NBA FINALS : LAKERS vs. CHICAGO BULLS : Lakers Caught in the Bull’s-Eye : Game 2: Jordan’s teammates prove to be more than up to the challenge. Chicago evens series by hitting a record 61.7% from the floor in 107-86 romp over Lakers.

CHICAGO —  “My supporting cast,” which is what Michael Jordan calls his teammates, joined the party, one game behind their peerless leader but in time to let the Lakers know who they are.

Jordan turned playmaker long enough to turn his posse loose and then turned awesome as only he can.

He had 33 points and 13 assists as the Bulls bombed the Lakers, 107-86, Wednesday night, evening the NBA finals, 1-1, and handing Los Angeles its worst playoff defeat in three seasons.

Criticized for dominating the ball in Game 1, when he scored 40% of the Bulls’ points, Jordan called his teammates out in reply.

They didn’t have to read between the lines, either.

“They know that we’re a better team when the supporting cast is producing,” he said between games.

“I’ll be glad to pass the ball, set them up, drive, penetrate and dish off. But they still got to take the shot. I can’t take the shot for them.”

Having thrown the gauntlet down on his teammates’ toes, he saw them hop to it.

Horace Grant, who had six points in Game 1, scored 20 on 10-for-13 shooting.

John Paxson went eight for eight.

Bill Cartwright went six for nine.

Jordan, himself, was a mere 15 for 18 for 33 points.

The Bulls shot 61.7%, an NBA finals record.

Harangue them again, Michael, they seem to like it.

“Michael is a challenging type of guy,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “He’s not the type of guy who’s going to commiserate or put his arm around someone’s shoulders. He’s going to say, ‘Step up, chump, and make some shots.’ ”

They couldn’t shoot it if he had it, but Jordan was true to his word. He took two shots in the first quarter and five in the second.

He went off in the second half and capped his performance with a left-handed layup after seeming to hover above the lane for five seconds while juggling the ball back and forth.

“He gets a feeling of being unstoppable, invincible,” Magic Johnson said.

“He went one way, put it in the other hand, floated about five more yards, said, ‘Well, I don’t know,’ and then went off the glass.

“He can do the impossible, the unbelievable. It was his game. He really took over in the second half. He smelled the win.”

The Lakers were sniffing for a half, during which they were outworked--the Bulls took 10 of the first 15 rebounds--but hung in once more on superior long-range shooting.

By halftime, they had five three-pointers to the Bulls’ none and managed to trail only 48-43.

Johnson, however, had a bad case of Scottie Pippen. Jordan got two fast fouls guarding Magic, and Jackson switched his long-armed 6-8 forward onto Johnson.

Pippen, accepting the assignment with enthusiasm, hounded Johnson all over the floor.

Johnson went 43 minutes, after having gone 43 in Game 1 and 47, 45, 38, 44, 46, and 43 against the Trail Blazers.

Guess what?

He was tired.

“They’re trying to wear me out or take the ball out of my hands,” Johnson said. “They did a good job tonight.

“Of course, you get tired. You’re playing a lot of minutes. He (Pippen) did a great job. You just have to come to expect that.”

Said Pippen: “I think we wore each other out. I think both of us are pretty beat right now.”

You have to come to expect Johnson to play all those minutes because the Laker bench has all but disappeared. Terry Teagle was 0 for 2, Larry Drew had four points in garbage time and Elden Campbell and Mychal Thompson failed to score.

Between games, Jackson was conceding the Bulls were back on their heels, but in the third quarter they got on their toes and walked on the Lakers’ faces.

They were already ahead 58-51 when Pippen, soaring to the hoop on a fast break off a turnover by Johnson, was hand-checked by Byron Scott. It was ruled a flagrant foul, giving Pippen two free throws--he made both--and the ball to the Bulls.

A moment later, Jordan hit Cartwright for a dunk and it was 62-51.

“I think the big play in the game was the flagrant foul,” Dunleavy said. “It was a tight game before that. I can’t say it was a bad call, but I know this is no case of the Detroit Pistons here.

“I guess I’m going to have to live with the call, but it was a big, big call.”

The Bulls went on a big, big run.

Having missed their first shot of the third quarter, they proceeded to hit 17 of the next 19. Jordan had 14 of their 38 points, and the Bulls took an 18-point lead.

It grew to 26 in the fourth quarter on that amazing layup by Jordan, which can be expected to air 1,000,000 times in the next decade, or until he does something more spectacular.

“Just one of those creative things,” Jordan said. “Sometimes creative-wise, you don’t know what’s going to happen. My game, anyway.”

The Lakers saw all they wanted of Jordan’s game, but it will be back Friday at the Forum.

And Sunday.

And Wednesday, at least.

MORE COVERAGE: C8-9

Magic vs. Michael

The NBA finals statistics of the Lakers’ Magic Johnson and the Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan. GAME 1

Player MIN FGM FGA PCT. 3PTM 3PTA FTM FTA PCT. PTS REB A Johnson 43 4 5 .800 2 2 9 10 .900 19 10 11 Jordan 40 14 24 .583 1 1 7 9 .778 36 8 12

Player TO BLK STL PF Johnson 5 0 1 2 Jordan 4 0 3 5

GAME 2

Player MIN FGM FGA PCT. 3PTM 3PTA FTM FTA PCT. PTS REB A Johnson 43 4 13 .308 0 2 6 6 1.000 14 7 10 Jordan 36 15 18 .833 0 1 3 4 .750 33 7 13

Player TO BLK STL PF Johnson 4 0 2 2 Jordan 4 1 2 4

TOTALS

Player MIN FGM FGA PCT. 3PTM 3PTA FTM FTA PCT. PTS AVG. REB Johnson 86 8 18 .444 2 4 15 16 .938 33 16.5 17 Jordan 76 29 42 .690 1 2 10 13 .769 69 34.5 15

Player A TO BLK STL PF Johnson 21 9 0 3 4 Jordan 25 8 1 5 9