NBA FINALS : CHICAGO BULLS 104, LAKERS 96 (OVERTIME) : Jordan Masks the Pain With Success : Bulls: Sore and exhausted, he makes crucial basket in regulation, then scores six points in overtime.

Exhaustion had already set in and pain was about to when Michael Jordan went airborne. This wasn’t that worrisome kind of flight, either. He was 14 feet from the net around the basket, not breathing through it.

But if this wasn’t cause for ultimate concern among the Lakers, maybe it should have been. Jordan has already proved that outside shooting is the most underrated part of his game, and early in Friday night’s Game 3 of the NBA finals was another example why. This time, facing mostly one-on-one coverage from Byron Scott, he got within 14 feet, and then broke into the pose of poise.

Arms extended upward. Tongue extended outward.

Jordan connected to send the game into overtime. So what if he touched down awkwardly and sprained the big toe on his right foot. Real pain was a matter of perspective inside the Forum, where he was aching, but the Lakers were soon to be down, 2-1, in the best-of-seven series as Jordan scored half of the Bulls’ 12 overtime points in a 104-96 victory.

The game-tying basket near the end of regulation was his first since six minutes remained and came after he had made only two of 11 previous attempts. His points in overtime gave him 29 for the night. A 52-minute night, the final rest coming from 4:17 left until 2:54.

“I was still tired,” Jordan said. “But there were two minutes left in the ballgame and I had to get back in. I wanted to get back in.”

Michael Jordan get run down? Where does it say that in the script?

“He has energy a lot of guys don’t have,” said John Paxson, the Bulls’ co-starter in the backcourt. “Games he should be dead, he always responds.”

Add another to the list.

Getting the game into overtime, was, ironically, something Jordan looked upon as a blessing. He was exhausted and he was hurting, unable to get much of a push on his drive because of the injury, but there was this matter of a second wind. Or maybe it was a third.

So go figure: The shot that hurt so much? It helped.

“He made the shot with a defender on him,” Laker Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “You can’t ask for more than that. The only alternative was to send somebody to double-team him early, and that might have opened somebody up underneath. I was not displeased at the shot. I was displeased at him making it.”

Actually, as the Bulls planned for the double-team, they readied for a response by having Paxson and Craig Hodges behind the three-point line on the wing. They were never needed. With Scott now on his side, Jordan got the shot off before Vlade Divac, the charging second defender, could get close enough.

“I was very surprised to get the ball and be able to go without the double team,” Jordan said.

“When I had Byron one-on-one, I just used my ability to get the shot off.

“I had told Paxson and Hodges to set up for threes because I expected the (double-team) attention. But they (the Lakers) didn’t use it, and I was able to get within 10 feet.”

Once into overtime, he decreased the degree of difficulty even more. A layup to put the Bulls ahead, 96-94. A twisting layup the next possession that got back another lead, 98-96. Those turned out to be the winning points, but he soon added to the total with two free throws.

Jordan also finished with nine assists, nine rebounds, four steals and two blocks. After that, you get into the havoc he creates that doesn’t show in the box score, the way his presence simply causes the opposition to send reinforcements.

“Jordan commands so much attention,” Dunleavy said. “You come to him and you have to help. That leaves so many alleys open for other players.”

When it mattered most, though, Jordan had the run of the entire neighborhood.