Jordan Wows With 55 Points

On a day the Chicago Bulls were beatable, Michael Jordan wasn’t.

Jordan scored 55 points, including 20 of Chicago’s 23 in the fourth quarter, as the Bulls took a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals by defeating the Washington Bullets, 109-104, Sunday at Chicago.

“I got into that zone and I couldn’t get out,” Jordan said. “I apologized to [assistant] Tex [Winter] after the game: ‘Sorry about the triangle, Tex.’ I just got in that mode and I couldn’t turn it off.”

Miami 104, Orlando 87--Tim Hardaway had 20 points and 11 assists, P.J. Brown and Alonzo Mourning scored 17 each as the Heat routed the Magic for the second consecutive game at Miami to take a 2-0 series lead.

Penny Hardaway led Orlando with 26 points.

Detroit 93, Atlanta 80--It had been five years since the Pistons had won a post-season game, but the streak finally ended at Atlanta as Grant Hill scored 25 points to help the Pistons tie their first-round series, 1-1.

After tiring down the stretch in Game 1, the Pistons outscored Atlanta, 29-15, in the fourth quarter and got key contributions from former Hawk Grant Long.

Seattle 122, Phoenix 78--Shawn Kemp had 23 points and 15 rebounds and Gary Payton scored 23 points to lead the SuperSonics to a win at Seattle and tie their first-round playoff series with the Suns at 1-1.

The defending Western Conference champions, fastbreaking with abandon against the smaller Suns, scored 22 of the game’s first 24 points and stayed ahead by at least 10 points for the rest of the game.

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Playoff Tops

Michael Jordan enters list of top scorers in a playoff game again:

63--Michael Jordan, Bulls at Celtics 2OT, ’86

61--Elgin Baylor, Lakers at Celtics, ’62

56--Wilt Chamberlain, Warriors vs. Nationals, ’62

56--Jordan, Bulls at Heat, ’92

56--Charles Barkley, Suns at Warriors, ’94

55--JORDAN, Bulls vs. Bullets, ’97

55--Jordan, Bulls vs. Suns, ’93

55--Rick Barry, Warriors vs. 76ers, ’67

55--Jordan, Bulls vs. Cavaliers 1988.