Even after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Pat Riley left, the Los Angeles Lakers were able to maintain enough of their mojo during the 1990-91 season to continue to be championship contenders. Although plenty of people expected them to take a step back, they surprised many by getting past the Portland Trail Blazers, who finished with the best record in the league, in the Western Conference Finals.
They reached the NBA Finals for the ninth time in 12 seasons, and they faced Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, a young and hungry squad that had gotten to the championship series for the first time. After the Lakers stole Game 1 on the road, it looked like perhaps they were about to capture their sixth ring of the Magic Johnson era.
They stayed within range in the first half of Game 2 despite trailing when Jordan got into foul trouble. Bulls head coach Phil Jackson had budding star forward Scottie Pippen start to guard Johnson, and it turned things around sharply in Chicago’s favor.
Chicago outscored Johnson’s squad 59-43 in the second half and cruised to a resounding 107-86 victory. Johnson shot just 4-of-13 from the field as Pippen harassed him up and down the court and, by extension, stymied L.A.’s overall offense.
Johnson admitted that Pippen made things difficult for him.
Via New York Times:
“Pippen did a great job on me,” Johnson said. “Once Michael got into early foul trouble, you had to expect they would make that switch.
“They were trying to wear me out or take the ball out of my hands, take your pick. Scottie is more physical than Michael so the matchup was a little different.”
Although the Lakers took a double-digit lead in the third quarter of Game 3 back home, they ran out of steam. With Pippen hounding them, Chicago roared back and won in overtime. It then held the Lakers down in submission in Game 4 and allowed just 82 points in a 15-point win, and with Showtime stalwarts James Worthy and Byron Scott unable to play in Game 5, Chicago won it all with a 108-101 victory.
Worthy played the entire series on a painful sprained ankle, which robbed him of much of his game. One has to wonder if the Lakers would’ve been much more competitive had he been healthy.
But that was it for the era. Johnson was forced to retire in November 1991 after he found he was HIV positive, and Showtime was immediately dead. Jordan and the Bulls would go on to dominate most of the rest of the 1990s, while the Lakers would struggle through a painful rebuilding process.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: How Michael Jordan getting in foul trouble led to the Lakers losing in the 1991 NBA Finals
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
