1988–89 Chicago Bulls season

The 1988–89 Chicago Bulls season was the 23rd season for the Chicago Bulls in the National Basketball Association.^[1] The Bulls had the eleventh overall pick in the 1988 NBA draft, and selected center Will Perdue out of Vanderbilt University.^[2][3][4] During the off-season, the team acquired Bill Cartwright from the New York Knicks,^[5][6][7] and then later on acquired three-point specialist Craig Hodges from the Phoenix Suns in December.^[8][9][10]

With the addition of Cartwright, the Bulls struggled with a 6–8 start to the regular season, but played above .500 in winning percentage for the remainder of the season. The team posted a six-game winning streak in January, and later on held a 27–19 record at the All-Star break.^[11] The Bulls posted another six-game winning streak in March, but posted a six-game losing streak in April, while losing eight of their final ten games of the season. The Bulls finished in fifth place in the Central Division with a 47–35 record, earned the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, and qualified for the NBA playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.^[12]

Michael Jordan led the league in scoring averaging 32.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 2.9 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, and to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. In addition, second-year forward Scottie Pippen showed improvement, replacing Brad Sellers as the team's starting small forward during the regular season,^[13][14] and averaging 14.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game, while Cartwright provided the team with 12.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, and second-year forward Horace Grant provided with 12.0 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Hodges contributed 10.0 points per game in 49 games after the trade, Sam Vincent provided with 9.4 points and 4.8 assists per game, John Paxson contributed 7.3 points and 3.9 assists per game, Sellers contributed 6.9 points per game, and Dave Corzine averaged 5.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.^[15]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Houston Astrodome in Houston, Texas, Jordan was selected for the 1989 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team. Jordan scored 28 points along with 5 steals, despite the Eastern Conference losing to the Western Conference, 143–134.^[16][17][18] Meanwhile, Hodges participated in the NBA Three-Point Shootout for the fourth consecutive year.^[19][20] Jordan finished in second place in Most Valuable Player voting, behind Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers,^[21][22] and also finished in fifth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting,^[22] while Pippen finished tied in seventh place in Most Improved Player voting.^[23][22]

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1989 NBA playoffs, and for the second consecutive year, the Bulls faced off against the 3rd–seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, a team that featured the quartet of All-Star center Brad Daugherty, All-Star guard Mark Price, All-Star forward Larry Nance, and Ron Harper. The Bulls took a 2–1 series lead before losing Game 4 to the Cavaliers at home in overtime, 108–105 at the Chicago Stadium. With the series tied at 2–2, the Bulls won Game 5 over the Cavaliers on the road, 101–100 at the Coliseum at Richfield, in which Jordan hit a memorable game-winning shot over Cavaliers guard Craig Ehlo at the buzzer; the Bulls won the series over the Cavaliers in five hard-fought games.^[24][25][26]

In the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Atlantic Division champion New York Knicks, who were led by All-Star center Patrick Ewing, All-Star guard Mark Jackson, and former Bulls forward Charles Oakley. With the series tied at 1–1, the Bulls won the next two games at home, including a Game 4 win over the Knicks at the Chicago Stadium, 106–93 to take a 3–1 series lead. After losing Game 5 on the road, 121–114 at Madison Square Garden, the Bulls won Game 6 over the Knicks at the Chicago Stadium, 113–111 to win the series in six games.^[27][28][29]

In the Eastern Conference Finals, and also for the second consecutive year, the Bulls faced off against the top–seeded, and Central Division champion Detroit Pistons, who were led by the trio of All-Star guard Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and Bill Laimbeer. The Bulls managed to take a 2–1 series lead, after winning Game 3 over the Pistons at the Chicago Stadium, 99–97. However, the Bulls lost the next three games, including a Game 6 loss to the Pistons at the Chicago Stadium, 103–94, thus losing the series in six games.^[30][31][32] The Pistons would advance to the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year, and defeat the 2-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in a four-game sweep in the 1989 NBA Finals, winning their first ever NBA championship in franchise history.^[33][34][35]

The Bulls finished fourth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 736,962 fans at the Chicago Stadium during the regular season.^[15][36] Following the season, head coach Doug Collins was fired after three seasons with the Bulls,^[37][38][39] while Vincent was left unprotected in the 1989 NBA expansion draft, where he was selected by the Orlando Magic expansion team,^[40][41][42] Sellers was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics,^[43][14] and Corzine was released to free agency.