Michael Jordan enjoyed tremendous success during his storied NBA career, but there were some teams that caused him and the Chicago Bulls major problems. The Isiah Thomas-led “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons were definitely one of them, as they eliminated the Bulls from the playoffs in 1988, 1989, and 1990.
The uber-physical “Jordan Rules” are often cited as a big reason why the Pistons beat Jordan, but Thomas shared a specific game plan he used against the Bulls on the Crossover Podcast.
“Jordan was the first volume shooter,” Thomas said. “My thought was, as a point guard, we know this. Okay, if I can control tempo, then I can control shot selection on the other team. And if I can control shot selection on the other team, then I can control the volume of shots that his teammates are going to get. So by Jordan, okay, we’re going to give you your 20-plus shots, but you taking them against double team.
“So your field goal percentage is going to be a little lower against us, but maybe high against other teams,” Thomas added. “… But the most important thing is Scottie Pippen, you used to getting 12, 13 shots. Against us, you’re getting six.”
That’s an interesting strategy. Thomas did help reduce the number of shots by a bit.
The Bulls averaged 85.5 field goal attempts per game in the regular season in 1987-88. That went down to 79.6 when they met in the 1988 Eastern Conference Semifinals, and the Pistons would win the series in five games.
The Bulls were next at 85.0 per game in the 1988-89 regular season, and the Pistons brought them down to 72.8 per game in the 1989 Eastern Conference Finals. That’s a drastic drop.
Now, this was when Scottie Pippen was starting to emerge as Jordan’s co-star, so what happened to his numbers? Well, Pippen averaged 11.9 field goal attempts per game in the regular season and was down to 9.5 against the Pistons. It’s not quite the drop that Thomas mentioned, but it did go down as the Pistons won in six games.
On to next season we go, and the Bulls were at 86.5 per game in the regular season and down to 81.4 in the 1990 Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons. This was more like 1988. Pippen’s attempts actually didn’t drop much, however. He was at 14.0 in the regular season and 13.4 in the series.
The point that Thomas was making, though, is that the Pistons were comfortable with Jordan jacking up shots against double teams. Combine that with a reduced number of total attempts due to the slower pace, and you get Bulls players who are not quite in rhythm come the end of the game. That worked to the Pistons’ advantage. They beat the Bulls in seven games in 1990, but the tables turned after that.
The Bulls swept the Pistons when they met in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals. Notably, Jordan reduced his field goal attempts in this series, compared to the last three. In them, he averaged 22.2 field goal attempts and shot 47.1%. In 1991, Jordan averaged 17.8 attempts and shot 53.5% from the field. He had bulked up in the offseason and embraced Phil Jackson’s “Triangle Offense” to finally take down the Bulls’ nemesis.
What followed was a run of domination. The Bulls three-peated from 1991 to 1993 and then again from 1996 to 1998. Jordan won Finals MVP on each of the six occasions, and that stretch is what solidified him as the GOAT in the eyes of many.
