Celtics May Have a Bull by Horns in Playoffs This Time

BOSTON —  They are different this year. The Chicago Bulls that the Boston Celtics must deal with in the first round of the National Basketball Assn. playoffs are not the same team that the Celtics dispatched in the three-game minimum last year.

Neither, for that matter, are the Celtics. But this season’s Bulls are better, and they’ve got the scariest weapon on the planet this side of the helicopter gunship. His name, of course, is Michael Jordan.

Chicago has made no secret of its utter and complete dependence on the wondrous Mr. J., and the results speak for themselves. Sure, Chicago lost more games than it won. It also won 40 games, the second highest team total in the last 10 years.

“We made a 10-game improvement over last year,” Bulls Coach Doug Collins said. “We have four No. 1 picks in the next two years. We have every reason to believe we’re going to get better.”

That improvement is down the road. The Bulls, who were 0-6 against Boston, are arguably two players away from being a legitimate contender. The team that faces Boston in the playoffs this week is Jordan, more Jordan and a little Jordan on the side.

This magnificent flying machine led the Bulls in scoring in all but four games. Two of those were against the Celtics. He scored 40 or more points on 37 occasions, and the Bulls were 22-15 in those games. He scored 50 or more in eight games, of which the Bulls won seven. He scored 60 or more twice, in which the Bulls won one.

It has been that way since their first game, when Jordan scored 50 against the New York Knicks Nov. 1 in Madison Square Garden. And, unlike last year, when he startled the basketball world with 63 against the Celtics, he likewise would similarly stun basketball junkies everywhere if he did not do that this year.

The reliance on Jordan is not necessarily by design, although it would be absolutely asinine to relegate him to Fred Roberts status. But with little else to go to offensively -- the Grand Canyonesque differential between Jordan’s scoring average and the next highest Bull is close to a league record high -- Jordan has been the main man. Every game. Almost every play.

“There’s no one else in the league who can do for us what he does,” Collins said. “I know that sounds crazy, with guys like Bird and Magic around. But Michael scores, plays the tough defense, rebounds. He does it all for us.”

The Jordan Factor is one difference this year. Remember, he had missed virtually the entire regular season last year. And when he did return, his time was strictly apportioned. No one was prepared for the offensive onslaught he unleashed in the playoffs.

And last year, the Bulls had the enigmatic but talented Orlando Woolridge as an offensive counterpoint. Woolridge can get you 20 almost as easily as he can give you migraines. He was shipped to New Jersey for a No. 1 pick. The Bulls did not suffer.

Instead of Woolridge, there are a bunch of bit players who each contribute offensively in their own, limited fashion. Charles Oakley can rebound and, as the Celtics saw last week, can also make a three-point shot. John Paxson is a fairly reliable marksman, and so is Sedale Threatt. Rookie Brad Sellers is coming along nicely, but the center tandem of Dave Corzine and Granville Waiters is a shade above Continental Basketball Association status.

Nevertheless, the Bulls must be taken somewhat seriously. They won’t beat the Celtics in a five-game series. But they may scare them.

“A lot of people don’t realize it, but the Bulls have moved up a notch since losing to the Celtics in three games last year,” Jordan said.

The eternally optimistic Collins was lamenting last week the apparent league acceptance of low-post bullying. He should. He has no one to guard the Kevin McHales and Kevin Willises of the NBA, who see the low post as their exclusive domain. That, in the end, will most likely be the reason for the Bulls’ early exit. But don’t try to sell any defeatist talk to Collins. He won’t listen.

“I hear all this talk about the Bulls not wanting to play the Celtics and that has me buzzed,” he said. “Any time you have a player capable of scoring 61 points, one of the NBA’s top rebounders and a team that plays solid defense, then you’d have to say we have a chance in a short series.”