1992 NBA Finals

Background

Chicago Bulls

The Bulls won their first NBA championship the previous season and finished the 1991–92 season with a 67–15 record, surpassing last season's record by six games. Jordan won his second consecutive MVP award with a 30.1 points/6.4 assists/6.1 rebounds season.

After sweeping the Miami Heat in the opening round, they played the New York Knicks, who were now coached by Pat Riley and won in seven games. Then they played the Cleveland Cavaliers, whom they had beaten in two prior postseason meetings, in the conference finals. The Bulls won in six games.

Portland Trail Blazers

Coming off an NBA Finals loss to the Detroit Pistons the previous season, the 1990–91 Trail Blazers won a franchise record 63 games and, as the top seed in the Western Conference, appeared destined to meet the Bulls for the championship. However, the Los Angeles Lakers upended the narrative, defeating Portland in a six-game Conference Finals. However, the Lakers would lose to the Bulls in the Finals. Of note, the upset marked a final hurrah for the "Showtime"-era Lakers, as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had retired two years prior, and Magic Johnson would retire unexpectedly in the first week of the 1991–92 season, after learning he had tested positive for HIV.

For the 1991–92 season, the Blazers retained the same core from the previous two seasons; the team won the Pacific Division title with a 57–25 record. In the first round of the playoffs, they avenged the previous year's loss, dispatching a weakened Lakers team, 3–1. Portland followed that up with a five-game defeat of the Phoenix Suns in the second round, before booking another trip to the Finals with a six-game elimination of the Utah Jazz in the Conference Finals.

Regular season series

The Chicago Bulls won both games in the regular season series:

Nationally televised on NBC, the two teams met on March 1st at Chicago Stadium in a highly anticipated matchup. The Bulls blew out the Trail Blazers, 111–91, but pre-game comments made by Phil Jackson was the most important story of the game. Jackson stated in an interview with NBC that Portland had a reputation of self-destructing down the stretch in close games. Before the start of the Finals, Buck Williams called the comments by Jackson in March "sort of derogatory" and Portland's head coach Rick Adelman stated the only way for the narrative around his team would go away was to win the championship. In the opening montage before the Game 1, NBC's pre-game host Bob Costas highlighted this point. Jackson's comments would prove to be prophetic for the 1992 Finals, as the Blazers blew a 79–64 lead at the start of the fourth quarter in the clinching Game 6 for the Bulls.

Team rosters

Series summary

Game 1

Michael Jordan dominated from the beginning, breaking the record for most points in a first half in the playoffs once held by Elgin Baylor (Jordan had 35, Baylor had 33). This included six first-half threes (also a record). It was after the sixth three-pointer that Jordan turned towards the broadcast table and famously shrugged to indicate his surprise (Urban legend is Jordan and Magic Johnson were playing cards the night before and Johnson bet Jordan about shooting 3 pointers. The shrug was supposedly in Johnson's direction, who was on the NBC announce team). Jordan's shrug became a highlight reel mainstay. Portland held their final lead at 45–44 in the second quarter before Chicago went on a 22–6 run to grab a 66–51 halftime lead and take control. The Bulls finished with a 122–89 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Game 2

With the Chicago Blackhawks playing for the Stanley Cup when the Bulls reached the Finals, Game 2 would have had conflict with Game 6 of the Blackhawks' series, as both teams would have played on the same day at Chicago Stadium. However, the Blackhawks series ended in 4 games, so no rescheduling was needed.

Portland built an eight-point lead in the first quarter, and held a nine-point lead at the half. However, as in Game 1, their lead started to disappear as the Bulls made their run – Jordan scored 14 points while Paxson scored 9, taking a seven-point lead by the end of the third quarter. Chicago was looking to take a commanding 2–0 lead in the series when Clyde Drexler fouled out with 4:36 remaining. With the Bulls up by 10, Jordan started to lose his poise, committing a foul and then a technical foul. This helped Portland build a 15–5 run, pushing the game into overtime after Jordan narrowly missed at the buzzer. In overtime, Portland dominated, especially Ainge, who scored six points with one minute remaining as the Blazers won 115–104 – the Bulls' worst home defeat in an NBA Finals game.

Game 3

Chicago had lost home court advantage, but dominated Portland, holding them to numerous franchise playoff lows: 84 points in a game, 39 second-half points and 28 field goals. Chicago would go on a 30–13 run in the first half to gain a 44–30 lead which Portland would cut to three with 7:09 left in the third before the Bulls went to another 12–3 run. Portland would then go on a field goal drought, not scoring from the 4:33 mark in the third quarter until the 9:36 mark of the fourth, a 6:57 stretch.

