I knew the NBA league pass app had every Finals game the last 30 years (they should restore and make access to more) but I didn't realize if you toggle all the way down, each team has their own classic games archive. The Bulls only have one pre-1990 game and it's this one. Holy hell, could Jerry Sloan and Norm Van Lier get up and down the court. Van Lier couldn't miss in this game -- unfortunately he committed 3 fouls in the first six minutes of the 1st quarter so he wouldn't come back until the 2nd half. Boneheaded move by Dick Motta to keep him in there after committing his 2nd foul.

I had no idea the Bulls were ever in the Western Conference. This group of Bulls players seemed like a lot of fun to root for each night -- reminded me of the Hinrich, Deng, Nocioni, Noah, Gibson, Ronnie Brewer teams in a way. It was also cool to see Wilt effortlessly grab 26 boards in what would be his final season. It took a quick Google search to read that Chamberlain wrote in his autobiography that he believed the Bulls deserved to win the series.

48 minutes of intensity. I was at this game when I was 46 years old

It was the 74-75 team that was a heartbreaker. Brought in Nate Thurmond to join the core of Stormin, Butter, Jet, and Sloan. Lost to the the champs Golden State in 7 in conference finals. It was the closest they ever got.