst helped the Bulls blow open a game in which they had trailed most of the first half.
Scottie Pippen scored 21 and grabbed 11 rebounds and Will Perdue added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls.
New York was led by Patrick Ewing and Kiki Vandeweghe with 22 points apiece. Ewing grabbed 14 rebounds and Charles Oakley pulled in 10.
The Bulls spread the New York defense all night, opening the door for Pippen and Perdue to work inside. Pippen scored five layins and five dunks.
Jordan nailed 7 of 10 shots from the field and had three of his six steals in the third, when the Bulls built an 83-71 lead.
Chicago took control with a 14-3 surge that started when Jordan sank a 15-footer at the 5:37 mark and ended five minutes later when Perdue sank two free throws, giving the Bulls an 81-69 edge.
Jordan scored 7 points and made two steals in the run, with two of his baskets coming from long range.
The closest the Knicks could get in the fourth was within 86-78 after they scored 7 straight points on two free throws by Ewing, a 3-pointer by Trent Tucker and a jumper by Cheeks. But Stacy King hit two free throws and Perdue hit a layin and two free throws to stretch the Bulls' lead to 92-78.
The Bulls went to a press against the New York reserves in the second quarter, capitalizing for a 10-1 run that brought them to within 46-43 after they had trailed by 12.
Six of the Bulls points in the run came on fastbreaks, and the others came on a rebound basket by Jordan and a dunk by Pippen over Ewing.
The Knicks led at halftime, 54-53. Chicago scored 17 of its 24 first- half baskets on dunks or layins.
Jerrod Mustaf helped the Knicks build their 10-point lead early in the second, scoring 6 straight points, 4 of them from the foul line.
Gerald Wilkins, in the starting lineup for the first time since he suffered a sprained left ankle on March 28, gave the Knicks a lift with 11 points in the first quarter when New York took a 31-25 lead.
Wilkins' slashing drive across the lane capped a 12-2 run that gave New York a 25-19 lead with 3:42 left in the first. Vandeweghe scored 6 points in the surge.
The Bulls hit seven of their first 10 shots to take a 17-13 lead on Jordan's double-pump jumper over Vandeweghe, but then missed eight of their last 12.
