Michael Jordan talked about how he knew his Chicago Bulls would go all the way against the Detroit Pistons after beating them at Detroit.
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If you had to pick one team that was a definitively a test for Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls throughout their storied careers, it would be the Detroit Pistons. Many might bring up the Pat Riley New York Knicks or even the Utah Jazz but it was the Pistons who pushed the Bulls to the brink of no return.
That ‘no return’ would be them going from a Playoff contender to becoming NBA championship favorites year in and year out. The Bulls would face the Pistons a 4 consecutive times in the postseason from 1988 to 1991. The 1991 Eastern Conference Finals was when Jordan and company finally broke through.
The previous three meetings saw the Pistons claim victory, even repeating as champions off the heels of beating Michael Jordan in the ECF in 1990.
The rough style of play was new to the Bulls and even after getting acclimated to the likes of Bill Laimbeer and John Salley, it never seemed like they would ever get tough enough to beat Detroit.
Michael Jordan on when he knew he could beat the Pistons.
The breakthrough for the Chicago Bulls, according to Michael Jordan during an interview with Playboy in 1992, was his Bulls beating the Pistons right before the All-Star break.
“We beat them in Detroit. We hadn’t beaten then in Detroit for about 10 games and once we did, it gave us confidence. We needed to know that we could beat then on their court. In the conference championship series the year before, we had defended our home court well. But we went up there and got stomped in Game 7.”
The game he’s talking about here is the one that was played on February 7th, 1991. The Bulls won in a close one, 95-93, with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen combining for 50 points. Isiah Thomas was sidelined this game and only played 49 games this season due to a wrist injury that affected his career in the long run.