Game 4

Portland was still playing as they were during Game 3, not scoring for four minutes and finding themselves down 10–0. The Bulls were up 22–9 before the Blazers rallied and cut the deficit to three at the half, but found themselves down again in the third quarter. While Jordan scored 13 points in the third quarter, he would not score in the game's final 10:26. Portland went on a 15–6 run to even the series at two games apiece.

Game 5

The Bulls jumped out to a 10–2 lead and never looked back, answering every Blazers comeback attempt with a run of their own. Chicago opened the second half on a 16–8 run to give the Bulls a 20-point lead. Portland didn't pull back within single digits until less than four minutes were left in the game, and ended up losing 119–106.

Michael Jordan, who briefly sat with a bad ankle, finished with 46 points on 14-of-23 from the field and 16-of-19 from the line. Scottie Pippen fell just short of a triple-double, with 24 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Clyde Drexler scored 30 points to lead six Portland players in double figures. However, Portland had 18 turnovers and shot just 43.8 percent from the field, compared to 54.8 percent for the Bulls.

Game 5 remains the most recent NBA Finals game played in Portland to date.

Game 6

Portland started strongly as they held Michael Jordan scoreless for the game's first 11 minutes, and took a 43–28 lead midway through the second quarter before Chicago went on a 16–7 run and cut the deficit to only six points. Portland also dominated the third quarter, building a 79–64 lead. Phil Jackson went with four reserves and Scottie Pippen to start the fourth quarter, cutting Portland's lead to three after only three minutes. Jordan returned and had two steals and converted them to hoops to give Chicago a permanent lead. With 11.8 seconds left and the Bulls up by 2, Jordan virtually clinched the title by hitting 2 free throws bringing him to 12 points in the fourth quarter. Kersey then missed a 3 which was rebounded by Paxson who dribbled out the clock. The Bulls' defense held Portland to only six points in the final four minutes, leading the Bulls to their second straight championship. Jordan finished with 33 points and was named Finals MVP for the second consecutive year.

Player statistics

Chicago Bulls

Portland Trail Blazers

Media coverage

NBC Sports used commentator Marv Albert, analysts Mike Fratello and Magic Johnson, and sideline reporter Ahmad Rashad (both teams' sidelines). Bob Costas and Quinn Buckner hosted the pre-game, halftime and postgame reports.

Just months later, the 1991–92 NBA season documentary Untouchabulls was released. Narrated by Hal Douglas, it recaps the Bulls' championship season. "Jam" by Michael Jackson was used as the theme song for the documentary. That same year, Jordan was featured in Jackson's music video for "Jam".

Aftermath

The Bulls won their third straight championship the next year over the Phoenix Suns in six games. In the offseason that preceded Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen played for the Dream Team that won the gold medal in the Barcelona Olympics, making them the first players to win NBA championship and Olympic gold medal in the same year. That team also included Blazers guard Clyde Drexler and Pippen would also achieve this feat again in 1996. The 1992 gold medal made Jordan, Patrick Ewing of the New York Knicks and Chris Mullin of the Golden State Warriors the only players to have won Olympic gold medals as both amateurs and professionals, having played for Team USA in Los Angeles.

As of 2026, this is Portland’s last appearance in the NBA Finals. In the next three seasons, the Blazers rebuilt the team, hiring general manager Bob Whitsitt in 1994 and lost the core of their 1992 Finals team to free agency and trades, beginning with Kevin Duckworth's departure to the Bullets in the 1993 offseason. The last remaining piece of the team, Clyde Drexler, was traded and went on to win the NBA championship with the Houston Rockets in 1995.

The 1991–92 Bulls, along with the 1995–96 Bulls, were named one of the 10 greatest teams in NBA history during the league's golden anniversary.

The 1992 NBA Finals marked the only time the Bulls won the championship at Chicago Stadium. Following the awarding ceremony by commissioner David Stern, they returned to the court to show their newly won title in front of Bulls fans. This act eventually led to Stern's decision to present the NBA championship to the winning team at center court in front of the fans, starting in 1994; the only exception was when the Lakers won in 2001 at Philadelphia's First Union Center, but decided to hold the ceremony in their locker room. Two other home championship celebrations followed in the 1996 and 1997 Finals, this time at the similarly constructed but bigger (in capacity) United Center.

Rick Adelman and Phil Jackson coached teams would do battle 10 and 17 years later in the playoffs. In the 2002 Western Conference Finals, Jackson's Lakers defeated Adelman's Kings in what is considered one of the best NBA series of all-time. In 2009, Jackson's Lakers won another series in seven games over Adelman's Rockets in the Western Conference Semifinals.