“We can change the whole mentality within Chicago by beating Cleveland” – Michael Jordan on the team’s mentality in the breakout series against the Cavs originally appeared on Basketball Network.
When Michael Jordan arrived in Chicago, the Bulls were miserable. They won a total of only 55 games in the previous two seasons and made only one postseason appearance in the last seven years. They made the playoffs in each of Jordan’s first three seasons but were eliminated in the first round every time, including back-to-back sweeps at the hands of Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics in 1986 and 1987.
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In 1988, Jordan and the Bulls finally won their first playoff series, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 3-2 in the first round. In Round 2, they were easily beaten by the Detroit Pistons 4-1. The following year, Chicago finished as the sixth seed and was booked to a first-round showdown with the No. 3 Cavaliers.
Many doubted whether the Bulls would win. They barely beat the Cavs the previous season, even with home-court advantage. Now that that edge was with Cleveland, even Chicago fans didn’t think they would get the job done. But Jordan did.
“It was an opportunity that we can change the whole mentality in Chicago by beating Cleveland,” said Jordan. “And after the first game, I knew we had a chance. When we got to Game 5, it was like we were to prove a point to the city, to the media, to everybody that it wasn’t going to be a sweep. Now let’s go out and win this thing.”
The series went to Game 5 again
Jordan scored 31 points in Game 1 as Chicago stole home-court advantage from Cleveland. But Ron Harper responded with his own 31-point effort in Game 2 as the Cavs tied the series.
The two teams exchanged wins in Games 3 and 4 to set up a rubber match in Cleveland. In the winner-take-all Game 5, with the Bulls down 99-100 in the dying seconds, Jordan hit what is simply known as “The Shot” over Craig Ehlo to win the game and clinch the series.
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“When it went in, it was probably the most energetic I’ve ever been hitting one shot that I can remember. And it just started everything for the city of Chicago,” MJ added.
The Bulls went on to beat the Knicks 4-2 in the second round to advance to their first Eastern Conference finals appearance since 1975. Although they were ousted 4-1 by the eventual champions, Detroit Pistons, that’s when the Bulls knew it was going to be a matter of time before they would rule the league.
Finally over the Pistons’ hump
During the 1989-90 NBA season, the Bulls had their best campaign with MJ as they won 55 regular season games. However, after dropping only two total games in the first two rounds of the playoffs, they lost to the Pistons again in the Eastern Conference finals, this time in a seven-game thriller. Chicago came back stronger in 1990-91 and they swept the Pistons in the ECF.
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“We surprised a lot of people, and we surprised ourselves. We didn’t feel we could sweep this team, but we knew we could beat them. We had to accept every beating, every push and every elbow they gave us and stay focused on our goal. I was glad to see our team stay so focused,” the North Carolina product shared.
It was touch and go from there. The Bulls defeated Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 in the 1991 NBA Finals to win their first NBA title. They would win five more championships in the next seven years and establish themselves as one of the greatest teams of all time.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 14, 2025, where it first appeared.