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Knicks: 3 reasons New York was Michael Jordan’s toughest rival

By Jeffrey Bellone

1993: Guard Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls (right) works against guard John Starks of the New York Knicks during the Eastern Conference final at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The Bulls won the game, 103-83. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dani
1993: Guard Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls (right) works against guard John Starks of the New York Knicks during the Eastern Conference final at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The Bulls won the game, 103-83. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dani /
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John Starks (Doug Pensinger/Allsport) /

2) Putting Jordan in deficit

As close as the Knicks came to beating the Bulls in 1992, the following postseason is when New York really had their chance to knock out basketball’s emerging heavyweights

During Jordan’s six championship run, no team put him in a larger deficit than the Knicks did in 1993. Of course, the Orlando Magic beat Jordan and the Bulls in 1994-95, but that was during his comeback following his time away from the game playing baseball. It wasn’t Jordan with all of his powers, like he had in 1993.

The Knicks built a 2-0 series lead in the ’93 Eastern Conference Semifinals, punctuated with the now famous John Starks dunk (The Dunk) that gave the Knicks a commanding lead late in the fourth quarter of Game 2.

The series got away when the Knicks somehow lost by twenty points in Game 3 despite Jordan struggling from the field, shooting 3-18.

One of the most overlooked challenges in Jordan’s career, the Knicks put him in his biggest series deficit, and had him locked down in Game 3, but just couldn’t close out the series, losing the final four games.

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