He had one postseason appearance in 1996: Game 2 of this series. The 30-year-old veteran averaged fewer than 13 minutes per game in just 47 games for New York that season. Grant had been drafted at age 23, so in his seventh season when he joined the Knicks in 1995, he was already 30. In that time, the Clippers made the playoffs just twice. He had spent seven years with the Los Angeles Clippers, one of the worst franchises in the NBA. Gary Grant was an NBA veteran in the truest sense. But before we finish this, I need to step back a bit. You, of course, know we're not done here. The Bulls force a miss! Jud Buechler with the rebound! He drives on the next possession and is fouled! He makes them both! It's back to 91-77 with 22.6 to play! Bulls bettors just need to avoid the backdoor cover from a garbage-time Knicks team. With less than two minutes to go, this sequence happens, which would have tilted me into the earth's molten core:īut don't worry, Kukoc is going to make up for all of it. The pace in this game was 87.4 That's glacial. Today's NBA operates at an estimated 100.2 possessions per game via Basketball-Reference. It's important to stress the pace of these games. Willie Anderson hits two free throws and just like that, it's back to 15 with 2:06 left. On the ensuing Bulls possession, Kukoc commits an over-the-back foul going for an offensive rebound. Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy keeps John Starks on the floor and he hits a jumper to make it 17. It's Tony Kukoc, John Salley, and Ron Harper on the floor for Chicago. Ewing is off the court! But the Bulls have pulled Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman. Up 19 with 2:39 left in a game where the Knicks shot 44% from the field for the game and 22% from 3-point range.Ĭoming out of that timeout, the Knicks sit Ewing down to concede. They were favored in Games 1 and 2 by 13 points.Īt this point, the Bulls have a 70.5% cover probability -13, via our Action Network app. The Bulls ultimately went 1-4 ATS in this five-game series against the Knicks failing to cover in the first four games. Unfortunately, the books had the same perspective, or at least understood the public's perception thereof. The Bulls were no spring chickens themselves, but they certainly weren't facing the Eastern Conference Finalist Knicks from 1994. the Miami Heat, and then face the 47-35 New York Knicks, with five of their top seven players age 30 or older. Imagine watching the Bulls go 72-10, cover a 13-point playoff spread (!!!) in the first round vs. 1996 Eastern Conference Semis: Knicks vs. I present the most painful beat I can imagine involving betting on the 72-win, eventual-NBA-champion 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. So I decided to look back at the most painful losses in the Bulls' second three-peat playoff run to find the most crushing moments and how they happened. Not great, Bob.Įven more, as I was 14 at the time of the Bulls' masterpiece 72-10 season, I can't imagine what it would have been like to lose on the Bulls, even against the spread. In the playoffs? The Bulls, thanks to exorbitant lines created by public support and push, went 27-31, including 7-12 in 1997. Profitable to such a small degree as to be negligible. The Bulls went 128-114-4 against the spread (52%) in the regular season between 19. The way "The Last Dance" documentary is presented - which accurately describes the shared feeling that Michael Jordan was invincible - if you bet on the Chicago Bulls between 19 save 1994-95, you would have won every time.īut that's not reality, at least not in the playoffs.
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