Preface
In the minds of many fans, if you want to choose one of the best two players in history, many people will tell you that this person is Scottie Pippen. In the 90s of the last century, the Bulls were able to dominate the NBA, and in addition to the impeccable Michael Jordan, Pippen's efforts are also worthy of recognition.
Even the great Jordan has said in interviews with the media several times that without Pippen, there would be no self today. So as Jordan's deputy, he is also the indispensable soul of the Bulls team, in the finals stage of a total of six times, how did Pippen perform, let's analyze them one by one!
1. 1991 Finals: Bulls 4:1 Lakers
Pippen stats: 20.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 2.4 steals and 1 block
In the 1991 Finals, the league's upstart Bulls successfully defeated the old powerhouse Lakers with a score of 4:1, and Jordan won the matchup with Magic Johnson, which also symbolized the successful completion of the torch of the NBA's legacy. In fact, on the finals stage that year, Jordan's play was indisputable, and Pippen also played a successful second-in-command role. With an average of 20.8 points per game, second only to Jordan among the two teams, 9.4 rebounds is the best among the two teams, and 6.6 assists are second only to Jordan and Magic.
Especially in Game 5, the team already has a 3-1 overall lead despite being on the road, and if they can win this game and beat the Lakers again, they will make new history. Jordan had 30 points, four rebounds and 10 assists, while the Magic responded with a super triple-double of 16 points, 11 rebounds and 20 assists.
However, the real protagonist of this game was Pippen, who had a quasi-triple-double of 32 points, 13 rebounds, and 7 assists, while contributing a staggering 5 steals on the defensive end, and finally the Bulls also managed to win the game and win the first championship in team history.
2. 1992 Finals: Bulls 4:2 Trail Blazers
Pippen stats: 20.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.7 blocks
The 1992 Finals was regarded as the world's No. 1 scoring guard, and although there was a huge gap between Jordan and Clyde Drexler in the eyes of the outside world, the media still hyped it up, which also added a lot of heat to the game. Drexler naturally couldn't contain Jordan, and on top of that, Pippen was even more of a headache.
In this round of the series, Pippen can be said to have taken what he wanted. He contributed a quasi-triple-double of 24 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists in the first game, and he was able to contribute a quasi-triple-double in almost every game after that.
However, the Trail Blazers still stubbornly dragged the game into the battle of Kings Mountain, and the crucial game seemed to be a heads-up between Jordan and the glider, with Jordan scoring 46 points, Drexler with 30 points and 10 rebounds, and Pippen being the spoiler, with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists to help the Bulls win key games. The Bulls returned to their home court, not only did Jordan score 33 points, but Pippen also scored 26 points efficiently, and finally the Bulls defeated their opponents and successfully defended the championship.
3. 1993 Finals: Bulls 4:2 Suns
Pippen stats: 21.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 2 steals and 1 block
This round of the series is considered by many fans to be the most difficult year for Jordan to win the championship, after all, Jordan needs to average 41 points, 8.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game before the Bulls defeated the Suns 4-2 with difficulty, so many people feel that the other players of the Bulls this year are not good.
In fact, this year's Pippen also contributed 21.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, and his performance was very comprehensive. Pippen had 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the first game, and 15 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists in the second game to help his team win back-to-back games. However, in the third game of three overtimes between the two sides, Pippen did need to bear the responsibility for the loss. Although he had a near-triple-double of 26 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, he was very inefficient, shooting just 12-of-35 from the field. It was because he wasted a lot of opportunities to make a lot of shots, which eventually led to the team fighting hard and still losing the game.
However, Jordan also only contributed 44 points on 19-of-43 shooting, so the two brothers did not complain in the slightest, but gathered their emotions and faced the next game. The fourth game is the game we are most familiar with Jordan's 55-point miracle, in fact, in this game, Pippen's performance as a deputy is also commendable, although he only scored 14 points, but contributed 6 rebounds and 10 assists, it is his organization that revitalizes the team, and Jordan can also focus on scoring.
Although the Bulls managed to win Game 5, Jordan began to close the game in Game 6, and the Flyers scored 33 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists to help the Bulls beat the Suns by 1 point and successfully complete the legendary three-game winning streak. In this game, in fact, Pippen's play was also crucial, he not only scored 23 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists, but also perfectly limited the opponent's attack group on the defensive end, contributing a total of 4 steals, and the offensive and defensive performance laid a solid foundation for the Bulls' championship.
