Do you know how great it was? If it was for a trophy, people would be calling it one of sports’ greatest ever moments. As it was just a first round, its legacy will be to stand the test of time, as opposed to becoming part of the blur that most things become.
The Chicago Bulls locked horned with the defending champion, the Boston Celtics, and no one had any idea what was in store.
Four of the seven games went to overtime, one even went into triple overtime. The Bulls were always punching above their weight and did well to stay in the contest.
Even without Kevin Garnett, the Celtics are a force to be reckoned with and the three Bulls’ wins only came by an aggregate six points.
Apart from the Superbowl, the three major American sports use a best of seven format to decide play-off series. The only exception is the first round of the baseball playoffs, which is just best of five.
There is something special about a best of seven series.
Like a good book, it enables there to be twists and turns until the very last page. When it’s best-of-one, like we have in Australia, and it comes down to the best team on the day, that’s fine.
But when it all culminates in a Game Seven, you have something wonderful on your hands. The atmosphere is simply electric.
Last year the Celtics were taken to Seven games in the first round by the Atlanta Hawks and in the second round by the Cleveland Cavaliers. They won the conference finals in six over the Pistons, meaning that in 40 days between April 20 and May 30, they played 20 games of basketball.
Still, they had enough in the tank to defeat the Lakers in the Finals.
Will this be the case as they prepare to take on the Orlando Magic in the second round?
The Magic just took the first game in Boston to steal home-court advantage from the Celtics. But this is a best of seven series, so don’t count them out yet.
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