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by: Chris Maynard
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Today is the 30th anniversary of Game One of the 1996 NBA Finals between the Seattle SuperSonics and Chicago Bulls. I have gone ahead and rewatched this game, listing my observations of what I saw with a fresh set of eyes.
To get you fired up, here is NBC's introduction to the game. Man, how I loved these intros back during the day.
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Today is the 30th anniversary of Game One of the 1996 NBA Finals between the Seattle SuperSonics and Chicago Bulls. I have gone ahead and rewatched this game, listing my observations of what I saw with a fresh set of eyes.
To get you fired up, here is NBC's introduction to the game. Man, how I loved these intros back during the day.
What I remember from this day: It was a Wednesday, and I was only two days away from being done with eighth grade and elementary school. Of course, my rambunctious self could not go out quietly or with much class, getting a detention during science class that morning. After the teacher briefly left the room, I got up and threw a rubber eraser at my friend Todd. Of course, the teacher walked in the room mid-throw. Apparently, my teacher did not see who threw the eraser. My teacher then said that there would be no consequences for whoever threw the eraser as long as he or she admitted it. I went up to her and admitted my mistake and was promptly given a much-deserved detention, my second in the last four days. I also got a detention the Friday before for goofing around with a girl classmate and putting toothpaste on her desk. I was a real troublemaker back in the day, or at least I thought I was. Anyways, I remember having to write out of the dictionary for an hour after school, thinking about the Finals' game that night between the Bulls and Sonics.
What I remember from Game One: My family gathered at my Grandpa Herb's house to watch the first game of the series as June 5th was his birthday. I remember watching many Bulls' Finals games on his birthday, including Game Two of the 1991, 1992 and 1998 NBA Finals. I was trying to be all cool in front of my uncles, talking about how I got another detention. My Dad was not too impressed with my attitude, and I calmed down. I watched this game on the back porch of my Grandpa's house up until the early fourth quarter when we had to go home. I remember my Dad turning on the radio in the car as Toni Kukoc hit a big three to give Chicago a comfortable lead at the moment. After eight days off, the Bulls would look a little rusty during Game One but continue to dominate defensively! Also, I remember Dennis Rodman getting into the head of Seattle's Frank Brickowski, who was ejected during the second quarter, having to make the walk of shame to the locker room past the Chicago bench, with Bulls' reserve Randy Brown giving him the business.
What I remember from Game One: My family gathered at my Grandpa Herb's house to watch the first game of the series as June 5th was his birthday. I remember watching many Bulls' Finals games on his birthday, including Game Two of the 1991, 1992 and 1998 NBA Finals. I was trying to be all cool in front of my uncles, talking about how I got another detention. My Dad was not too impressed with my attitude, and I calmed down. I watched this game on the back porch of my Grandpa's house up until the early fourth quarter when we had to go home. I remember my Dad turning on the radio in the car as Toni Kukoc hit a big three to give Chicago a comfortable lead at the moment. After eight days off, the Bulls would look a little rusty during Game One but continue to dominate defensively! Also, I remember Dennis Rodman getting into the head of Seattle's Frank Brickowski, who was ejected during the second quarter, having to make the walk of shame to the locker room past the Chicago bench, with Bulls' reserve Randy Brown giving him the business.
Here is Game One of the 1996 NBA Finals between the Seattle SuperSonics and the Chicago Bulls.
Make the jump to see the starting lineups and read my observations as I watch this game for the first time in years.
Starting Lineups: Seattle SuperSonics vs. Chicago Bulls
NBC Commentators: Marv Albert on play-by-play, Matt Guokas and Bill Walton on the color commentary.
- Point Guard: Gary Payton vs. Ron Harper
- Shooting Guard: Hersey Hawkins vs. Michael Jordan
- Small Forward: Detlef Schrempf vs. Scottie Pippen
- Power Forward: Shawn Kemp vs. Dennis Rodman
- Center: Ervin Johnson vs. Luc Longley
- Head Coaches: George Karl vs. Phil Jackson
NBC Commentators: Marv Albert on play-by-play, Matt Guokas and Bill Walton on the color commentary.
