May
17
REMEMBERING THE 1998 FINALS!
Filed Under Chicago Bulls
THE BULLS AND JAZZ HAVEN’T BEEN PLAYING THIS LATE IN THE PLAYOFFS SINCE THE SPRING OF1998!
With the Chicago Bulls staying alive with a blowout road victory against the Detroit Pistons and the Utah Jazz advancing to the Western Conference Finals with a Game Five victory against the upstart Golden State Warriors last night, I thought it would be cool to take a look back at the last time these teams were both so deep in the playoffs. Of course, the time was the Spring of 1998. Seinfeld had just come to an end and the Bulls and Jazz were set to square off the NBA Finals for the second straight year.
Utah was looking to avenge a six-game loss to the Bulls in the 1997 NBA Finals and were heavily favored to do so after sweeping a young Lakers team featuring Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Eddie Jones and Nick Van Exel in the Western Conference Finals. On the other hand, Chicago was limping into the Finals after surviving a grueling seven-game series with an Indiana Pacers team coached by Larry Bird.
From Sports Illustrated to even the Bulls’ beat writer in the Chicago Sun Times, it seemed like everyone had Utah winning this series in six games. Chicago looked old and exhausted, and many said that the Bulls were lucky to beat the Jazz the year before. That series of course was marked by Michael Jordan winning Game One on a buzzer-beating shot at the United Center, scoring 38 points in a legendary performance with the flu in Game Five, and dishing to Steve Kerr for the clinching bucket in Game Six.
The 1998 NBA Finals was supposed to be the crowning achievement for Karl Malone and John Stockton as the outstanding duo was ready to win their first NBA championship. However, Michael Jordan would once again stop Malone, Stockton and the Jazz, and further cement his legacy as the greatest clutch player in the history of the game.
Game One: Utah 88, Chicago 85 (OT)
Yep. Jim Gray was even a pest back then. I remember NBC cutting to a Gray interview with Bulls’ power forward Dennis Rodman in the Bulls’ locker room after the television introduction to the game. Gray was asking his typical weasel-like questions as Rodman had a huge bandage on his damaged thumb. Like Rodman, the Bulls had entered this series seemingly ready to fall apart. Chicago had easily its worst team to be in the Finals, and Jordan and Scottie Pippen accounted for most of the Bulls offense.
And yet Chicago came out in Game One and jumped out to a 4-0 lead to the shock of Bob Costas as Ron Harper hit two jumpers out of the corner. I can’t remember too much from this game, but here a few other notable things that do come to mind.
• Phil Jackson inserted Dickey Simpkins late in the first quarter with the game close and Karl Malone quickly took advantage with an easy lay-up. Jackson was asked after game about this questionable move by a Chicago radio personality from The Score and then dismissed the question.
• Chicago trailed throughout much of the game after the first quarter and rallied in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime. Who sent the game into overtime? Luc Longley, of course, who banked a shot off the glass in the final seconds to send the game into overtime.
• Utah escaped in overtime with Stockton leaking out and getting ahead of Jordan on the break for a big lay-up.
• This game took place on the last day of my sophomore year of high school. While I was happy as hell that school was over, I was nervous about this series. I could not see the Bulls winning this series. Looking for some reassurance, I asked my childhood buddy Sean Hill for his prediction in this series. His classic answer: the Bulls in three games.
Game Two: Chicago 93, Utah 88
Chicago came out like gangbusters in Game Two and jumped out to an early lead. However, the Bulls were not as solid of a team as in the years past and Utah got back into this game, which seesawed back and forth in the fourth quarter. With Chicago needing to split the series, Kerr pulled up for a three on the fast break in the final minutes of the game. Seeing that his shot was off, Kerr hustled down the rebound and fed a pass under the rim to Jordan, who made a layup and was fouled. Chicago had stolen home court and gotten a precious win at the raucous Delta Center!
Game Three: Chicago 96, Utah 54
This historic blowout by the Bulls took place on the day of my brother’s eighth-grade graduation. Game Three figured to be a chest match, and Malone came out scorching, hitting his first four field goals. However, the Bulls would pull away in the second quarter and lead big at the half. It was amazing to see this Bulls team put it to the Jazz like this. Jordan made an incredible reverse layup in the second half of this game with Utah big man Greg Ostertag draped all over him.
