20 Years Ago Today: Jordan Finally Defeats Pistons

CLEVELAND - The Chicago Bulls were eliminated last night by the Miami Heat, denying them their first trip to the NBA Finals in 13 years. But there was a time when the Bulls couldn't be kept out of the championship series no matter who they were playing.

That was when Michael Jordan roamed the skies.

It was 20 years ago today that Jordan, at age 28 led his Bulls to a 115-94 victory, and a 4-0 Eastern Conference Finals series sweep over the Detroit Pistons (on Detroit's home court), who were the two-time defending NBA champions. The Pistons had eliminated the Bulls in each of the previous three seasons, but were no match for the upstart Windy City boys in this series. Jordan, who had a smooth 29 points in the clincher was particularly overjoyed because he was headed to his first ever championship series after years of dominating the league with his offense and defense. Now, he was headed to the one place where his singular brilliance could be validated as being among the best hoopsters in history.

The league finals.

The Pistons displayed defiance, immaturity and cowardice in the closing minute of the rout. Led by Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer, the team walked off the court in anger, unwilling to congratulate the new Conference champions. It was behavior that seemed in-line with their own unsportsmanlike reputation across the league. For the past few years, they used a litany of cheap shot tactics to defend teams and star players, Jordan in particular and thusly, were given the moniker The Bad Boys.

In this series, the Bulls were badder.

The victory served as a coming of age for Chicago and MJ, as they were finally playing phenomenal basketball on both ends of the floor. I remember vividly watching every game in this series, knowing full well that Detroit served as the Bulls' Achilles' Heel, and praying that Chicago could finally rise up and oust the Motor City knuckleheads. Towards the end of Game 3 in Detroit, I remember seeing Jordan at the foul line, knocking down a free throw with a huge look of gratification and satisfaction at the realization that his team was headed for a virtually insurmountable 3-0 series stranglehold. Some folks predicted the Bulls would beat the Pistons, but no one ever dreamed it would be done in a dominating sweep.

Within days, Chicago was back on their home court playing the vaunted L.A. Lakers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. It was a dream matchup of Jordan and Magic Johnson and was heavily hyped. But that historic series became possible because of the Detroit demon that Michael and the guys slayed so thoroughly.

Great memories, even 20 years later.