First Quarter, Under-7 Timeout Observations
Chicago leads 10-9 with 6:32 remaining. The Bulls look like a team that hasn't played in eight day while the Sonics look like a team that just wrapped up a seven-game series. On the game's first possession, Seattle guarded Michael Jordan with Detlef Schrempf, sending a double from Hersey Hawkins. The Bulls made Seattle pay with Jordan kicking out to Ron Harper, who buried a three to begin the scoring. Chicago then missed its next five shots, with Jordan's first attempt, a baseline fadeaway hitting the side of the backboard, and Scottie Pippen airballing a three. Seattle has gotten a great start from Shawn Kemp, who is 3-for-4 from the field, with two jumpers and a nifty reverse layup. Gary Payton has been cold, starting 0-for-4 from the field. The Bulls are being led by Luc Longley, who has two baskets on Seattle's Ervin Johnson, and two blocks on defense. It is clear that Chicago is looking to attack the young Seattle big man. Longley and Harper have five points apiece for Chicago. Dennis Rodman was whistled for an offensive foul battling Kemp for a rebound before getting hit with a technical foul by Joey Crawford for staring at the official. Jordan and Pippen have yet to score for the Bulls. Ron Harper has begun the game on Payton, with Pippen guarding Schrempf. Longley has been defending Kemp.
First Quarter, Under-4 Timeout Observations
Chicago leads 22-13 with 3:18 remaining as Seattle takes a timeout. The Bulls have shaken off the rust of the long layoff, with the defense sparking offense. Jordan began with a block of a Hawkins jumper, leading to a transition layup for Longley, who made a nice move showing the ball and driving in to score. Pippen later stole a weak entry pass from Payton, who is off to a slow start. Jordan went 3-for-3 during this stretch after missing his first two shots of the game. Jordan canned two long jumpers over Schrempf and just abused Payton a postup fadeaway. Pippen also hit a three. Seattle had missed five straight shots until veteran Sam Perkins hit a three. The Bulls have picked up the intensity, and the United Center crowd is rocking as George Karl saw enough of that run. Chicago is on a 17-5 run and is getting great scoring balance, with Longley having 8, Jordan 6, Harper 5 and Pippen 3 points.
End of First Quarter Observations
Chicago leads 24-18 at the end of the first quarter. The last couple of minutes have been a bit ragged, with a lot of up-and-down, transition basketball. Seattle is killing itself not being strong with the ball and missing some chip shots. Kemp had a layup attempt stripped by Jordan. Kemp then grabbed an offensive board and missed a putback at the buzzer. Both teams were a bit sped up late in the quarter, with Pippen missing several transition threes and Steve Kerr having a wild drive to the rim, resulting in a badly missed layup. Rebounding was even at 11 apiece before Chicago got two big offensive boards, one from Toni Kukoc on a missed three by Pippen. Kukoc contorted his body and banked in a shot off the rebound. Pippen then grabbed an offensive board on the next possession though Chicago didn't convert. Dennis Rodman has been active the last two stretches, totaling six rebounds during the first quarter. Seattle is being led by Kemp's 9 points on 4/7 from the field while Longley led the Bulls with 8 points during a bit of a ragged first quarter, which is expected for the first game of the Finals. Payton is off to a rough start, going 0-for-5 from the field. Overall, the first quarter had a nice flow and moved quickly, even if the Bulls were a bit rusty and Seattle was getting its collective feet settled.
Second Quarter, Under-10 Timeout Observations
Chicago leads 28-26 with 9:09 remaining. The Sonics have had a nice start to the second quarter, doing a great job on the offensive boards. Perkins grabbed an offensive board and then tipped in his own miss. Perkins then just drew a second foul on Rodman, posting him up and scoring on a nice up-and-under on the baseline. Perkins already has 7 points off the bench. After missing his first six shots, Payton abused Randy Brown on a postup, spinning baseline and scoring. Chicago got a tough fadeaway from Kukoc and a Pippen offensive rebound and score during this stretch. Seattle has done a good job competing with the Bulls on the boards. Chicago's offense has stagnated, with Phil Jackson having a weird lineup of Kerr, Brown, Pippen, Kukoc and Rodman on the court. Seattle is in the midst of a 14-6 run.
Second Quarter, Under-8 Timeout Observations
Seattle leads 32-28 with 7:43 remaining in the half as Phil Jackson calls a timeout. Seattle is in the midst of a 19-6 run as Vincent Askew made two free throws and Perkins hit a transition three. Perkins now has 11 points off the bench. Chicago has missed 12 of its last 15 shots. The Bulls look out of rhythm, like a team that has been off for more than a week. Jackson is trying to find someone to provide a spark, but no one on the bench is giving much. Jud Buechler, who has been great in the playoffs, came in and picked up two quick fouls. Give credit to the Sonics, which have overcome a slow first quarter and dominated the first four minutes of the second quarter.
Second Quarter, Under-3 Timeout Observations
Chicago leads 41-39 with 2:56 remaining. It feels like Seattle should be up rather than down at the moment, though the Sonics are killing themselves with turnovers. Seattle has 9 turnovers to Chicago's 1. The Sonics have a 16-4 edge in bench scoring, with Perkins and Askew giving great minutes. Seattle is also leading 24-17 on the boards, which is shocking given Chicago's dominance on the glass throughout the playoffs. Jackson ditched going to Kerr, Brown, Bill Wennington and Buechler, putting back his starters into the game and getting immediate results. Jordan hit a three, Longley dipped his shoulder and scored down low, and Harper hit a baseline jumper. Harper then followed up with a beautiful offensive tip in of a missed banker by Pippen, who has struggled with his shot. Speaking of struggling, Seattle's Schrempf has not scored and been mired in fouls, sitting out with three at the moment. Seattle just inserted veteran Frank Brickowski, and the game is about to take a turn in favor of the Bulls if my memory serves right.
Halftime Observations
Chicago leads 53-48 at the break. The second quarter was mired in physical play and foul shots, with Chicago hitting 14-for-16 from the foul line in the last 12 minutes. Brickowski really came in looking to get Rodman's second technical and goon up the game, committing a hard foul on Jordan and a flagrant foul on Rodman. Brickowski then got two immediate technical fouls for talking to Rodman and Bulls' forward Jack Haley, dressed in street clothes on the bench. In about two minutes of playing time, Brickowski gave Chicago six trips to the foul line. That was not smart basketball. Ultimately, a ragged second quarter ends with Jordan now having 18 points while Kemp leads Seattle with 18 points on 6-for-9 from the field. After a rough shooting start, Payton has 5 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Seattle shot 47%, Chicago just 36%. However, the Sonics committed 10 turnovers leading to 14 Chicago points. The Bulls had just 1 turnover leading to 2 points. Kemp had 5 turnovers! Longley had 12 points but 3 fouls in the first half.
Third Quarter, Under-9 Timeout Observations
Chicago leads 62-54 with 8:44 remaining as the Bulls take a full timeout after Kukoc secures an offensive rebound while falling out of bounds. It feels like Seattle is closer in this game than reality; however, the Bulls are keeping the Sonics at bay. Jordan started the half with a cold fadeaway over Hawkins, Harper had a beautiful slashing layup and Pippen had an and-one on a great play by Rodman. After Schrempf missed a shot but scored on his own offensive rebound, Rodman threw a bomb down court to Pippen, who made a layup plus the foul. Pippen has a quiet 14 points, going 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Seattle made a conscious effort early in the half to feed the ball to Kemp, who drew a fourth foul on Longley and had a nice lefty layup. It has been a bit of a sleepy start to the second half in general.
