SALT LAKE CITY, June 14 -- Michael Jordan, playing perhaps the last game of his amazing career, hit a jump shot with 5.2 seconds remaining that gave the Chicago Bulls their sixth NBA title of the decade with an 87-86 victory over the Utah Jazz. The closing shot of the game tonight gave Jordan 45 points and finished off a final minute in which he made every play the Bulls needed to win their third consecutive league championship. Chicago won the championship series 4-2, just as the Bulls did last year in also defeating Utah for the title. Utah's John Stockton, who made a three-point shot with 41.9 seconds to go that put the Jazz in front by three, attempted another at the buzzer that bounced off the front of the rim, allowing the Bulls to begin an on-court victory celebration. This championship, however, will almost certainly be the last for this group of Bulls. It has been assumed that this would be the final season as a Chicago player for both Jordan and Scottie Pippen, as well as the last year as coach for Phil Jackson. As expected, the final game came down to a grinding fourth quarter, with the score deadlocked at 83-83 before Stockton hit his three-pointer that gave Utah the edge. After a time out, Jordan drove to the basket and lofted a layup over Antoine Carr that cut the deficit to 86-85. Needing just a clean possession to put the game away and force a seventh game, the Jazz coughed it up, Jordan stripping the ball from Karl Malone along the baseline.
That set the situation up for Jordan, who using a fake to the right to get free of a defender and connected on a 19-foot jumper for the season's final points. ---
Copyright 1998 by United Press International. All rights reserved. ---
