Photo courtesy of Google Images.
With tonight being a pivotal Game 4 of this year's NBA Finals, I decided to take a look back at a classic heavyweight bout that eerily mirrors this year's Heat/Thunder matchup. Everyone knows that I am a fan of basketball in the 90's. The players, the uniforms, the sneakers, the rivalries...everything. None of this was better exemplified than in the 1993 NBA Finals when the Suns faced the defending champion Chicago Bulls. The Barkley/Jordan matchup easily draws comparisons to Lebron/Durant. Each matchup featured a polarizing MVP against a fan-favorite scoring champion and both were arguably the two best players in the league in their respective years. Needless to say, it made for some great theater and the '93 Finals did not disappoint.
That year, the Bulls were coming off back-to-back championships and ran through the Eastern Conference Playoffs with their eyes on a three-peat. Michael Jordan had another stellar season, leading the league in scoring. However, it was the Phoenix Suns that were on a meteoric rise of their own in a season in which they recorded a franchise-record 62 wins. Charles Barkley won the MVP award in his first year in Phoenix and the Suns ousted the Lakers, Spurs and SuperSonics to earn the right to play against the Bulls for the title. The series began with the Bulls stealing the first two games in Phoenix and the city of Chicago was already planning a championship parade.
When the series shifted back to Chicago for Game 3, basketball fans witnessed one of the greatest Finals games ever. The Suns beat the Bulls in three overtimes. Chuck finished with 24 and 19 and MJ scored 44 in defeat. This set the stage for a pivotal Game 4 in Chicago in what had quickly become a series as opposed to the last stop of the Chicago victory tour.
Up to this point, the series had more than lived up to its billing. Each superstar was performing every night at the highest level. The competitiveness between Barkley and Jordan was incredible. Friends off the court and Dream Team-mates the previous summer in Barcelona, each had their own motivation for winning this series. Both having come into the league in 1984, Jordan had already exorcised his championship demons two years prior, and now had his sights set on eclipsing his historical competition en route to becoming the best player ever. Barkley was tired of living in Jordan's shadow. He lost to Michael's Bulls twice before in the playoffs as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. Being a great player of his own, Barkley sensed that this was his best chance to win a title and it eventually did wind up being his only NBA Finals appearance.
Game 4. June 16th, 1993 in the raucous, old, Chicago Stadium. The stage was set and the performers did not disappoint. In a highly-competitive, down to the wire game, it ended with a 111-105 Chicago victory. The eventual Finals MVP Michael Jordan scored 55 points and hit a pivotal driving layup late in the game while getting fouled to seal the deal for Chicago. It was another quintessential Jordan performance that we have grown accustomed to seeing. Not to be lost in the Jordan hoopla was Barkley, who had a triple-double in the loss. 32 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists was not enough for the "Round Mound of Rebound" and the Suns faced a 3-1 series deficit. The Bulls eventually would close the series out in 6 games in what turned out to be one of the most competitive, under-rated NBA Finals ever. Everyone remembers John Paxson's clutch, series-winning, three-pointer in Game 6 to seal the title for the Bulls, but let's not forget the absolute show that was on display in that epic Game 4. When was the last time someone scored 55 points in an NBA Finals game while his opponent dropped a triple double? It was truly a legendary night.
Let's hope tonight's Game 4, featuring two of the league's best players, gives us half of what they gave us in '93.
No comments:
Post a Comment