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History of the NBA Finals

Chicago Bulls vs. Phoenix Suns - 1993

AP PHOTO

The Prudential Building in downtown Chicago heralds a third straight Bulls title

Magic Johnson had settled into a chair in the lobby of a La Jolla, Calif., hotel moments before Michael Jordan wandered toward the front door. The Chicago Bulls had won their second straight National Basketball Association championship just weeks earlier, and as Johnson, Jordan and others prepared for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, reporters wondered whether the Bulls, unlike Johnson's Lakers, could win three consecutive titles.

"They could," Johnson said with raised eyebrows, "but if they thought winning two in a row was hard, they'll find out that winning three in a row will be the hardest thing they ever do."

Nearly one year later, Jordan was heard uttering the same words, the fatigue hanging on him like a cement shirt.

"Winning three in a row," Jordan said after the Bulls' six-game conquest of the Phoenix Suns, "was the hardest thing I've ever done in the game of basketball."

Indeed, nothing came easy for Chicago in the spring of 1993. Battle-worn but focused after a grueling six-game series against New York in the Eastern Conference finals, the Bulls arrived for Game 1 in Phoenix on high alert. Though bruised and battered by the Knicks, the Bulls realized that the New York series had given them an edge over the Suns, a team that hadn't been pushed to the limit in postseason play quite like the Bulls. Chicago trailed New York 2-0 in the Eastern finals before winning four straight games.

Horace Grant scored 11 first-quarter points as the Bulls, hitting seven of their first eight shots, cruised to a 34-20 lead in Game 1 of the Finals at America West Arena. But instead of having to fight through the fusillade of elbows, knees and forearms the Knicks threw at them, Grant and others found themselves in single coverage with room to roam.

Chicago's lead exploded to 46-26 with 5 minutes, 32 seconds left in the first half. Though the Suns pulled within three points (88-85) with 4:25 remaining in the game, Jordan closed out the Bulls' 100-92 victory by scoring 14 of his game-high 31 points in the fourth quarter. "It's all about history now," Jordan said afterward. "We're here to make history."

"Let's not go crazy after one game," said Phoenix forward Charles Barkley, who suffered through a 9-for-25 shooting night on his home floor. "Let's wait until Game 2. If we lose that, then we can go crazy."

Their opening-night jitters blown away by their stunning loss, the Suns were clearly more focused for Game 2. The script, however, was familiar. With Jordan and Grant leading the way, the Bulls bolted to another big second-quarter lead, this time 57-43 with 2:22 left in the first half. But the Suns, thanks largely to Barkley and shooting guard Dan Majerle, refused to wilt.

A three-point basket by Majerle early in the fourth quarter tied the game at 87-87, and a Barkley layup moments later gave Phoenix a 91-89 lead with 10:36 to play.

But Chicago, behind its Big Three of Jordan, Grant and Scottie Pippen, took control down the stretch. Jordan finished the game with 42 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists; Grant pitched in with a career-playoff-high 24 points. Pippen, who blocked a three-point attempt by Danny Ainge with 26 seconds remaining, had a triple double of 15 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists.

Barkley netted 42 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in an heroic effort for the Suns, but he alone could not blunt the Bulls' three-headed attack. Even worse, Phoenix trailed the series, 2-0, becoming the first team in NBA Finals history to lose the first two games at home.

"We're in a big hole right now, and we're in the right state for big holes," Barkley said. "We'd fit right into the Grand Canyon."

Ironically, the Suns-who won a league-high 62 games during the regular season-rediscovered their game when the series shifted to Chicago for Game 3. The Bulls, on the other hand, seemingly lost theirs while planning for an early summer vacation.

It took three hours and 20 minutes, but Phoenix claimed its first win in the series with a 129-121 victory in triple overtime amid the din of Chicago Stadium. Six three-point bombs by Majerle and the resurgence of point guard Kevin Johnson (AWOL in the first two games) were critical for the Suns. Jordan, who had carried the Bulls through crucial moments in Games 1 and 2, hit just one of 10 shots in the fourth quarter as the Suns roared to a 99-88 lead. But Chicago bounced back with a three-point play by Grant with 1:33 remaining in regulation time to send the game into overtime at 103-103.

In the extra sessions, Chicago mistakes and brilliant performances by Johnson, Barkley and Majerle provided the Suns with new life.

"It was the law of averages," said Johnson, who scored 25 points after being stymied by the Bulls' B.J. Armstrong in the first two games. Johnson also did a superb job of guarding Jordan. "After two poor games, I was due for a good one."

The days between Games 3 and 4 -- when he had to endure questions about the defensive play of the 6-foot-2 Johnson, Chicago's apparent collapse down the stretch and his own problems (which included a crucial turnover and the dooming cold spell) -- only served to fuel Jordan's competitive fires.

So, when Game 4 started, so did Jordan. Instead of trying to get others involved first, he took control, scoring 33 of Chicago's 61 first-half points, 22 in the second quarter. His three-point play with 13 seconds remaining, following a steal by Armstrong, finished off Phoenix and gave the Bulls a 111-105 win and a 3-1 series lead.

"We're one game away," said Jordan, whose 55-point performance was his second 50-point game of the '93 playoffs. "We're in the danger zone now, and we're aware of that. We don't want to let this slip through our fingers."

Expecting a Bulls win in Game 5, Chicago city officials called out extra police in anticipation of a wild postgame celebration. Local television stations broadcast messages from the mayor calling for calm, and downtown store owners boarded up windows. Parade plans were made and champagne cooled below the floor at Chicago Stadium. Everyone, it seemed, assumed the Bulls would win the series at home.

Everyone, that is, except Barkley, who laughed and joked with teammates about the impending riot.

"We have to win this game and save the city!" he announced.

Barkley's pronouncement became the Suns' rallying cry, and one that buried an obviously overconfident and remarkably apathetic Chicago team in Game 5. The Suns led virtually from start to finish, and their 108-98 victory left the Bulls dazed. Phoenix, meanwhile, was claiming control of a series that had appeared to be over just days earlier.

"I'm not saying it's going to happen, but I believe it, 100 percent, that it's our destiny to win the championship," Barkley said. And, alter the Suns' triumph in Game 5, who could argue?

Just as they had done in Cleveland, New York and a week earlier in Phoenix, the Bulls fought through another hostile crowd in Game 6. They led by 11 points in the second quarter and eight in the third as they tried to become the first team in 27 years to win three straight NBA crowns.

But the Suns, who had bounced back all season long, refused to go down easy. They took body shots for three quarters (and trailed, 87-79) before one of the strangest fourth quarters in NBA Finals history.

With Chicago going nearly six minutes without a point (missing its first nine shots of the period), Phoenix went on a 9-1 run to tie the game at 88-88. The Suns forced three 24-second violations, two in the final 3:19, and the Bulls appeared to be coming apart at the seams as Phoenix moved in front, 98-94, with 2:23 remaining.

But Jordan, who had nine of Chicago's 12 points in the quarter (the fewest ever in the fourth quarter of an NBA Finals game), scored on a driving layup to cut the Suns' lead to 98-96 in the final minute. After a Majerle air ball caused a 24-second violation on the Suns' next possession, Jordan passed the ball to Pippen, who threw it down low to Grant near the Phoenix basket. But Grant, who was suffering through his second straight one-point game, flipped it to a wide-open John Paxson outside the three-point arc. Paxson, a former starter whose knee problems had limited him to 59 regular-season games, knocked down a three-pointer (the Bulls' record-setting 10th of the game) with 3.9 seconds left to give Chicago a 99-98 lead.

Moments later, as the Suns tried to regain the lead, Grant blocked a running jump shot by Johnson to seal the one-point victory.

"I think the motto that struck me the most was 'Three the Hard Way,'" Chicago Coach Phil Jackson said. "After putting in a fourth quarter like we did and to come out of that with a victory is certainly an unusual sequence of events."

So, too, are three straight NBA titles.