Game Four: Chicago 86, Utah 82
After the Game Three drubbing, the Jazz played the Bulls tight in this game. Scottie Pippen was unconscious from the three-point line in the first half of the game but Utah held serve in the fourth quarter with some surprising play off the bench from Chris Morris. However, the Bulls would take this game when Rodman drilled several key free throws late in the game. Somehow the Bulls had gone up 3-1 in this series.
Game Five: Utah 83, Chicago 81
I remember playing basketball from like nine in the morning to three in the afternoon at Portage Park on the day of Game Five. In the downtime between the games, I remember one of the old-timers saying that the Bulls better come out and play tonight or that they were going to be in big trouble. The words proved prophetic as Chicago, with the exception of Toni Kukoc, struggled early in this game. And yet Utah could not pull away. Chicago actually had a chance to win this game at the buzzer but Jordan missed a long shot off the glass as he fell into the scorer’s table. This series was down to 3-2, and Chicago was heading back to Utah. Suddenly I was very worried.
Game Six: Chicago 87, Utah 86
It’s funny how quickly the momentum in a series can change. Scottie Pippen came out in the opening moments of this game, dunked the ball and tweaked his back. Pippen would hobble his way throughout the rest of the game but did miss a significant amount of time in the second quarter. Utah seemed ready to put this game away but Jordan kept the Bulls in the ballgame as they played with a makeshift lineup featuring Bill Wennington at one moment. The second quarter was also famous for an infamous shot by Jazz guard Howard Eisley, who hit a three pointer at the end of the shot clock on one possession. However, the refs ruled that Eisley did not get a shot off in time even replays showed that he did.
Chicago hung around in the second half as well as Pippen toughed it out and hit a few half-hooks in the lane. Rodman and Malone got entangled at one point in the second half, which seemed to spark Rodman a bit, who later hit a jumper inside the three-point line early in the fourth quarter. As the game seesawed, Utah seemed to end it when Stockton buried a three with about 40 seconds left to break an 83-83 tie.
We, all know, what happened after this. Jordan once again put the Bulls on his shoulders and closed out the final 39 seconds of his career with Chicago in most memorable fashion. With Chicago inbounding the ball at half court, Jordan caught the pass, got into the lane and made a quick layup that only took a few seconds to complete. Utah then brought the ball up court and got the ball into the post to Malone, who was defended by Rodman and did not see Jordan creeping from his backside. Jordan of course swiped at the ball and stole it.
From here, everything went into slow motion as Bob Costas made the final call. Jordan got the ball past half court and took his time sizing up Bryon Russell. Jordan began his move to the free throw line from just inside the left sideline. While everyone said that Jordan’s discard of Russell made all the difference in this play, I would have to disagree. Russell was off-balance as Jordan made his move, nudged him with his left hand and crossed over the ball from this right to left hand. As Russell fell to the ground, Jordan rose up in a picturesque pose: right hand under the ball and the left hand guiding it on its side.
For a brief moment, time stood still and you knew what was going to happen as Jordan released the shot. The ball gracefully glided through the bottom of the net in slow motion, and all pandemonium broke out. Costas screamed “Chicago with the lead” and you knew that Jordan had done it again.
After the Jordan shot, Utah’s fate was sealed. Stockton had to rush a three-pointer over the long arms of Harper. After the ball clanked off the front part of the rim, it got deflected back out to Russell, who feebly tried to catch and release the ball with one hand while on the move. He didn’t come close as the ball fell short and the final horn sound. As the Chicago bench exploded onto the court, Jordan held up six fingers, symbolizing what the Bulls had done. Moments later, you could hear Kerr as he hugged Jordan say: “You’re fucking unbelievable!” Couldn’t have said it better myself.
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=k7MhY93dXX0&mode=related&search=]
Fast Forwarding to the Present!
Utah is sitting back in anticipation of the San Antonio Spurs or the Phoenix Suns while the Bulls are preparing for the biggest Game Six in the franchise’s history since Jordan’s 45-point performance in the 1998 Finals. Check in tomorrow for a preview of the big game.
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