NBA FINALS : LAKERS vs. CHICAGO BULLS : NOTES : Casting Call Might Be What the Bulls Need

Michael Jordan knows he can’t do it alone.

He had 36 points for the Chicago Sunday, Scottie Pippen added 19 and five Bulls tied with six points each.

Said Jordan: “John Paxson had about four wide-open shots (that he missed). We were getting good shots. They just weren’t falling. It will happen. . . . Hopefully by next game my supporting cast is going to hit their shots.”

Laker Coach Mike Dunleavy, asked if he thought Jordan was looking to score more often now that the finals have arrived:

“I don’t know. I know he’s a great player and had a great game. If he wants to score less, I won’t complain.”

The Lakers’ Magic Johnson had a triple-double: 19 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. It was his 29th playoff triple-double and one of the most efficient games of his career, his 19 points coming from only five shots from field.

Reserve Terry Teagle, four for 22 in three previous games, is now five for 25. The Bulls’ reserves outscored the Lakers’ subs, 18-5.

With Johnson on the floor, the Lakers led, 91-77. With Johnson off, the Bulls led, 14-2.

Laker James Worthy on teammate Vlade Divac: “Every game he plays, he has people coming at him who want to test him. He’s only been here two years. You can’t expect him to be Patrick Ewing. He stayed in the game mentally for 48 minutes today. That was big-time for him.”

Divac’s 14 rebounds were a personal playoff high, surpassing his previous playoff high of 11. His regular season high was 17.

The Bulls noted, without actually complaining about it, that the Lakers shot 16 more free throws than they did. Said Coach Phil Jackson: “I think that was the difference, the fact they lived on the line. We felt that was the kind of game they wanted to play, stand at the free-throw line and pressure our defense.”

Don’t look now, but here comes another of those must-win situations.

If it didn’t take long, it’s because it didn’t take the Bulls long to lose the home-court advantage earned by virtue of the franchise-record 61 victories, three more than the Lakers.

“I think it’s a must-win game for us,” Chicago’s Horace Grant said of Wednesday’s Game 2 at Chicago Stadium. “We don’t want to go down 0-2 and go to L.A. and have to scratch our way back.”

What’s the most important game to win in the best-of-seven NBA finals? Other than the seventh game, teams that have won Game 1 have gone on to win 31 of 44 NBA finals, or 70.5%. But despite winning the series opener, the statistical probabilities don’t favor the Lakers.

Since the NBA went to a two-three-two format for the finals 10 years ago, the team with the two sets of home games has won nine of the previous 10 series.

The only exception was when the Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics in 1985.

The Lakers, who had the second best defense in the NBA during the regular season, limiting their opponents to 99.6 points per game, have been just as effective in the playoffs.

After holding Portland to 97.8 points in the Western Conference finals, the Lakers limited Chicago, which had averaged 105 points in the playoffs, to 91 Sunday. It was the Bulls’ second-worst offensive output of the playoffs, behind a 89-79 first round victory over the New York Knicks.

The Lakers improved to 5-2 on the road in the playoffs and also handed the Bulls their first post-season home loss after seven consecutive victories.

The Bulls had won 15 in a row at Chicago Stadium. The last playoff defeat before Sunday? June 2, 1989, in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.

When “Do you believe in Magic?” was played during a timeout in the first half, the Bulls fans began to boo because they believe in Air Jordan, and the song was quickly stopped, much to the delight of the fans.

Times staff writers Mark Heisler, Scott Howard-Cooper and Chris Baker contributed to this story.