’97 playoff run.. one of the greatest playoff runs ever

14 min readDec 9, 2020

Some people may consider Jordan’s ’91, ’92, and ’93 playoff runs to be superior to Jordan’s ’97 run simply by looking at individual stats, but this is not the case. Jordan had 31.1 ppg 7.9 rpg 4.8 apg 1.6 spg 0.9 bpg on 46% for the ’97 Playoffs, which looks great, but at first glance doesn’t seem like a top 2 playoff run of all-time. However, pure stats don’t tell the full story, and we have to put them in context. Jordan had far less help in the ’97 title run compared to any of his first 3 rings, and carried his team to an insanely high degree, having much less help compared to any of his other championships. Let’s take a look.

During the ’97 Playoffs, Jordan only had one other teammate that averaged double figures in scoring — Pippen with 19 ppg on a sub-par 42% FG. Every other Bulls teammate failed to even reach 8 ppg for the playoffs. This is the only time in history that a championship team only had 2 double digit scorers during the playoffs (Jordan and Pippen), and as far as I know it’s the only time a team even made the Finals with only 2 double-digit scorers to begin with. Let that sink in for a moment, Jordan is the only player in history to lead a team to the title with only one other double-digit scorer. And even so, Pippen shot a poor 42% FG for the playoffs.

JORDAN’S POOR OFFENSIVE HELP IN THE ’97 PLAYOFFS

Scottie Pippen 19 ppg on 42%
Toni Kukoc 7.9 ppg on 36%
Ron Harper 7.5 ppg on 40%
Luc Longley 6.5 ppg on 55%
Brian Williams 6.1 ppg on 48% (R.I.P.)

But it wasn’t just that Jordan had to carry a gigantic offensive load, Jordan nearly led the Bulls in all five categories — points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks — for the entirety of the ’97 Playoffs. Jordan was only 10 rebounds (0.53 rpg) and 1 block (0.05 bpg) from leading the ’97 Bulls in every category for the playoffs — at age 34 no less.

And for the last 3 rounds, Jordan did in fact lead the team in 5/5 categories. Rodman and Pippen squeezed out just enough rebounds and blocks, respectively, in the 3-game first round sweep against the 44–38 Bullets to have a small edge over Jordan in those categories for the overall playoffs. But against their 3 best opponents, Jordan led the Bulls in 5/5 categories.

LAST 3 ROUNDS (16 GAMES)

Michael Jordan
29.9 ppg — 8.3 rpg — 4.7 apg — 1.6 spg — 1.0 bpg on 43% FG

Scottie Pippen
19.7 ppg — 6.4 rpg — 3.9 apg — 1.5 spg — 0.9 bpg on 42% FG

Dennis Rodman
3.8 ppg — 8.3 rpg — 1.6 apg — 0.6 spg — 0.2 bpg on 33% FG

Rodman and Jordan tied with 133 rebounds over the last 3 rounds.

the Bulls’ other role players didn’t have enough steals or blocks to exceed Jordan for the last 3 rounds, and weren’t close in the other 3 categories.

Ron Harper — 1.3 spg 0.8 bpg
Luc Longley — 0.4 spg, 0.9 bpg
Brian Williams — 1.1 spg 0.5 bpg (RIP)
Steve Kerr — 0.9 spg 0.1 bpg
Toni Kukoc — 0.6 spg, 0.0 bpg

And for good measure, the only players with a higher FG% or FT% than Jordan in the playoffs were 6.5 ppg Longley, 6.1 ppg Williams, and 5.0 ppg Kerr. On top of that, Jordan was playing in the triangle offense in which his assists are limited, because the triangle promotes sharing playmaking amongst the team rather than one player controlling the offense — like a pick and roll system. For example, Jordan averaged more assists at age 38 with the ’02 Wizards than he did in each of his last 3 seasons with the Bulls after leaving the triangle. The fact that Jordan led his team in assists for the ’97 run under the triangle makes it much more impressive than a number by itself would indicate.

Only one person has actually led a championship team in all 5 categories for the playoffs, and that’s the player who’s number 1 on this countdown. After him, Jordan is the closest player in history to matching that feat — carrying a team in all aspects. I’ve never been a fan of Defensive Win Shares, as they are an extremely inaccurate stat (DPOY Ron Artest and James Harden have 1 season apiece in which they were top 10 in DWS), but Jordan led the ’97 Bulls in that for the playoffs as well — for those who do find value in this stat.

