NBA Finals Challenge

• Back to Da Bulls
• NBA.com Panel of experts choose 1985-86 Celtics over the 1995-96 Bulls 9-6.
• The truth about "evolution"
• Inside the numbers.
• My thoughts and picks from the Finals Challenge

Round 1

#1 1996 Bulls vs. #16 1970 Knicks

First, lets ignore the whole injured Willis Reed thing. I think Walt Frasier keeps Jordan below his season scoring average, but Jordan returns the favor on Frasier. When you consider the scoring of the league in their respective seasons the Knicks have the best ppg defense in history. With that said the Bulls have one of the best offenses of all time in that same realm. I think Pippen's edge at the 3 spot is as good as Reed's edge in the 5 spot, thus the Knicks don't dominate down low enough to upset the Bulls.

My Pick: Bulls in 5

#8 1989 Pistons vs. #9 2000 Lakers
The Shaq-n-Kobe Show meets the Bad Boys. In Laimbeer, Mahorn and Edwards the Pistons have 3 big bangers they can try to grind out against Shaq. Throw in shot blocker John Salley and the Pistons may be the one team that could wear out O'Neal by the 4th quarter. This Laker club was not ready yet, if not for the most colossal game 7 choke in NBA -if not all of sports- history by Portland this Laker team would not have been champions. To say the Lakers win a round in this tournament is to say that the 2000 Blazers belong here.

My Pick: Pistons in 6

#5 1971 Bucks vs. #12 1950 Lakers
This one has a Princeton vs. Duke feel to it, the Lakers were great in their day, but they are from an ancient pre-shot clock era. The Bucks are too big and too good.

My Pick: Bucks sweep

#4 1986 Celtics vs. #13 1960 Celtics
Tons of talent here, but that is what the Celtics are all about. The 1986 Club was the best team during the best era of NBA basketball, They have too much talent and Larry Bird played like a man posessed throughout the entire 1986 Playoffs.

My Pick: '86 Celtics in 6

#6 1983 Sixers vs. #11 1991 Bulls
This would be a prime upset pick if it was the 1992 Bulls, but as it stands the 1991 club had a solid championship year, but they were still too dependant on Jordan offensively. The 76ers were a playoff tested group with Moses Malone at his finest leading them to victory.

My Pick: Sixers in 6

#3 1967 Sixers vs. #14 1965 Celtics
The 1967 Philadelphia team was built to break through against the Celtics dynasty. The Sixers beat Boston 4-1, showing they were strong enough to probably handle any Celtics team from the 1960's.

My Pick: Sixers in 6

#7 1987 Lakers vs. #10 1999 Spurs
The '87 Lakers reorganized their attack after being upset in the 1986 playoffs by Houston's twin towers and a more agressive Rockets team. Though the Spurs are better than that Rockets team they still are no match for the Lakers.

My Pick: Lakers in 5

#2 1972 Lakers vs. #15 1981 Celtics
The '81 Celtics barely survived a 7 game fight with Philadelphia, after the Sixers edged Milwaukee by 1 point in game 7 of their second round series, the 1981 playoffs could have easily turned out drastically different results. The Lakers won 33 games in a row and have a pair of rebounders in Chamberlain & Hairston like no other duo in NBA history.

My Pick: Lakers in 5

Second Round

1996 Bulls vs. 1989 Pistons
The best shot the Pistons have is to take out Pippen like what happened in 1989. The Bulls have a huge size advantage in the back court, as long as M.J., Pip & Harper can take their smaller Piston counterparts down low the Bulls should handle the Pistons by the end of Game 6 at the latest.

My Pick: 1996 Bulls 4-2

1986 Celtics vs. 1971 Bucks
The Bucks have the team speed to take advantage of the Celtics main weakness, but Kareem will be hard pressed to hold the post against all the Celtic big men, Parish, Walton, McHale. This one would be a classic with the Celtics wearing down the Bucks and pulling away in Game 7.

My pick: 1986 Celtics 4-3

1967 Sixers vs. 1983 Sixers
This carries many fascinating individual matchups: Wilt vs. Moses at their very best. Chet Walker vs. Julius Erving, sixth men: Billy Cunningham vs. Bobby Jones. The 1967 club has a big advantage at Power forward, Lucius Jackson is more than a match against Iavaroni, he can help Wilt control Moses down low.

