Summary
The chances of the Chicago Bulls winning their third straight championship didn't look very promising when the season ended. Although the Bulls won the Central Division with a 57-25 record, both the Phoenix Suns (62-20) and New York Knicks (60-22) had better regular season records.
The Suns were led by Charles Barkley, who was fifth in the league in scoring. The Knicks had Patrick Ewing, who was sixth in scoring, and they were coached by Pat Riley, who had guided the Lakers to eight finals appearances and four NBA championships in nine seasons.
After sweeping their first two series to advance to the conference finals, the Bulls lost the first two games at New York. But they came back to win four in a row.
Phoenix had a more difficult road to the championship series. They had to come back from a two-game deficit in the opening round against the Lakers. Then they beat the San Antonio Spurs in six games and went the full seven games against the Seattle SuperSonics.
It looked as if the final series might be over quickly, as the Bulls won the first two games in Phoenix. But the Suns won Game 3 in triple overtime and they also took Game 5, forcing the Bulls to fly back to Phoenix.
It ended suddenly. With the Suns up, 98-96, and only 3.9 seconds remaining in Game 6, John Paxson hit a three-pointer to give the Bulls the win and their "three-peat." They were the first to team to win three straight NBA titles since the Boston Celtics of the 1960s. Jordan set a record for the NBA finals by averaging 41.0 points a game and won his third straight MVP award.