Eastern conference standing in ’96-’97 season:

Bulls: 69–13
2. Heat: 61–21
3. Knicks: 57–25
4. Hawks: 56–26
5. Pistons: 54–28
6. Hornets: 54–28
7. Magic: 45–37
8. Bullets: 44–38
9. Cavs: 42–40
10. Pacers: 39–43

Now, time to analyze the ’97 Playoffs round by round. The Bulls faced a 44–38 Bullets team that was very good for an 8-seed — featuring Juwan Howard, Chris Webber, and Rod Strickland. The Bullets had a rough 22–25 start to the season, but went 22–13 after they obtained Bernie Bickerstaff as a head coach — this would be on pace for 51 or 52 wins in a full season. Jordan dropped 37–6–5 on 57% against the Bullets in this series, and each of his next 3 scoring options (Pippen, Kukoc, Harper) all shot under 39%. Jordan also shut down the underrated Rod Strickland in this series, who got the majority of his numbers on Kerr and Harper (similar to Tim Hardaway in ’96). Strickland averaged 17 ppg 9 apg on 47% for the ’97 season, and led the league in assists the next year.

The only bad thing about Jordan’s performance in this series is that he lost the ball on the game-winning attempt in Game 3, after which Pippen made the series-winning dunk and injured his back. However, it’s unlikely the Bullets would have came back from a 2–0 deficit even if they won that game, and Jordan more than made up for this error with his clutch play in the Finals. But first, we have to look at the ’97 ECSF.

The Bulls played a very underrated 56–26 Hawks team in the ’97 ECSF. They had DPOY Dikembe Mutombo, a top 10 defender of all-time, a 20 ppg scorer in Steve Smith, Mookie Blaylock, one of the best defensive point guards in history, and an 18–9 player in Christian Laettner.

Jordan once again carried his team to a high degree in this series, coming up only 2 total assists short of leading them in 5/5 categories for the series as a whole. He also locked down Steve Smith, who averaged 20 ppg that year. The main problem for the Bulls in this series was that Dennis Rodman was badly screwed over by the officiating, getting into foul trouble and drawing many technicals, as well as getting ejected three times. As a result, Rodman was benched in the series and only played 20 mpg, averaging a mere 5 rpg.

In the next round, the Bulls played the 61-win Heat with Alonzo Mourning, another top 10 defender of all-time, along with a great PG in Tim Hardaway. The impressive thing about the Heat record is that Alonzo missed 16 games, otherwise they could have very well been a 65+ win team. The Heat were backed up by other good players like Jamal Mashburn and Voshon Lenard. They also had PJ Brown, an extremely underrated defender who at age 38 shut down Pau Gasol in the ’08 Finals. Jordan shot 39% in the ’97 ECF, the only time he ever shot under 40% for a playoff series. However, even this is not nearly as bad as it looks. Jordan’s 39% FG mostly came from an anomaly in the Game 4 loss where Jordan shot 9/35 FG (26%). In the 4 wins of that series, Jordan still averaged 30–8–4–2–1 on 43%. Pippen had 17–5–3 on 42% with 3 TOpg for the series, and only played 7 minutes in Game 5 due to a foot injury.

LeBron is the only other person to score/assist 50% of team points in the Finals under this criteria, but he took 33 shots a game on under 40% FG and while playing no defense to do so in the ’15 Finals.

In the ’97 Finals, Pippen had 20–8–4 on 42%, but these stats are deceptive, as they were mostly built in Game 1 and the Game 3 and 4 losses. In the last 3 wins of the series, Pippen played poorly and Jordan had to win each of their last 3 games nearly singlehandedly. And nobody besides Jordan or Pippen had more than 8 ppg in the ’97 Finals.

Let’s take a look at the load Jordan had to carry during the ’97 Finals in detail.

GAME 1

In game 1 of the 1997 Finals is the only win in which Jordan had good help. Jordan had 31–4–8 on 48%, and the buzzer beater, along with 27–9–2–3–4 on 58% from Pippen. Assuming all assists are 2 points, Jordan scored/assisted 47 of 84 or 56% of team points in Game 1. From there on, Jordan nearly singlehandedly won each of the last 3 games for the Bulls.

GAME 2

Pippen had 10–6–4 on a terrible 31%. Rodman only had 7 rebounds in 25 minutes, and Harper was the only other double digit teammate with 13–2–4 on 50%. Jordan carried the team with 38–13–9–2 on 55%, leading them in points, rebounds, and assists by a large margin. He had almost triple the points of his next leading scorer (38 to 13), almost double the rebounds of the next rebounder (13 to 7) and more than double the next-leading player in assists (9 to 4). Assuming all assists are 2 points, Jordan scored/assisted 56 of 97 or 58% of team points in Game 2.

The Jazz won Games 3 and 4 to tie the series at 2–2.

