1992-93 Chicago Bulls: Three-Peat Part 1/4

The Bulls finished the 1992-93 regular season at 57-25, the team's fourth straight 50-win campaign. For the second consecutive year Chicago never lost more than two games in a row. On January 16 against the Orlando Magic, Jordan scored 64 points, his second-highest total ever. He won his seventh straight scoring title at season's end and joined Pippen on the NBA All-Defensive First Team. B. J. Armstrong, a fourth-year guard from Iowa, moved into the starting lineup and led the NBA in three-point percentage at .453.

Entering the 1993 NBA Playoffs, the defending champs were still the team to beat, but not the clear-cut favorites. Many, in fact, were picking Coach Pat Riley's New York Knicks to emerge from the Eastern Conference, and still others felt Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns, who notched the league's best record at 62-20, would take the crown. Undaunted, the Bulls swept Atlanta in three games and Cleveland in four in the first two rounds of the postseason. They met the Knicks in a much-anticipated Eastern Conference Finals and rallied from a two-game deficit to win four straight and take the series.

As expected, Phoenix was waiting in the NBA Finals. Chicago was looking to make short work of the series after stunning the Suns with two victories in Phoenix, but Barkley carried his team to two improbable wins in Chicago, sending the series back to Phoenix for Game 6. The Suns took control of the contest in the fourth quarter and seemed on their way to forcing a decisive Game 7, but then the Bulls' John Paxson provided one of the greatest moments in Finals history. With Chicago trailing, 98-96, Paxson hit a dramatic three-pointer with 3.9 seconds remaining, giving the Bulls a 99-98 victory and their third straight NBA title.

Michael Jordan averaged 41.0 points against the Suns to break Rick Barry's previous record for the highest scoring average in a Finals series. He was named Finals MVP for the third straight year. With the victory the Bulls became the first NBA team in 27 seasons to win three consecutive championships. (The Minneapolis Lakers, led by George Mikan, won three in a row from 1952 through 1954, and the Bill Russell-led Boston Celtics won eight straight titles from 1959 through 1966.)

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[MementoMori55]

looking at the 90s makes me wish i had a time machine

[TWutangT]

7:35, I must've watched that over 7 times seeing the beauty of that shot.

[steviebhoy7]

"So much for Gerald" :) Awesome!

[steviebhoy7]

9:25 "He can't Guard me!" Always loved that :)

[spud2ooo]

we will never see another team like the bulls

[saiyahog840]

lol, the song starting at 3:08 is so early 90s it hurts. Gotta love it :p

[carollaihk]

MJ & PIP being the 1st & 3rd most mins per game players of the Dream Team (1992), it is very reasonable that both of them were not ready for the season to come so quickly!...

[westsidecartel74]

I'M USING THE BEGINNING OF THIS FOR OUR ALBUM!!!! #3PEAT

[martinrotche85]

@Franky4523 yeah hahaha. twas 90's baby...

[luckduck32167]

woh penny ford is amazing singer