Chicago Bulls: Ranking the 5 best Christmas Day games in team history
By Ian Levy
3. Chicago Bulls vs. New York Knicks, 1994
I know it's weird that we're now covering three games with little to no Jordan heroics, but this was an incredibly close game and against the hated New York Knicks at the height of their rivalry, even if Jordan had yet to return from his baseball hiatus.
The Bulls needed overtime at home, and 36 points from Scottie Pippen, to come away with a 107-104 win. Pippen also added 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks and was helped out by 25 points from Toni Kukoc and 15 from B.J. Armstrong. Somewhat incredibly, Pippen played every single minute of this game — 53 in all. He wasn't the only one who pushed himself — in total seven different players (four Knicks and three Bulls) played 40 minutes or more. The Knicks got 30 from Patrick Ewing, but he also was forced into 7 turnovers and ended up fouling out down the stretch.
The Knicks were coming off a Finals loss to the Houston Rockets, and headed for a second-round loss to the Indiana Pacers this season. Chicago, meanwhile, were just under three months away from Jordan's announcement that he was returning to basketball and the Bulls.