Power ranking Michael Jordan’s Bulls teams

Photo credit should read VINCENT LAFORET/AFP via Getty Images
Photo credit should read VINCENT LAFORET/AFP via Getty Images /
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Michael Jordan
Photo credit should read BRIAN BAHR/AFP via Getty Images /

6. 1992-93 Chicago Bulls

  • 57-25 record (.695)
  • +6.3 point differential
  • 112.9 offensive rating
  • 106.1 defensive rating
  • +6.8 net rating
  • 15-4 playoff record (.789)

People remember the 1992-93 Bulls for their epic NBA Finals showdown with Charles Barkley‘s Phoenix Suns (especially that 55-point Game 4 from Jordan), but the allure of that heavyweight clash between the league’s two alphas tends to overshadow what was a comparatively average ’90s Chicago squad.

That year’s Bulls only won 57 games (by far the fewest of Jordan’s six title teams), giving them only the third-best record in the NBA. Their plus-6.3 point differential was also the lowest mark of any Bulls championship team, and they won mostly by virtue of having Jordan (duh) and their incredible half-court efficiency: That Chicago squad played at the league’s slowest pace (92.5), but was its second-most efficient offense (112.9 offensive rating).

The 1992-93 team clearly saved itself for the postseason, ripping off a 15-4 run through the playoffs. None of those losses came until the conference finals, when the Bulls took down a 60-win New York Knicks team before defeating Barkley’s 62-win Suns squad.

This team was only so-so defensively (seventh in the regular season, 10th in the playoffs), but its half-court efficiency and ability to pace itself for the moments that mattered remain impressive for a group dealing with the fatigue of going for a three-peat.