March 19, 2018: Time Machine

My wife and son were watching Back to the Future; love that flick from start to finish.  Ever feel like getting in that time machine?  With my other option watching the tankfest between the Bulls and Knicks, I climbed in… where we’re going, we don’t need roads…

I thought of my all time favorite Bulls games… so many to choose from.  The Flu Game may be my favorite ever.  The Double Nickel is pretty high up there.  MJs 63 vs the Celtics.  Game 4 of the Pistons sweep.  The shrug game.  Any countless big MJ performances and game winners.  Which one will it be?

It’s pretty cool to have YouTube on my TV, and it’s even cooler that there are full games available for viewing.  I knew which one it would be.  We were going back to one of the biggest games in franchise history.  It was during that quest for the historic first franchise title.  It was the pivotal Game 3 of the 1991 NBA Finals.  That is really one of my favorites.

Nothing was won yet.  The Bulls finally getting past their nemesis finally made it to the Finals, and then ended up losing Game 1 at home.  With a big win in Game 2, the series was tied as we headed west to the Forum.  The winner of Game 3 would be in the driver seat.  I wrote about this game when I did my series on the 1991 Bulls; here it is http://www.thelocalsportstalk.com/may-2-2016-the-fabulous-forum/

But now, I got to watch the entire game from start to finish… and all in less than 2 hours!  I was hyped up.

You know one thing I loved about the playoff Bulls… the black gym shoes.  Not that I’d struggle much identifying an old Bulls playoff game, but any time you saw the black gym shoes in the highlights, you knew it was playoff time.  So many things I noticed watching this now 27 year old game, like the lack of tattoos on the players.  The shorts weren’t that short any more, the defenses were still tough, and it was Marv and the Czar calling the action.  Nothing can top those NBA days.

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This game features one of my favorite MJ shots of all time… a very underrated shot.  I’m used to scouring YouTube for MJ highlights… his greatest dunks, his game winners, etc… and this shot is not popular for some reason.  It was the shot at the end of regulation to send the game into OT.  Remember, the Bulls trailed by 2 late due to the Vlade shot and one that fouled Pippen out… the one that Magic rewarded Vlade who was covering his mouth with a big hug.  MJ wouldn’t let us lose.

The story that I read later was the Bulls elected to take the ball out full court because MJ’s toe had been bothering him pretty bad; they had talked about his knees during the game, but it was the toe that was giving him trouble.  So, he wanted a running start.  It was a beautiful shot.  Vlade actually did a very good job contesting it, as he came out to help Scott, and extended his arm about 9 feet in the air.  But MJ elevated higher and released at the top of his jump… he drained it.  And, and… he poked the ball away from Vlade on the proceeding play to prevent a Laker game winner.

In OT, there were two more classic MJ moves.  The one where he turned his body sideways to the rim, and laid it off the glass with his right hand, and then the one where he swooped under the rim to lay it off the glass again.  The Bulls got the W, and the rest is history.

The Bulls finally would earn their first title.  It was so nerve racking because they hadn’t won anything yet.  But the win in Game 3 propelled us to the series win in 5, and the first of 6 titles in 8 years.  Simply the best times for us Bulls fans.

So I stepped out of the time machine, and headed to bed.  I wonder how many games they really have on YouTube for me to watch.  Maybe we’ll find out.  Watching this game would beat watching this year’s Bulls every, single, time.  Maybe I need to watch some old Blackhawks games too… Until next time, back to 2018.