1987-88 NBA Championship: Chicago Bulls vs Utah Jazz
Game 7, Second Quarter, Jazz up 31-30
Jose Sokol is fouled by Eddie Shank to start things. The reserves start for Chicago. Jack should be back soon, along with Jones. Utah goes up 33-30. Perez and Henderson come back, as Shank is fouled. He makes one of two. 33-31. Henderson with a steal, and a dunk to tie it. The crowd goes nuts, and flips as Henderson gets called for a foul. Mazza scores to put Utah back as Jack comes back. Sokol hits a three. It’s 38-33. Connors fouls Perez, who makes one of two. He has two fouls. Connors scores. 40-34, Jazz. Jack misses a three. Bryant misses on the other end.
Bryant is fouled by Henderson, and he goes one of two. He now has one point. Jack with his first foul. Mazza hits a layup…43-34, Jazz. Jack is quiet (7-0-5). Connors has 21 points and seven boards, as he scores again to make it 45-34. Jones hits a three, giving him 14. Mazza hits two free throws…47-37 with six minutes to go in the half.
Jones scores again. He has 16. Connors counters. The Jazz are doing it again, using their experience to control things. Mazza fouls Jack, who hits both free throws. Connors misses, and you can feel things beginning to shift. At least, Chicago hopes so. Utah gets called for a shot clock violation, and Jones scores again. Connors misses again, but Perez turns it over. Connors hits a layup. 51-43, 3:25 left, and Chicago turns it over again.
Escalera hits after a Cooper miss. It’s 51-45. Perez misses, and Bryant gets a layup. Jack finds Jones, who now has 20. Connors has 25-8-2. Jack hits a three, and it’s a 53-50 game! Jones is getting owned by Connors, who now has 27. Escalera throws down a dunk. 1:26 left, and Connors gets another layup. Jones doesn’t want to foul. Escalera is called for a travel. Connors misses, but Cooper gets the rebound and Bryant finds Connors again. It’s 61-52 after Connors scores AGAIN. He has 33 for the game. 61-52. The Bulls have one more chance, but Escalera misses from beyond half-court.
The Jazz led by nine at the break. Connors is having an otherworldly game. If the Bulls can find a way to stop him, they’ll win the title. But, right now, Harris Connors is single-handedly showing the basketball world why he is the greatest power forward in the game, one of the finest ever, and perhaps, after tonight, a claim to the throne as the greatest power forward to play the game.
The Bulls will need Jack to stop being quiet.
Code:
Utah 61, Chicago 52 - 6/2/1988
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1 2 T Po Po Utah Leaders Chicago Leaders
UTA 31 30 61 Po Po Points: Harris Connors 33 Points: Joshua Jones 20
CHI 30 22 52 Po Po Rebounds: Harris Connors 9 Rebounds: Chris Henderson 4
Assists: Sammie Snodgrass 5 Assists: Jack Dawkins 7
Utah (53-29):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a 3pm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF +/- Pts
Royal Bryant C 20 1-7 0-1 1-2 1 7 0 0 3 0 0 6 3
Harris Connors PF 24 14-22 0-1 5-6 2 9 2 1 0 1 2 9 33
Brian Mazza SF 9 2-4 0-0 2-2 1 1 3 0 0 0 3 5 6
Sammie Snodgrass SG 22 3-5 0-0 2-2 1 8 5 0 0 3 1 9 8
Craig Cooper PG 21 3-7 0-1 0-0 1 1 3 0 0 1 0 2 6
Richard Lara SF 13 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0
Ezra Cousin PF 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 1 0 0 1 3 3 0
Jose Sokol SG 7 2-2 1-1 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 11 5
Totals Fgm-a 3pm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF Pts
25-47 1-4 10-14 6 29 15 1 3 8 11 61
53.2% 25.0% 71.4%
Chicago (65-17):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a 3pm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF +/- Pts
Chris Henderson C 19 3-10 0-0 0-0 2 4 0 1 0 1 3 -1 6
Joshua Jones PF 19 9-12 2-2 0-0 0 4 1 0 1 0 2 -6 20
Jack Dawkins SF 20 4-8 1-2 3-3 0 1 7 0 0 0 2 -5 12
Ivory Perez SG 19 0-5 0-0 1-2 0 1 3 1 0 2 0 -3 1
Gregory Escalera PG 16 3-5 0-1 2-2 0 4 0 0 0 2 2 -4 8
Kurtis Dowden SF 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 -4 0
Richard Mims C 5 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 3 0 0 0 0 1 -8 2
Edward Shank PF 5 0-2 0-0 3-8 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 -3 3
Dylan Hough SG 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -6 0
Maximo Benson PG 8 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 -5 0
Totals Fgm-a 3pm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast Stl Blk TO PF Pts
20-48 3-5 9-15 4 19 11 2 1 5 13 52
Game Summary:
Game Stats UTA CHI
Halftime Score 61 52
FGM-FGA 25-47 20-48
FG% .532 .417
FTM-FTA 10-14 9-15
FT% .714 .600
3PM-3PA 1-4 3-5
3P% .250 .600
Rebounds 29 19
Assists 15 11
Steals 1 2
Blocks 3 1
Turnovers 8 5
Team Fouls 11 13