1993 NBA playoffs
NBA Champions: Chicago Bulls
The 1993 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1992-1993 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Chicago Bulls winning their third consecutive championship by defeating the Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns four games to two in the Finals. For the third consecutive year, the Bulls' Michael Jordan was named NBA Finals MVP.Jordan was one of the most dominate players to ever play the game of basketball.
This was the Suns' second Western Conference championship; they made their first NBA Finals appearance in 1976, losing to the Boston Celtics.
The fifth-year Charlotte Hornets made their postseason debut in the 1993 playoffs, and became the first of the 1988 and 1989 expansion teams (Charlotte, Orlando, Minnesota and Miami) to win a playoff series, stunning the Boston Celtics in four games.
Bracket
| First Round | Conference Semifinals | Conference Finals | NBA Finals | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Phoenix | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | L.A. Lakers | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Phoenix | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | San Antonio | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Portland | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | San Antonio | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Phoenix | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| Western Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Seattle | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Seattle | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Utah | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Seattle | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Houston | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Houston | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | L.A. Clippers | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Phoenix | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| E2 | Chicago | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | New York | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Indiana | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | New York | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Charlotte | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Boston | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Charlotte | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | New York | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Chicago | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Cleveland | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | New Jersey | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Cleveland | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Chicago | 4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Chicago | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Atlanta | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
Western Conference
Champion: Phoenix Suns
1st Round
(1) Phoenix Suns vs. (8) Los Angeles Lakers: Suns win series 3-2
(2) Houston Rockets vs. (7) Los Angeles Clippers: Rockets win series 3-2
(3) Seattle SuperSonics vs. (6) Utah Jazz: Sonics win series 3-2
(4) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (5) San Antonio Spurs: Spurs win series 3-1
Conference Semifinals
(1) Phoenix Suns vs. (5) San Antonio Spurs: Suns win series 4-2
- Game 6 @ San Antonio: Phoenix 102, San Antonio 100 (Charles Barkley hits series-winning shot)
(2) Houston Rockets vs. (3) Seattle SuperSonics: Sonics win series 4-3
Conference Finals
(1) Phoenix Suns vs. (3) Seattle SuperSonics: Suns win series 4-3
Eastern Conference
Champion: Chicago Bulls
1st Round
(1) New York Knicks vs. (8) Indiana Pacers: Knicks win series 3-1
(2) Chicago Bulls vs. (7) Atlanta Hawks: Bulls win series 3-0
(3) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (6) New Jersey Nets: Cavaliers win series 3-2
(4) Boston Celtics vs. (5) Charlotte Hornets: Hornets win series 3-1
- Game 4 @ Charlotte: Charlotte 104, Boston 103 (Alonzo Mourning hits series-winning shot)
Conference Semifinals
(1) New York Knicks vs. (5) Charlotte Hornets: Knicks win series 4-1
(2) Chicago Bulls vs. (3) Cleveland Cavaliers: Bulls win series 4-0
- Game 4 @ Cleveland: Chicago 103, Cleveland 101 (Michael Jordan hits series-winning shot)
Conference Finals
(1) New York Knicks vs. (2) Chicago Bulls: Bulls win series 4-2 (after trailing 2-0 to Knicks)
- Game 1 @ New York: New York 98, Chicago 90
- Game 2 @ New York: New York 96, Chicago 91
- Game 3 @ Chicago: Chicago 103, New York 83
- Game 4 @ Chicago: Chicago 105, New York 95
- Game 5 @ New York: Chicago 97, New York 94 (three blocks on Charles Smith's game-winning attempts)
- Game 6 @ Chicago: Chicago 96, New York 88
NBA finals
(1) Phoenix Suns vs. (2) Chicago Bulls: Bulls win series 4-2
- Game 1 @ Phoenix: Chicago 100, Phoenix 92
- Game 2 @ Phoenix: Chicago 111, Phoenix 108
- Game 3 @ Chicago: Phoenix 129, Chicago 121 (3OT)
- Game 4 @ Chicago: Chicago 111, Phoenix 105
- Game 5 @ Chicago: Phoenix 108, Chicago 98
- Game 6 @ Phoenix: Chicago 99, Phoenix 98 (John Paxson hits the championship-winning shot)
Notes
- The league's best team during the regular season, the Phoenix Suns were on the verge of playoff elimination after suffering shock losses at home in the first two games of their first round series against the #8 seeded Los Angeles Lakers. However they recovered to win Games 3 and 4 in Los Angeles including an OT game, in Game 5, Dan Majerie hit a 3-pointer to force OT and the Suns pulled away to win Game 5 at home to avoid becoming the first no 1 seed to lose to a no 8 seed. This happened the following season.
- Both #5 seeds Charlotte and San Antonio beat their #4 seeded opponent in the first round.
- The New York Knicks take a 2-0 series lead over the Chicago Bulls in the Conference Finals. However, headlines in New York papers and tabloids angered and energized Bulls superstar Michael Jordan, who torched the Knicks in games 3 and 4 to even up the series. Jordan scored 54 points in game 4 after a dreadful shooting performance in Game 3. The Bulls went to Madison Square Garden to take Game 5 and cliched the series at home in Game 6.
- The Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis faints on the court during the playoff series with the Hornets. He passes away less than three months later.
- After the Suns defeated the Sonics in game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, there were complaints about the free throw comparison between the two teams.
- Drazen Petrovic played his last game in game 5 of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals. He died in a car accident 5 weeks later.