Good defense from the Chicago Bulls? Or just another poor offensive outing from the Charlotte Hornets?

"I think it could be both," Michael Jordan said Sunday after the Bulls held Charlotte to 32 second-half points to post an 83-70 victory in the opener of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

"They had some good looks and missed. The next game could be a little different, but I'd say it was half our defense and half that they were missing easy shots."

Jordan had 35 points and Scottie Pippen 25, scoring just 10 fewer than the entire Hornets team, as the Bulls pulled away in the fourth quarter to win their fourth straight playoff game.

Charlotte, which tied a league playoff low with 64 points in the one game it lost to Atlanta in the opening round, scored just 10 third-quarter points and shot 36 percent for the game.

Anthony Mason, who'd scored a playoff-best 29 in a clincher over Atlanta, managed only six points and five shots as he banged inside with Dennis Rodman and faced double teams.

Game 2

With the Charlotte Hornets in a shooting slump at the United Center, who better to help break them out of it than a former Bull? B.J. Armstrong, who played on Chicago's first three championship teams of the decade, and Dell Curry came off the bench to combine for 21 points in the fourth quarter as the Hornets rallied to beat Chicago 78-76 Wednesday night.

As Armstrong's game-sealing jump shot swished through the net, he turned to his old teammates on the Chicago bench, pumped his fist and let out a whoop.

"B.J. had a lot of motivation, energy and enthusiasm, and you have to expect that. He once played here, and maybe he didn't leave on his own terms," Michael Jordan said of his old backcourt mate. "His energy pulled Charlotte through this game."

Charlotte's victory evened the Eastern Conference semifinals at one game apiece, with Game 3 on Friday in Charlotte. The Bulls have now lost Game 2 of the conference semifinals for a second straight year. They lost to Atlanta at home last year.

Anthony Mason scored 15 points and Glen Rice had 14, but it was Curry and Armstrong who carried the Hornets. Curry scored 13 of his 15 points in the final period, and Armstrong added eight of his 10, including the decisive jumper with 17 seconds left. After Vlade Divac grabbed a key offensive rebound -- he finished with 19 boards -- Armstrong got the ball on the right side, pulled up and drilled it from 17 feet to make it 76-71.

Game 3

Forget the notion that one upset loss to the Charlotte Hornets left the Chicago Bulls feeling vulnerable.

"Rumor is when you lose one at home, that's when the playoffs really start," Michael Jordan said Friday night after the Bulls bounced back from a two-point loss in Chicago with a 103-89 victory. "Our focus was really high. We wanted to come in here and return the favor."

Jordan, assessed a rare technical foul for arguing with referee Dick Bavetta just before halftime, scored 17 of his 27 points thereafter, giving the Bulls a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series. Jordan's performance was a stark contrast to the second half of Game 2, when he was held scoreless for more than 19 minutes.

"We slipped up and fell asleep in Chicago and we had to regain our focus," Jordan said. "Charlotte forced us to do that by beating us at home."

Now the Hornets are the team fielding questions about their vulnerability heading into Game 4 at home on Sunday in the best-of-7 series.

"This is a disappointment," Hornets forward Glen Rice said. "We just weren't aggressive at all, and I'm not sure why."

The Hornets were trying to send Chicago to its second consecutive playoff loss and its first postseason deficit since 1995, which was the last time the Bulls failed to win the NBA title. But Chicago shot 52 percent, had a 29-13 edge in bench scoring and outrebounded the Hornets 40-25.

Game 4

The twinges in his back, Scottie Pippen insisted, weren't significant. What he did to the Charlotte Hornets was. With Michael Jordan struggling much of the game to find his shooting touch, Pippen fought off back pain to spark a third-quarter surge that sent the Chicago Bulls past Charlotte 94-80 on Sunday.

"It was OK once I walked it off," said Pippen, who stayed in the game after hurting himself to lead the Bulls to the victory that put them up 3-1 in their best-of-7 Eastern Conference semifinal. Game 5 is Wednesday night in Chicago.

Charlotte coach Dave Cowens, whose team has lost 14 of 17 to the Bulls, didn't try to paint an overly optimistic picture about the Hornets' predicament.

"We've got to win three games in a row, and it's unlikely that we're going to do that," Cowens said. "We're going to have to circle the wagons."

Recent history indicates Chicago isn't likely to have any trouble finishing off the Hornets. The Bulls have won 23 consecutive playoff series in which they built a lead. The last time Chicago blew a postseason series lead was 1989, when the Detroit Pistons rallied from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 to defeat the Bulls in six games.

Game 5

Michael Jordan and Glen Rice matched jumpers and also went nose-to-nose. Dell Curry, scrambling for a loose ball with Dennis Rodman, became irate and then was ejected. After an angry and emotional night at the United Center, the Chicago Bulls were moving on to the Eastern Conference finals.

The Charlotte Hornets, meanwhile, were headed home, their season over after one last forceful effort.

"We wanted a short night. It didn't prove to be that. They forced us to play a solid game, a hard game," Jordan said after the Bulls' 93-84 victory clinched their second-round series 4-1 Wednesday night.

Jordan scored 33 points and Rodman had 21 rebounds.

Jordan scored all 11 of his fourth-quarter points after a run-in with Rice, who broke out of a series-long shooting slump with 30 points on 13-of-21 shooting from the field.

"We felt he's been setting some illegal screens all series and I made a purpose of trying to get the referees to call it," Jordan said. "I chose to challenge the screen to see if they were going to call it and I guess he took offense to that."

Rice and Jordan went nose-to-nose with 10:09 left after they'd twice collided in front of the Bulls bench. Scottie Pippen had to restrain Jordan, Rice was charged with an offensive foul and then a double technical was called on the two stars.