One of the greatest teams of all time, the Lakers featured one of the most dominant big man and most prolific backcourts. THis is a great match up of teams with best transition games of all GOAT teams.
The first quarter was dominated by the Lakers. Wilt established himself as a defensive presence on the boards and in the driving lanes. The Lakers went up as much as much as 13 in the quarter. Jordan led a late run to cut the deficit to 5 approaching the 2nd quarter.
In the second quarter, it was more of the same. The Lakers mid range game shined and upped the lead to 12. Another late run by the Bulls (that started with a Flagrant 1 by Chamberlain on Jordan) cut the lead to 4 at the half. Jordan led all scorers with 22, as he took advantage of the mismatches at the guard spot. Jerry West was aggressive, mostly taking advantage when Kerr was guarding him, and had 14 first half pts. Wilt showed why he was "Chairman of the Boards" and had 9 rebs at the half.
The 3rd quarter saw the Bulls tightening up their D. They tightened up on Jerry West, with Harper hounding the smaller Hall-of-Famer. Bulls took the lead 3 minutes into the quarter, while Wilt kept the Lakers in the game. The Bulls have a 4 point lead going into the 4th.
The 4th started with the Bulls getting hot, increasing the lead to 10 midway. But Elgin Baylor led the Lakers back, scoring 6 pts in a run that had them take a 4 pt lead with 3 minutes to go. The Bulls, however, finished the game with an 11-2 run and closed them out, winning by 5.
Jordan was POG with 34 pts, 12/16 FT, 2 rebs, 12 assts, 5 stls. Great all around. Pippen had 19 with 6 rebs, Rodman grabbed 13 rebs. Harper also took advantage of the mismatch and finished with 17 pts, Kukoc added 13.
Wilt Chamberlain was a monster on the boards and defense. He had 23 pts, 15 rebs, blocked 8 shots with 7 steals. Jerry West, who had a big 1st half, was held to 4 in the second and finished with 18 pts, but dished out 10 assists.
https://youtu.be/bSonzbbkeeg