GAME 5, THE FLU GAME

Jordan carried a huge load again. Pippen had 17 pts but on a horrible 29% FG. Pippen also had 5 assists to 3 turnovers and 4 fouls. Kukoc was the only other Jordan teammate in double figures with 12. Dennis Rodman fouled out in only 23 minutes, and Greg Ostertag, of all people, outrebounded all of Jordan’s teammates with 15 rebounds. Ostertag and Stockton both outscored all of Jordan’s teammates besides Pippen, who needed a shot-jacking 29% to get his points. Despite having so little help on offense, Jordan singlehandedly brought the Bulls back from 16 down scoring 15 crucial 4th quarter points including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 25 seconds left to take a 3–2 lead in the series. Jordan finished with 38–7–5–3 on 48%, leading his team in points, assists, and steals. All 3 of Jordan’s steals in this game came off of Stockton’s passes. Assuming all assists are 2 points, Jordan scored/assisted 48 of 90 or 53% of team points in Game 5.

GAME 6

Pippen had 23 points, but on a horrible 35% with 2 assists to 5 turnovers and 5 fouls. To his credit, he did force a turnover on the last possession of the game, but that was only possible thanks to Jordan having the game-winning assist one play earlier in spite of Pippen’s poor play. In Game 6, no other player besides Pippen and Jordan had 10 points, and as we saw Pippen was shooting horribly to get those points. Every other teammate of Jordan’s got outscored by John Stockton, Bryon Russell, Jeff Hornacek, and Karl Malone. Despite the lack of help, Jordan ended up with 39–11–4, leading his team in points, rebounds, and assists, and set up Steve Kerr for a wide-open shot with his championship-winning assist. Assuming all assists are 2 points, Jordan scored/assisted 47 of 90 or 52% of team points. In the 4 wins, Jordan scored/assisted 198 of 361 or 55% of team points.

After having 27–9–2 on 58% in the Game 1 win, Pippen averaged 16.7–8.3–3.7 on 32% with 3.0 TOpg and 3.7 fouls per game in their last 3 wins during Games 2–5–6. Including Pippen’s good Game 1, he averaged 19.3–8.5–3.3 on 39% with 3.8 TOpg and 3.3 fouls per game in the 4 wins. Pippen averaged more turnovers than assists and as many fouls as assists in the 4 wins while shooting 35% or worse in 3/4 wins. Similar to Parker, Ginobili, and Robinson in the ’03 run for Duncan, Rodman and Pippen’s production didn’t nearly match their name value in the playoff run.

In the ’97 Finals the Bulls won the final 2 games of the series by a combined 6 points. Here’s MJ statline over the final 2 games:
38.5 PPG
9.0 REB
4.5 AST
2.0 STL
1.0 BLK
2.0 TOV
with 46% FG in 44 MPG

If Jordan choked here the Bulls would’ve lost and he wouldn’t be 6–0

JORDAN NEARLY LED THE TEAM IN EVERY CATEGORY

Jordan became the closest person to join the number 1 player on this countdown in leading a championship team in 5/5 categories for an entire playoff run. He was 10 rebounds (0.53 rpg) and 1 block (0.05 bpg) short of doing so, and did in fact lead the team in 5/5 categories for the last 3 rounds. To think that a 34-year old Jordan was the best scorer, passer, and stealer, and just barely short of being the best rebounder and shot-blocker on the ’97 Bulls during the playoffs is mind-blowing. Jordan also played amazing defense, shutting down the Bullets’ and Hawks’ best perimeter players in Rod Strickland and Steve Smith, and then playing great on-ball and help defense against John Stockton in the ’97 Finals.

THE ’97 BULLS ARE ARGUABLY THE WORST OFFENSIVE SUPPORTING CAST AMONGST ALL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS

As we mentioned earlier, the ’97 Bulls are the only championship team with only two double-digit scorers for the playoffs in Jordan and Pippen. No other Bull could even reach a measly 8 ppg. And even Pippen did not shoot well at 42% FG. Jordan may have carried the biggest offensive load out of anyone in the history of championship teams. But as point 1 says, Jordan also nearly led the Bulls in every category, he didn’t only carry them offensively.

In the Finals, we saw that Pippen shot 35% FG or worse in 3 out of 4 wins, and none of the remaining supporting cast could surpass 8 ppg for the Finals. Jordan scored/assisted at least 50% of team points in the Finals, and well over 50% of team points in each of the 4 wins. Nobody besides LeBron has done that in the Finals and, as we stated earlier, he took 33 shots a game on under 40% FG to do so, while not contributing on defense at all.

Jordan did this while taking 26 shots a game, without having the luxury of dominating the ball on every possession, playing all-time great defense, making a game-winning play in 3/4 wins, and while playing under the limitations of the triangle offense — making it much harder for him to accumulate assists — and without factoring in the minimal offensive help he had.