My Pick: 1967 Sixers 4-2

1972 Lakers vs. 1987 Lakers
The 1987 club is the fan's sentimental favorite in this pairing, they are a great team from a strong era. The 1972 club brings all the pieces to the table, that is why they won 33 straight regular season games. The '72 team has a tremendous rebounding advantage while the 1987 club has stronger depth. '72 Lakers rebounding out duels '87 Laker depth

My Pick: 1972 Lakers 4-3

SemiFinals

1996 Bulls vs. 1986 Celtics
I hear a lot of stories that because of Jordan's two phenomenal games at the Garden in the 1986 playoffs that the 1996 Bulls would certainly dominate the Celtics. There are several facts that fans have forgotten:
1. Jordan's broken leg meant that he only played 26 regular season games: 24 of them occured after he recovered. Jordan was primed, fresh, and at his absolute best when the Bulls went to Boston in April of 1986.
2. The Celtics left Jordan one-on-one in the first two games because they knew that they only needed to hold everyone else in check because Jordan wasn't going to beat them by scoring 100 points in a single game.
3. Jordan's 63 points was not enough in game 2, the 1996 version of Jordan (10 Years Older) just would not be capable of such a performance against those 1986 Celtics.
4. After getting a scare in game 2 the Celtics went to Chicago and held Jordan to a mere 28 points and they won game 3 easily by 18.
5. One year later these two teams met again in the first round of the playoffs. The Bulls were 10 games better and the The Celtics were 9 games worse and missing Walton and Kevin McHale for most of the series, in spite of that the Celtics swept the Bulls again.

The Bulls general team makeup is that of a "donut" team (no inside game). The "Donut" scheme makes winning in the playoffs much more difficult, all the similar good teams such as the mid 1980's Milwaukee Bucks, the mid 1990's Seattle Supersonics and the current Dallas Mavericks were all notorious for underperforming in the post season. The flaw of the donut scheme makes another obstacle for the Bulls to overcome: donut teams underperform and the '86 Celtics overperformed against donut teams. The Celtics annihilated a similar donut team in Milwaukee (64- 23 vs. the other 21 NBA teams) going 9-0 head to head against the Bucks. The Bulls win some games but they don't take the series.

My Pick: Celtics in 6

1972 Lakers vs. 1967 Sixers
Wilt Chamberlain, the starting center for both teams always said the 1967 Sixers were the best team he ever played on. Media members at the 1980 NBA celebration agreed and so do I.

My Pick: 1967 Sixers

Finals

1986 Celtics vs. 1967 Sixers
How can you beat a team that performs magic from the hind side and the blind side? no team has the answer, just ask (former Celtic & opposing coach) Don Nelson (on the 1986 Boston Celtics). If I were to put a team together with the specific purpose of defeating the 1986 Boston Celtics I would say that when I was done I would come up with a team that would look a lot like the 1967 Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers had a dominant inside presence in Chamberlain, powerful interior defense & rebounding (Chamberlain & Jackson). A lead player who gets the other guys on the floor involved (Chamberlain) a lot of foot speed and a fast break style of play (125ppg). A scorer opposite Larry Bird (Chet Walker) who can keep the point totals close at that position. Good perimeter play (Hal Greer) and a dominant sixth man (Billy Cunningham). I don't think this team has quite enough to oust the Celtics huge front line, more notably the inside game of Kevin McHale and the clutch play of Larry Bird, which becomes a factor whenever things are close, I don't know if the Sixers can answer those two tough, key problems.

Champion: 1986 Boston Celtics 4-3

Final thoughts
My worst pick would have to be the second round 1972 Lakers over the 1987 Lakers. I admit that I have underestimated the 1987 Lakers because they had the easiest road to the Finals in history (their Western Conference Playoff opponents had an average record of 39-43 and their toughest rivals (Houston, Dallas-who had a winning record in head to head games against the Lakers that year- Utah & Portland were all upset in the early rounds). I always felt that the 1987 Lakers should have wiped out Boston in 4 or 5 because they were well rested and the Celtics went through two consecutive 7 game wars and had Walton, Mchale & Parish all playing with injuries during the Finals. That is why I didn't have the '87 Lakers pull all the upsets that the experts picked. The '87 Lakers were great champions at the time when the league was at its very best.
In spite of all the injuries and grueling playoff run the Celtics fought through in 1987 Boston was within 1 game 4 Magic Johnson hook shot of putting that great Laker team on the ropes. When you consider the 1986 Celtics only had Scott Wedman succomb to injuries during the playoffs (2 of the 3 Celtic Playoff losses that year were while he was out) it becomes clear just how great the 1985-86 Boston Celtics were. That is yet another reason why I think the 1985-86 Celtics team is the greatest ever.

While this looks like a detriment to my credibility I must point out two important facts: