Jordan Bracket winner: 1998 NBA Finals

With the NBA on hiatus along with most of the sports world, TSN digs into the archives to bring you some of the best playoff series of all time.

This week, we let you choose which one.

Voting was conducted over the past week in bracket format through Twitter and Digital SportsCentre to select two playoff series representing different times in NBA history for TSN to re-broadcast in their entirety beginning Tuesday, May 19.

Here is a look at the winner of the Jordan Bracket -- the 1998 NBA Finals.

(1) 1998 Finals – Bulls vs. Jazz

It was no secret – the 1997-98 season would likely be the end of the Chicago Bulls dynasty as we knew it. Earlier that summer, Bulls general manager Jerry Krause made it clear it would be the final season of Phil Jackson’s nine-year tenure despite two championships in a row and five in the past seven years. Not wanting to play for any other head coach, Michael Jordan said he would not be back in Chicago unless Jackson was. In other words – this was probably it.

After a slow start, the Bulls roared through the regular season and finished first in the Eastern Conference for the third straight season at 62-20. Only the Utah Jazz were just as good. The Bulls beat the Karl Malone-John Stockton-led Jazz the previous summer in the finals but things were different this time around. While Chicago needed seven games to eliminate the Pacers in the conference final, Utah swept the Los Angeles Lakers, giving them 10 days off to prepare for Jordan and Co.

The Jazz squeaked by in Game 1 after Scottie Pippen missed a three at the buzzer that would have tied the game and sent things to double overtime, but Chicago punched back with 37 points from Jordan to even things at 1-1. It looked like it was going to be a hard-fought series.

Outside of a stinker in Game 3 where the Bulls won by 42, it was. The Bulls headed to Salt Lake City with a 3-2 series lead looking to close out their second three-peat of the decade. But it didn’t come easy.

A back injury Pippen was dealing with flared up early in Game 6 and held him to just eight points, so if the Bulls were going to get it done it was going to have to be all MJ.

With 20 seconds to go and Chicago down 86-85, Jordan stole the ball from Malone in the low post. Needing just one basket to put the Bulls on the verge of another title, Jordan dribbled into the frontcourt guarded by Bryon Russell of the Jazz. Veering to his right, Jordan delivered a lethal crossover that sent Russell to the floor before pulling back and hitting the jumper with just over five seconds to go. After Stockton missed a shot at the buzzer, the title was Chicago’s. True to his word, Jordan walked away after that season and never played another game as a Bull.

Here is a look at the other finalist in the Jordan bracket:

(3) 1991 Finals – Bulls vs. Lakers

For the first six seasons of his career, Michael Jordan was known as a great player who struggled to get his team over the hump. While they made the playoffs each year, Chicago made it no further than the conference final.

That all changed in 1991.

Things clicked in the team’s second year under Phil Jackson, winning 60 games for the first time in history during the regular season. Their momentum continued in the playoffs with Chicago finally knocking off the hard-nosed Detroit Pistons after Jordan’s Bulls had been eliminated by them three years in a row.

Next up? Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers. Things got off to a rough start with the Bulls dropping Game 1 at home, but Chicago bounced back to claim Game 2 once Pippen switched on to guarding Johnson. An overtime win in Game 3 and a 15-point victory in Game 4 put Jordan and the Bulls on the brink of history.

They once again had trouble with Johnson, who turned in 20 assists in Game 5, but 32 points from Pippen and an efficient 20 from Paxson helped the Bulls secure their first NBA title.

If it felt like a passing of the torch, it’s because it was. After five championships in the 1980s, 1991 would be the last time the ‘Showtime’ Lakers reached the Finals until 2000, while Jordan’s Bulls would go on to win five titles in the next seven years.