Jordan Follows Portland Plan : NBA finals: Trail Blazers wanted Chicago star to shoot from outside. But the result certainly wasn’t what they expected.

CHICAGO —  It came disguised as the opener to the NBA finals. The game quickly changed.

“He was playing H-O-R-S-E out on the perimeter,” Portland’s Danny Ainge said about his Chicago opponent.

Michael Jordan sure was Wednesday night, when Ainge and the Portland Trail Blazers had all the letters by halftime. The letters by the numbers: 35 points, 14 of 21 from the field and six of nine on three-pointers.

If this was a spelling exam, Jordan was taking it open book. But the lesson at Chicago Stadium also included geography, with the Trail Blazers unwilling students in what became a 122-89 loss.

“What are you saying?” Portland’s Buck Williams asked. “That the basket was as big as the Pacific Ocean.”

Well wasn’t it? Jordan cooled to finish with 39 points, missing his only three-point attempt of the second half, but that was too late to save the Trail Blazers, an island of defensive disarray.

The catch, of course, is that Portland wanted Jordan to shoot from long distance. He had made five of 16 three-pointers (31.3%) in the previous 16 playoff games, but statistics don’t dictate the defense. It’s common sense, which says the farther he is from the basket, the better.

“It was absolutely incredible,” Clyde Drexler said. “He did it mostly with three-pointers, but there were also some from mid-range. Those are shots you want him to take. And those are the shots that will be available to him in Game 2.

“The guy caught fire and just made a bunch of them. That’s the kind of thing you just can’t explain.”

In a way you can. The Trail Blazers were pleased to be facing the air attack rather than the Air attack, and it showed. Few defenders ran at Jordan as he prepared to launch, looking as if they were caught up in the spectacular performance themselves.

More hands are raised in a high school classroom than by the Trail Blazers in 48 minutes Wednesday. That answer at least they had.

Jordan being in the zone, that glorious territory every shooter would love to live in, was bad enough for the visitors. That they held the door open and helped him with his luggage, now that was maddening.

“No question he felt it,” said Ainge, a member of the Boston Celtics when Jordan scored 63 in a double-overtime playoff game April 20, 1986.

“Plus, he was open, it’s not like he was forcing it. He was open.

“Personally, I though Michael had too many open shots. Sure we want him outside, but we have got to put the pressure on him. . . . Everyone was guilty of that.”

Pressure? Any pressure?

“Why didn’t we double him?” Terry Porter asked. “Where should we have doubled him? At the three-point line?”

The Trail Blazers were down but not deterred. If anything, definite in their stance, sticking to the scouting report moments after it had been shredded.

“That’s a great shooting display,” said Drexler, who went five of 14 en route to 16 points, tying Cliff Robinson for team-high honors. “You can’t do anything about that. He is not going to shoot like that every game, guys.”

Portland, already taking the high moments where it could find them, is counting on as much.

“We held Michael to four points in the second half,” Coach Rick Adelman said. “And that’s about the only good news I could think about.”

Jordan’s First Half

Scoring breakdown of Michael Jordan’s 35-point first half in Chicago’s 122-89 victory over Portland in Game 1 of the NBA finals Wednesday night, with Jordan’s running total and game score (Jordan finished with 39 points): FIRST QUARTER

9:29: 10-foot running jump shot, 2 points (Portland 9, Chicago 6).

6:02: three-point shot, 5 points (Portland 17, Chicago 12).

5:44: 16-foot jump shot, 7 points (Portland 17, Chicago 14).

5:44: Free throw to complete three-point play, 8 points (Portland 17, Chicago 15).

3:58: three-point jump shot, 11 points (Portland 25, Chicago 20).

2:55: three-point jump shot, 14 points (Portland 25, Chicago 23).

2:20: 15-foot jump shot, 16 points (Portland 25, Chicago 25).

1:54: 21-foot jump shot, 18 points (Portland 28, Chicago 27). SECOND QUARTER

6:34: 14-foot jump shot, 20 points (Chicago 47, Portland 44).

4:48: three-point jump shot, 23 points (Chicago 52, Portland 45).

4:24: 18-foot jump shot, 25 points (Chicago 54, Portland 45).

3:30: 18-foot jump shot, 27 points (Chicago 56, Portland 45).

2:10: three-point jump shot, 30 points (Chicago 61, Portland 49).

1:44: Dunk off rebound, 32 points (Chicago 63, Portland 49).

1:21: three-point jump shot, 35 points (Chicago 66, Portland 49).

First-half totals: 19 minutes played, 14 of 21 field goals, six of 9 three-point field goals, one of one free throw.

Game totals: 34 minutes played, 16 of 27 field goals, six of 10 three-point field goals, one of one free throw.