Third Quarter, Under-3 Timeout Observations
Chicago leads 75-71 with 2:32 remaining. Chicago was up 11 points at one point, but the Bulls had missed six straight shots with Jordan on the bench. Seattle had the lead down to one point as Kemp scored again in the post before Pippen canned his second three of the quarter. Pippen now leads Chicago with 21 points and has been really big during the third quarter. Kemp has a game-high 28 points, just picking up Rodman's fifth foul. Kemp is 12-for-14 from the foul line. Chicago was clicking for a bit, with Kukoc feeding Rodman for two layups, and Rodman then feeding Kukoc for a layup. However, the Sonics have been hanging around due to Kemp and Schrempf, who has bounced back with 7 points after a scoreless first half. Fouls are piling up. Longley has 4, Rodman 5 and Kemp 4.
End of Third Quarter Observations
Chicago leads 79-77 at the end of the third quarter. Seattle had the game tied at 75 as Schrempf canned a jumper but Jordan immediately scored a layup after coming off the bench. Toni Kukoc has been very active on the offensive glass, keeping several possessions alive, including one that led to a Wennington jumper. Kemp has 30 points through three quarters, scoring 12 points in this frame. Seattle hasn't always been pretty, but the Sonics were gritty that quarter, getting back into the game. Game One is starting to feel like an NBA Finals game as the feeling out process is over.
Fourth Quarter, Under-11 Timeout Observations
Chicago leads 83-77 with 10:52 remaining as Seattle takes a timeout. Toni Kukoc has come out aggressive in the fourth quarter, missing a fadeaway that was tipped in by Wennington, drawing an offensive foul on Seattle while fighting for a defensive rebound, and just dunking on Schrempf off a gorgeous drop-stop move to the baseline. Kukoc is doing a lot of the dirty work that his game was not always known for.
Fourth Quarter, Under-8 Timeout Observations
Chicago leads 93-82 with 7:15 remaining as the Sonics take a timeout. Toni, Toni, Toni. Kukoc has broken out of his shooting slump, hitting two enormous threes, including one that generated a four-point play. Kukoc has 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, with the United Center chanting "Toni, Toni, Toni." Entering the Finals, Kukoc was 3/36 from three. Chicago has really cranked up the defense, with Harper getting a steal and gliding in for a layup, leading to a Seattle timeout. With the exception of a three by Perkins and long jumper by Kemp, the Sonics are starting to fall apart as Chicago has put the pedal to the metal during crunch time.
Fourth Quarter, Under-6 Timeout Observations
Chicago leads 93-86 with 5:38 remaining as Phil Jackson calls a timeout. Just when it looked like Chicago was about to put this game away, the Bulls have two uncharacteristic turnovers, with Jordan getting stripped by Perkins and Longley throwing a horrible pass to Kemp. Payton was the benefactor of these turnovers, scoring on a nice postup and a layup.
Fourth Quarter, Under-5 Timeout Observations
Chicago leads 99-86 with 4:37 remaining as Seattle takes a timeout. The Bulls come out of the gate with a quick 6-0 run as Harper passes up on an open three to feed Rodman inside for a layup, Kukoc scores on a transition dunk, and Harper gets another layup off a steal! Man oh man, Harper was such a good all-around player. He has 15 points and 7 assists. Chicago has outscored Seattle 20-9 this quarter, with Jordan and Pippen not even scoring.
Final Score: Chicago Bulls 107, Seattle SuperSonics 90.
Chicago wins by 17 points after leading by just two at the end of three. Chicago's defense was all over the court during the fourth quarter, holding Seattle to 13 points. Jordan hit two ridiculous shots, a high-arching fadeway and beautiful pull up on Schrempf late to finish with a ho-hum 28 points in Game One. Here is the final box score for what was a dominating and inspiring fourth quarter by the Bulls.
