1991 NBA Finals

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In the 1991 NBA Finals, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 4-1.

[edit] Background

[edit] The Road to the Finals: The Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons had several hard-fought, bitter encounters during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1988, after finally ousting the Boston Celtics as the best in the Eastern Conference, the Pistons lost to the Los Angeles Lakers before sweeping them for the title in 1989, and defeating the Portland Trail Blazers to repeat in 1990.

The 1988-1989 season marked a second straight year of major off-season moves (after making noise by winning 50 games in the regular season before losing to the Pitsons in five games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals) for the Chicago Bulls. Popular power forward Charles Oakley, who had led the league in total rebounds in both 1987 and 1988, was traded to the New York Knicks for center Bill Cartwright and a draft pick which they used on center Will Perdue. The new starting lineup of John Paxson, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, and Bill Cartwright took some time to mesh, winning fewer games than the previous season, but making it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they were subdued in six games by the eventual NBA champion Pistons.

In 1989-1990, Jordan led the league in scoring for the fourth straight season, and was joined on the All-Star squad for the first time by Scottie Pippen. There was also a major change on the sidelines, where Doug Collins was replaced by assistant Phil Jackson, a specialist in the triangle offense. The Bulls also picked up rookie center Stacey King and rookie point guard B.J. Armstrong in the 1989 draft. With these additional pieces and the previous year's starting five, the Bulls again made it to the Conference Finals, and pushed the Pistons to seven games before being edged out for the third straight year by Detroit.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, no team had an answer for Jordan defensively, that is until the "Bad Boy" Pistons came along, named for their physical, street-thug tactics. Pistons coach Chuck Daly actually wrote a book called The Jordan Rules, detailing how to stop the league's most prolific scorer. Detroit's main protagonists of this style of play were Dennis Rodman and Bill Laimbeer, known as "The Worm" and "The Prince of Darkness" in some NBA arenas respectively. There were many cheapshots, punches thrown and media barbs thrown between the two during their rivalry.

By the 1990-1991 season, the Chicago Bulls had run out of excuses, and charged through the year with a mission. In 1991, the rivalry climaxed when the Bulls swept the Pistons out of the Conference Finals, in which the Pistons, in their last show of defiance, walked off the court with :04 left on the clock in a blowout loss at home so as not to congratulate the new Eastern Conference Champions.

[edit] The Road to the Finals: The Los Angeles Lakers

Also in the 1990-1991 season, Magic Johnson became the all-time assist leader, surpassing Oscar Robertson. The Los Angeles Lakers' first-year coach, Mike Dunleavy, Sr. (who succeeded Pat Riley) was able to take them to the Finals. The year before, the Lakers seemed to adapt well to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's absence. New center Vlade Divac helped the team to a 63-win season and their ninth consecutive division title, and Magic took another MVP award. However, the Phoenix Suns had their number that year in the playoffs.

In the 1990-1991 season, the Portland Trail Blazers (the defending Western Conference champions) posted a 63-19 record--the best in the league and the best in franchise history. They ended the Lakers' nine-year reign over the Pacific Division and won home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. They easily dispatched their first two opponents in the playoffs; but the season ended in heartbreak when the Lakers defeated the Blazers 4-2 in the Western Conference Finals, the reason was that Lakers narrowly won Game 1 on the road and the home team took every other game, the Lakers led 3-1 lost Game 5 but a dramatic 1 point Game 6 win saw the Lakers through.

[edit] The Bulls Versus The Lakers

Unfortunately for the Los Angeles Lakers, a new dynasty was just beginning elsewhere, as Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls won the first of their six championships on June 12, 1991.

The Bulls would defeat the Lakers in 4 games to 1. This would ultimately turn out to be Magic Johnson's final NBA Finals appearance. The only win for the Lakers came in Game 1 when Sam Perkins (Michael Jordan's former University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill teamate) hit the game winning 3 point shot. Other memorable moments came when Jordan shot 15 of 18 from the floor in Game 2 including a layup when he tries to dunk he sees Sam Perkins trying to block him and switches hands and the ball went in with a play known as "The Move" (in Chicago) and later sent Game 3 (a game the Bulls eventually won) to overtime with a game tying jumper, a first of many such heroics for him on the NBA's greatest stage.

Michael Jordan unanimously won his first NBA Finals MVP award (to go with his regular season MVP award and his fifth straight scoring title), and famously wept while holding his first NBA Finals trophy.

[edit] Quote of the Finals

• "Oh, a spectacular move...by Michael Jordan!" - NBC Sports play-by-play man Marv Albert commentating on Michael Jordan's unbelievable lay-up in Game 2, where he switched hands in mid-air.