The road to the Chicago Bulls' first three-peat was not a walk in the park. The more they won, the more the target on their backs got bigger. In the Eastern Conference, Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks were the top favorites to prevent Michael Jordan from getting his third ring, and in Episode 6 of “The Last Dance,” Ewing spoke out on their rivalry.
According to Ewing, both teams hated each other so much that the rules were reduced to barbaric terms: no blood, no foul.
“We hated each other. It was extremely physical. It wasn't really a foul until you drew blood,” Patrick Ewing said in “The Last Dance.”
The first two games of the 1993 East Finals actually belonged to the Knicks. This included the famous lefty dunk of John Starks over Horace Grant and Michael Jordan. After winning the first two games, everyone thought that all momentum was on the Bockers' side.
However, they couldn't be any more wrong. The Bulls won four straight games. Games 3 and 4 saw total dominance from Chicago, as they won 103-83 and 105-95, respectively.
In Game 4 in particular, Jordan dropped 54 points, which still holds the record for most points against the Knicks in the playoffs.
In Game 5, the Knicks were determined to come back. The game was decided in the last few seconds of the game. In what is now regarded as one of the best defensive possessions in history, Horace Grant, Jordan, and Pippen teamed up to block Charles Smith four straight times. It sealed the crucial win and gave the Bulls all the momentum they needed to win Game 6 and boot out the Knicks.
There is certainly more revelations to be made in “The Last Dance,” and it's undoubtedly the perfect time to reminisce the good old days of the NBA.
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