Jordan Vs Barkley: The Finals BATTLE That Lasted FOREVER…

This is the epic finals battle between Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley that lasted forever. In game 3 of the finals, the Bulls and the Suns needed 3 overtimes to decide the winner, and things got crazy. But let's take a step back. MJ and the Chuckster were best buddies for 30 They entered the NBA in the same draft class in 1984, often shared the golf course together, and ruled the Olympics in the summer of 92 in Barcelona. But just 10 months later, they faced off in the 1993 NBA Finals, instantly turning enemies on the hardwood. The Suns had the home court advantage for winning a league best 62 games in the regular season, and Barkley was awarded the MVP for posting 25.5 points, 12 boards and 5 assists on 52% shooting in his first year in Phoenix. But that didn't mean anything for Michael and the Bulls, who were eager to complete their first ever 3-peat. The entire state of Arizona went through a heartbreak, losing both games at home. And with the series shifting to the Chicago Stadium for the next 3 games due to the old finals format, the Suns had nothing to lose anymore. But I guess that's exactly what Barkley and company needed, a pressure relief. So they came out furious in game 3. Phoenix opened the game on an 11-4 run, playing confident on both ends of the floor. But Scottie Pippen had enough of that, swatting away Barkley's layup and finding BJ Armstrong in transition. A couple of possessions later, Jordan made sure to fire one from behind the line and tie the game. After the slow start, his earnest really picked up the pace and started dominating the game only like he can. Damn, every move he made was poetry in motion. MJ ignited a 19-6 response run for the Bulls to take an 8-point lead. Here was absolutely money from everywhere on the court. And speaking of that, you may be entitled to a potential recovery of over a thousand dollars. Here's why. 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Fortunately for Phoenix, the 33-year-old Tom Chambers was in the groove off the bench, giving them some quality minutes until Chuck got rested. And this was a cool moment of Amar Rashad on the sidelines midway through the second period. It's one thing for fans to wear such t-shirts, but when the players do that, it gets the best out of the opposition. Kevin Johnson was playing extremely well, scoring 12 points and dishing out 6 assists thus far. And this opened the game for Barkley as well. Charles converts the aim one, but Jordan comes right back at him. Mike was a one-man wrecking crew for Chicago, scoring 20 points already. And this is a rare moment of Richard Dumas making the GOAT look silly with the ball fake. At the half, the Suns led by a single point, but MJ and Pippen made sure to impose their will in the third quarter. On the other end, playing through visible pain after the injury in that 42-point outing in Game 2, Barkley got a rare bucket to drop. Regardless, Pippen was doing everything he wanted on the offensive end, outplaying the entire Suns defense only by his will, bumping the Bulls lead up to 5 points. But they forgot about Dan. Dan Marley stuns the crowd with back-to-back triples to take over the lead. Amazing. So after three high-scoring quarters, both teams picked up the physicality in the final stage, and the game suddenly turned ugly. And Barkley made a great heads-up play after Jordan missed a three to Danny Age in transition. This playing style was going into the Suns' favor, and Magic Johnson put it best. Phoenix took a surprising 11-point lead in the middle of the fourth, when the Bulls said, enough is enough. Are you kidding me? Pippen takes advantage of Danny Age's carelessness for the easiest points of the night. So up by only a point, the round mound of rebound finally stops the 4-point bleeding for the Suns with a nice reverse layup. But Horace Grant erased all of that with this huge end-1 dunk. All tied up at 103, it all came down to this. Now we don't see this too often. The potential game winner by Marley is waved off cause KJ called a timeout first. What a pity. But let's see if Barkley can win the game for his team on the last possession. Sir Charles comes up short and we go to overtime. And in the extra period, with the game on the line, the defense tightened up on both ends as we were left with only 3 buckets for the entire 5 minutes. That was it. Pippen puts Chicago up by 2 points, but Barkley on the other side draws the foul and stays calm under pressure to hit both free throws and tie the game again. Then Jordan gets the iso with Johnson and puts him to sleep. So under a minute to go, the Suns needed a hero to bail them out. With guys playing 50 minutes plus, fatigue came to play and we started seeing these ugly possessions. Shots were tough to hit from the outside so the Bulls got deep into the paint. And after breaking the spell, Jordan got the field back. A signature turnaround fadeaway by Michael to give Chicago a 4 point lead. So with their backs against the wall, the Suns turn to their MVP. Still, MJ had a chance to seal the deal if he scores on the next play, but things took a wild swing out of nowhere. Barkley runs into Marley's hug thrilled to see his teammate tie the game. Now with 3 seconds to go and Jordan double teamed, who's taking the last shot for the Bulls? Pippen's runner is off and guess what? Triple overtime is coming up. And the Chuckster is all smiles. Maybe he was sensing the near future because… Pippen fumbles the ball and Barkley finishes the Duncan transition to take a 3 point lead very late in the evening. And he gathered the last bits of energy he had to pull another hustle play. Charles catches Michael by surprise in the 11th hour to steal the pass and lay in the crucial basket. Down by 7, Jordan was left all alone on the offensive end. And despite scoring 44 points, the Suns stayed up top by hitting their free throws in the clutch. At the end, Barkley gutted out a huge double double of 24 points and 19 rebounds in Phoenix's epic triple overtime win. This gave new hope to the Suns that they can somehow pull off a comeback. But Air Jordan went god mode in Game 4 scoring 55 points single handedly securing the win for the Bulls. The Suns needed all 74 points by Barkley, KJ and Dumas to win Game 5 and move series back to Phoenix where Jon Paxson happened. That's how close Charles Barkley and the Suns were to pushing the finals into a decisive Game 7. And speaking of epic playoff series, in 2004, the 7 games between the Wolves and the Kings forever immortalized Kevin Garnett's legacy. From brutal fights to late game heroics, that marathon had everything and you gotta check it out right here in this video. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.