Five Stars of the Game
1. Toni Kukoc, Chicago Bulls. With a two-point lead entering the fourth quarter, Kukoc gets the Bulls rolling right away in the game's final 12 minutes, scoring 12 of his 18 points in the last frame. At one point, Kukoc had more points, 12, than Seattle, 9, for the quarter. In fact, Kukoc had one less point in the fourth than Seattle had as a team.
2. Scottie Pippen, Chicago Bulls. After a quiet first half, Pippen really stepped up in the third quarter, hitting two threes and going 8-for-9 from the foul line, where he has struggled at points. Pippen was a defensive menace with 3 steals and 3 blocks. Despite being 5-for-15 from the field, Pippen had no turnovers and finished with 21 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
3. Ron Harper, Chicago Bulls. As has been the case all playoffs, Harper was phenomenal, especially with Kukoc in the fourth quarter. Harper had such a good all-around game, scoring 15 points on 6-for-10 from the field, grabbing 5 boards, dishing out 7 assists, getting 2 big steals in the fourth quarter and blocking 1 shot.
4. Luc Longley, Chicago Bulls. Longley tied a then-career playoff high 14 points, having a very active game offensively and defensively, which included 4 blocks!
5A. Shawn Kemp, Seattle Supersonics. Kemp was the best scorer on the court, finishing with 32 points, though he just had 2 points in the fourth quarter before fouling out as Rodman baited him for his sixth foul. Kemp did have 7 turnovers, which blemished his incredible night from the field (9-for-14) and free throw line (14-for-16).
5B. Dennis Rodman, Chicago Bulls. Despite missing a lot of the fourth with five fouls, Rodman had another focused game, grabbing 13 rebounds and chipping in 7 points.
5C. Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls. While having a "quiet" game, Jordan still led the Bulls with 28 points. As Bill Walton said, Seattle had to be worried about Jordan next game after he scored just 10 points in the second half.
2. Scottie Pippen, Chicago Bulls. After a quiet first half, Pippen really stepped up in the third quarter, hitting two threes and going 8-for-9 from the foul line, where he has struggled at points. Pippen was a defensive menace with 3 steals and 3 blocks. Despite being 5-for-15 from the field, Pippen had no turnovers and finished with 21 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
3. Ron Harper, Chicago Bulls. As has been the case all playoffs, Harper was phenomenal, especially with Kukoc in the fourth quarter. Harper had such a good all-around game, scoring 15 points on 6-for-10 from the field, grabbing 5 boards, dishing out 7 assists, getting 2 big steals in the fourth quarter and blocking 1 shot.
4. Luc Longley, Chicago Bulls. Longley tied a then-career playoff high 14 points, having a very active game offensively and defensively, which included 4 blocks!
5A. Shawn Kemp, Seattle Supersonics. Kemp was the best scorer on the court, finishing with 32 points, though he just had 2 points in the fourth quarter before fouling out as Rodman baited him for his sixth foul. Kemp did have 7 turnovers, which blemished his incredible night from the field (9-for-14) and free throw line (14-for-16).
5B. Dennis Rodman, Chicago Bulls. Despite missing a lot of the fourth with five fouls, Rodman had another focused game, grabbing 13 rebounds and chipping in 7 points.
5C. Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls. While having a "quiet" game, Jordan still led the Bulls with 28 points. As Bill Walton said, Seattle had to be worried about Jordan next game after he scored just 10 points in the second half.
Dud of the Game
Frank Brickowski, Seattle SuperSonics. Brickowski played a grand total of 2 minutes late in the second quarter, during which he picked up a flagrant foul on Rodman and two quick technicals, leading to an ejection and parade to the free throw line for Chicago. Brickowski seriously thought he was going to come in and bully a Chicago team that had been through much tougher wars against the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks in the past.
Here are the highlights of Game One.
Here are the highlights of Game One.
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