ALL SUB-60 PPG SUPPORTING CASTS IN THE NBA FINALS FOR CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS POST-1954

’94 Rockets — 59.3 ppg
’06 Heat — 58.2 ppg
’99 Spurs — 57.4 ppg
’97 Bulls — 55.5 ppg
’98 Bulls — 54.5 ppg

THE COMPETITION THAT JORDAN BEAT WAS OF A HISTORICALLY HIGH QUALITY

The ’97 Bulls are one of only two teams in history to beat 3 56+ win teams in one playoff run, the other being the ’95 Rockets who beat 4 57+ win teams. And the Bulls also beat 2 60+ win teams in this run, which is a shared record amongst several teams. To be able to beat that level of competition, with minimal offensive help, and while nearly leading a team in 5/5 categories along with amazing defense is truly astonishing. Jordan didn’t just carry the ’97 Bulls to an almost unmatchable degree, he did it while playing a historically high level of competition that only one other team can top.

Jordan at age 34 proved himself under one of the top 3 hardest defensive circumstances for a championship team. In the shot-clock era, only the ’97 Bulls, ’99 Spurs and ’04 Pistons have won the championship while facing 2 sub-90 PPG defenses in the Playoffs.

All 3 teams that faced more than 2 sub-90 PPG defenses in the Playoffs ’98 Pacers (3), ’99 Knicks (3) and ’04 Lakers (4) failed to win the championship, confirming the harder circumstances become as a team faces more sub-90 defenses.

The ’97 Bulls collective Playoff opponent win% was 0.686, the 2nd-highest of any Title team that played 4 rounds. Among Title teams that played 4 rounds, only the ’95 Rockets had a harder Playoff strength of schedule with a 0.726 collective Playoff opponent win%.

Under these incredibly hard circumstances, both in terms of competition and defense, Jordan at age 34 still put up 31–8–5 on 46% FG — 81% FT for the ’97 Playoffs and led the team in 5/5 categories for the last 3 rounds collectively.

ALL SHOT-CLOCK ERA TEAMS TO FACE MULTIPLE SUB-90 PPG DEFENSES IN ONE PLAYOFF RUN

’97 Bulls (2)
’98 Jazz (2)
’98 Pacers (3)
’99 Hawks (2)
’99 Pacers (2)
’99 Blazers (2)
’99 Spurs (2)
’99 Knicks (3)
’04 Pacers (2)
’04 Pistons (2)
’04 Lakers (4)
’12 Sixers (2)

PLAYERS AVERAGING 20+ PPG IN THE PLAYOFFS WHEN FACING 2+ SUB-90 PPG DEFENSES

Unless otherwise noted, these Playoff runs are against exactly 2 sub-90 PPG defenses

31.1 PPG — Michael Jordan (’97) — 31–8–5 on 46%
26.3 PPG — Karl Malone (’98) — 26–11–3 on 47%
24.5 PPG* — Kobe Bryant (’04) — 25–5–6 on 41%
23.2 PPG — Tim Duncan (’99) — 23–12–3 on 51%
21.5 PPG* — Shaquille O’Neal (’04) — 22–13–3 on 59%
21.5 PPG — Richard Hamilton (’04) — 22–5–4 on 45%
20.4 PPG** — Latrell Sprewell (’99) — 20–5–2 on 42%
20.2 PPG — Reggie Miller (’99) — 20–4–3 on 40%

*Shaq and Kobe faced 4 sub-90 PPG defenses, 2 sub-85 PPG defenses.
**Sprewell faced 3 sub-85 PPG defenses, 4 sub-91 PPG defenses.

Reggie Miller in ’98 was exactly 1 total point away from having 20 PPG against 3 sub-90 PPG defenses, but went scoreless in the 4th quarter of Game 7.

Under comparable statistical defensive circumstances to Jordan’s in ’97 (not to mention competition in terms of collective opponent win%), no player has come close to Jordan’s ’97 Playoffs performance, at age 34 and well past his prime no less.

Jordan had by far the highest volume of PPG under these circumstances at 31.1 PPG. No other player has even reached 26.5 PPG in the Playoffs against multiple sub-90 PPG defenses. Of any 20+ PPG player under these circumstances, Jordan had the highest FG% of any non-PF/C. and Jordan also led the Bulls in 5/5 categories for the last 3 rounds of the ’97 Playoffs collectively.

JORDAN WAS INSANELY CLUTCH DURING THE 1997 FINALS.

Jordan had a game-winning play in 3 of the 4 wins during the ’97 Finals. He had the buzzer beater in Game 1, the go-ahead 3-pointer with 25 seconds left in the flu game, and he set up Steve Kerr for a wide open game-winner with an assist. Nobody else has made 3 game-winning/tying plays in one NBA Finals. This is the most clutch Finals performance in history.