10: 1996 Eastern Finals vs. Magic
Not a great series in terms of games, as the Bulls swept Orlando in Shaq’s last games for that franchise. But this series was about revenge, as the Magic had been the team to end the Bulls’ 1995 season. The tone was set early on in this one, as the Bulls won Game 1 by 38 points, thanks to Dennis Rodman’s 13 points and 21 rebounds.
9: 1989 Eastern Quarterfinals vs. Cavs
Over the course of his pro career, Michael Jordan made 12,192 field goals and another 7,327 free throws, scoring a total of 32,292 points. Yet only one of his jumpers and two of his points are known as ‘The Shot’. Sorry, Craig Ehlo, but the ending of this classic five-game series (back when the first round was best of five) has to be on the list.
8: 1992 Eastern Semifinals vs. Knicks
A grueling, seven-game war between the Chicago and New York was one of the toughest tests the Bulls ever faced during their six titles in eight years run. Led by Pat Ewing, John Starks, Xavier McDaniel and a crew of physical goons, the Knicks’ goal was to put as many bruises and scars on the Bulls as possible. The plan was successful until the decisive Game 7, when MJ scored 42, Scottie had a triple-double and the Bulls won 110-81.
7: 1990 Eastern Finals vs. Pistons
It took the Bulls another year to finally take down Motown, but this series was the final piece of motivation that gave way to the dominance of the 1990’s. The Pistons wound up winning the NBA Title, but not before needing seven games to get rid of MJ and Co. Jordan had to pretty much do it all himself against the Bad Boys, but the experience wound up helping the team in the long run.
6: 1993 NBA Finals vs. Suns
Michael Jordan put up a lot of impressive stat-lines over the course of his career, but there aren’t many that top this: In the six-game series versus Phoenix, His Airness averaged 41 points, nine rebounds and six assists a game, shooting 51% from the field. Add in John Paxsxon’s go-ahead three and Horace Grant’s game-saving block to win Game 6 and you’ve got a classic series.
5: 1998 Eastern Finals vs. Pacers
Indy had great squad in ’98, coached by Larry Bird and featuring Reggie Miller, Mark Jackson, Jalen Rose along with several physical big men. But despite being one of only two teams in the ‘90s to push the Bulls to a full seven games, the Pacers didn’t have enough to top their Central Division rivals. Toni Kukoc was the star of Game 7, scoring 21 points off the bench to bring the Bulls back to the Finals to face…
4: 1998 NBA Finals vs. Jazz
Each of the six games had a final margin of victory of four points or less - except for Game 3, which the Bulls won 96-54, the Jazz recording the lowest point total in NBA history since the introduction of the 24-second clock. Game 6 was the classic ending, as Michael Jordan ripped Karl Malone (who had stolen MJ’s regular season MVP), gave Byron Russell a little love tap and sank the game-winner with five seconds left, giving the Bulls title number six.
3: 2009 Eastern Quarterfinals vs. Celtics
When I wrote the rough draft of this list on Wednesday afternoon, this series was ranked six. But in honor of the number of overtimes the Bulls and C’s played Thursday evening, it had to be moved up. Outside of a hideous Game 3, these two teams have been as even as two teams can be, with a combined 206 lead changes, 65 ties and seven OT periods in the six games thus far. They should just skip the suspense and decide to air Game 7 live on ESPN Classic. Only reason it isn’t top two is because it is a first rounder.
2: 1993 Eastern Finals vs. Knicks
It’s strange to think about it because it happened so rarely in the ‘90s, but the Bulls actually didn’t have home court in this series, going to Madison Square Garden for Games 1 and 2. They lost both those contests, but because they still had two future Hall-of-Famers, they still had a chance. MJ dropped 54 in Game 4 to tie the series at two, and in Game 5, Jordan recorded a triple-double (29 pts, 14 ast and 10 reb) and Scottie Pippen swatted three shots in the last ten seconds by NY’s Charles Smith to preserve the win. The Bulls finished off their rivals in Game 6, knocking the Knicks out of the playoffs for the third consecutive year.
1: 1997 NBA Finals vs. Jazz
Game 1 ended on a buzzer-beater by the greatest player ever following some important missed free throws (remember ‘The Mailman never delivers on Sunday’), Game 3 featured a legendary steal-and-assist sequence by the all-time leader in both those stats and Game 6 had a game-winning shot with five seconds remaining to win the NBA championship. And none of those are even close to being the most memorable game in the ’97 Finals. That would be Game 5 AKA the Flu Game, where Michael Jordan scored 38 points, including the go-ahead three with 25 tics left, to lead the Bulls to victory despite being sick in bed for the 24 hours leading up to the contest.
1 comment:
Hey Eli, this top ten list is awesome and this current series has been ridiculous, I can't wait for game 7. I have a new found respect for Noah, I hated him at Florida, but know that he's on the Bulls and coming up big in the playoffs, I think I have to jump on his bandwagon. You can post this to our site http://www.toptentopten.com/ and link back to your site. We are trying to create a directory for top ten lists where people can find your site. The coolest feature is you can let other people vote on the rankings of your list.
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