4. 1996 Finals: Bulls 4:2 SuperSonic
Pippen stats: 15.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.3 blocks
In the summer of 1993, Jordan unexpectedly announced his retirement, which put the Bulls into a leaderless situation, but Phil Jackson soon placed Pippen as the team's new core. In fact, during the period when Pippen led the team alone, his performance was relatively good, although he failed to help the team defend the title, but overall Pippen's performance was worthy of the identity of the top 50 superstars later, especially the lower limit of his team is very guaranteed, of course, if you want to raise the ceiling, you still need to have that great basketball god.
In 1995, Jordan returned to the Bulls with a rusty body, but they fell in the Eastern Conference semifinals that year, which allowed Jordan to start devil training in the summer of that year, and with the arrival of Dennis Rodman, the Bulls had a terrifying 72-10 record in the 95-96 season. And they are even more powerful in the playoffs, and they are back on the stage of the finals again.
However, in the matchup with the SuperSonics, the two sides fought a defensive battle, and the result was that except for Sean Kemp, the main players of both teams did not shoot more than 50%. The 31-year-old Pippen has obviously been affected a lot, with only 15.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.3 blocks in the entire series, and the shooting rate is only 34.3%, which is still a lot worse than the performance of the previous three finals. Overall, though, Pippen also had his highlights, shooting 5-of-15 from the field in the first game, but he repeatedly posed a threat under the basket, and finally scored 21 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, and delivered 3 steals and 3 blocks on the defensive end.
In the second game, when Jordan was severely contained, Pippen seized the opportunity and contributed 21 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Game 3 was not efficient, but he still contributed 12 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and three steals. In the next few games, although Pippen did not perform well, he also did his best on the defensive end, and in the end, the Bulls also successfully won the championship.
5. 1997 Finals: Bulls 4:2 Jazz
Pippen stats: 20 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.8 blocks
This round of the series was the final highlight of Pippen's finals, and Pippen has been plagued by a back injury since then, and with his age, it is difficult for him to play the same performance as he did in the past years. It was also on the stage of the finals this year that Pippen said the famous phrase "postman doesn't work on weekends" in the first game, which interfered with Carl Malone's will and caused him to miss two free throws at a critical moment and lose the game.
In fact, Pippen played very well in that game, in addition to Jordan getting 31 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists, Pippen also contributed 27 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals and 4 blocks. Although he lost to the Jazz in the third game, Pippen shot 7-of-11 three-pointers from beyond the three-point line, scoring 27 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists efficiently, which can be regarded as saving some face for the team.
The crucial fifth game, which is Jordan's "flu battle", maybe fans only remember Jordan with 38 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists when he was almost dehydrated, but Pippen also contributed 17 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, although it was not efficient, but without Pippen's help, maybe it would be difficult for the Bulls to get through this hurdle, not to mention, he scored 23 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks in Game 6 to help the team defend the title again.
6. 1998 Finals: Bulls 4:2 Jazz
Pippen stats: 15.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.8 blocks
This year, Pippen suffered from a back injury, missed half of the games throughout the season, and entered the fierce playoff stage, Pippen's overall performance was much worse than in previous years, but in order to complete the three consecutive championships, Pippen can also be said to have done his best. After losing the first game, Pippen came back to the top in the second game, shooting 7-of-13 from the field to help the Bulls tie the score with 21 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Although they only scored 10 points in the third game, Pippen and Jordan, together with Ron Harper and Dennis Rodman, teamed up to limit the Jazz's score to 54 points, outscoring their opponents by 42 points.
In the fourth game, Pippen scored 28 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists again, and he and Jordan scored 62 points together, and finally helped the Bulls to another game, and the overall score came to 3:1. However, after this game, Pippen struggled to continue his previous excellent form due to injury, scoring only 6 points on 2-of-16 shooting in the fifth game, although he also contributed 11 rebounds and 11 assists, but in the end he also left the game with six fouls.
Game 6 was even tougher, with Pippen playing just 26 minutes, scoring eight points, three rebounds, four assists and two steals, but with Jordan scoring 45 points and making a last-minute shot of the century, the team successfully defended the championship and completed an epic second triple.