The Last Shot (basketball) - Game Summary

Game Summary

Scottie Pippen scored the opening basket on a slam dunk that aggravated a back injury, causing him pain and difficulty moving throughout the game. Pippen was limited to 8 points on 4–7 shooting in 26 minutes played. Michael Jordan took 35 of the Bulls' 67 shots, leading the team in scoring and minutes played with 45 points in 44 minutes. Karl Malone led the Jazz in both categories with 31 points in 43 minutes.

In the first half of the game, while the Jazz led 28-24 with just under 10 minutes left in the second quarter, Jazz guard Howard Eisley saved a pass that almost sent the ball out of bounds. As the shot clock was running down, Jazz forward/center Antoine Carr passed the ball a long distance to Shandon Anderson, but the ball flew over Anderson's hands. Eisley caught the ball and hit a 3, but referee Dick Bavetta ruled that Eisley released the ball after the shot clock expired. Replays showed that the ball had left Eisley's hands with a second left on the shot clock. (This game took place 4 years before the NBA instituted instant replay to review calls.) Calling the game for NBC, Bob Costas narrated a replay of Eisley's shot: "See if the ball isn't out of his hand. One second...it's on the way, and they missed the call." In the second half, Bulls guard Ron Harper made a jump shot as the shot clock went off that tied it at 79; at the NBC play-by-play, Costas announced that Harper released the ball on time, but color commentator Isiah Thomas, narrating a replay of Harper's shot, considered it to be "a tough call."

Although the Jazz held a 49-45 lead at halftime and a 66-61 lead after 3 quarters, they let them slip away in the fourth. John Stockton hit a 3 with 41.9 seconds left to give the Jazz an 86–83 lead. Michael Jordan scored a layup on the following possession to cut the lead to one. With 18.9 seconds left and the Jazz in possession, Jordan stole the ball from Karl Malone in the low post and dribbled to the frontcourt. Bryon Russell guarded Jordan as time wound down. Jordan drove inside the 3-point line, executed a quick cross-over — possibly pushing off Russell, but the officials did not call a foul - and hit a 20-footer to give the Bulls an 87–86 lead with 5.2 seconds left. Neil Funk made the call for the Bulls' radio network.

Bob Costas, calling the game on television for NBC, had this call.

Then as the replays of Jordan's shot were being shown, Costas added.

Utah called timeout to set up the final play of the game. John Stockton took the inbounds pass, pulled up and launched a 3 that rattled out, and the Bulls celebrated. It was mentioned by Costas that Ron Harper may have blocked the ball with his fingertips. Antoine Carr was open under the basket during the shot, but the rebound went just out of his reach. The final score of the game was Jordan's final shot as a Bull and his 25th game-winning shot for Chicago.