1986 Boston Celtics vs 1996 Bulls - Jordan vs Bird. Eastern Conference Finals

[bulls96]

BOSTON - - Can Jordan close out the great Larry Bird at the Boston Garden? Seemed like a tall order.

Game link https://youtu.be/QP5tpqteWtA

It was a defensive 1st quarter for both teams, putting good challenges on shots. Jordan and Pippen had some success midway, and Bulls led by 5, but the Celtics bench, led by Bill Walton and Sichting, stepped in and rallied the Celtics past the Bulls at the end of the 1st and would help the team get a 5-pt lead after one.

The Bulls quickly made up the deficit in the 2nd after early baskets from Kerr and Kukoc off the bench. However, Larry Bird went off. AFter scoring 12 in the 1st, Larry had another 9 pts in the 2nd to help galvanuze his team. THey led by as much as 9. If it were not for Toni Kukoc who had a stellar 2nd period with 11 pts, the Celtics would have been running away with this one. But it was a more manageable 6-pt lead at halftime.

Jordan was shooting poorly in the 1st half of Game 6. He was 6/16 from the field for just 12 pts with 4 turnovers. Pippen and Kukoc helped pick up the slack combining for 22.

The 3rd quarter was a turning point. Jordan who has been shooting poorly to this point, had a huge quarter. He shot 6/8 and scored 18 pts in the 3rd to help the Bulls rally back into this game. This helped make up for the big quarter that Kevin McHale had in the post in the 3rd. Rodman went into early fould trouble and the Bulls had no one to stop McHale. He scored 12 pts and the two teams were in a stand still going into the 4th, tied at 77.

With Jordan sitting down to start the 4th, Scottie Pippen took the offensive duties for Chicago, and he would respond in a big way. He scored 13 pts on variety of shots and helped Chicago build as much as a 6 pt lead early on. But the home team was not going away easily. Robert Parish reestablished himself inside and scored 12 4th quarter pts of his own and we are back to just a 1-pt game with 2 minutes to go.

A game 7 started to likely as Jordan would miss 2 sconsecutive pts leading to 2 transition baskets from Celtics that would give them a 3 pt advantage with just 1:13 to go. An early timeout by Phil Jackson and Chicago tried to regroup. They got their shooters Kerr and Kukoc back in, and it would prove to be crucial, as Jordan was able to drive and kick out to Steve Kerr in the corner who would then drain a HUGE 3 to tie the game. On the next play, Jordan would make another clutch play as he was able to steal the ball away from Ainge from the top of the key, and run back to their court and slam the ball for a 2 pt Chicago lead with 50 secs left.

Boston had 2 chances to tie the game, but Bird and Parish would miss on close range and the Bulls would hang on to win Game 6 and close the series out.

Jordan finished with 36 pts 5 rebs 11 assts and 3 stls. Pippen had 24 while Kukoc and Kerr continued their solid play off the bench to combine for 27.

Larry Bird ended with 34 pts 5 rebs 4 assts 2 stls while McHale finsihed with a 23 pt 20 reb piece. Parish also had 14 pts 17 rebs.

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[bulls96]

Here a recap of Game 6.

https://youtu.be/qNC7bVh1vLo

NBA Finals up next!

Will either be the 87 Lakers or the 05 Spurs. Who will you want to see?

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