Powered by league MVP Karl Malone, along with the talented John Stockton, the Jazz finally asserted themselves atop the Western Conference, finishing with a franchise-record 64 wins.
Despite injuring his foot in the Eastern Conference Finals against Miami, Scottie Pippen helped the Bulls to an 84–82 victory over Utah on Sunday.
Scottie famously psyched him out, saying, "Just remember, the mailman doesn't deliver on Sundays, Karl", before he stepped up to the line.
He dribbled out most of the waning seconds, then launched a 20-footer (game-winning shot) that went in at the buzzer to give Chicago a 1–0 series lead, after which he pumped his fist in triumph.
The fist-pumping often draws comparisons to another famous Jordan reaction to a buzzer-beater, when he leaped into the air after hitting The Shot that eliminated the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of the 1989 Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
Karl Malone, who missed those two key free throws in Game 1, had another bad night, making only 6 of 20 field goals.
During the introductions of the Jazz's starting lineups, the Bulls players plugged their ears, due to the loud cheers and fireworks within the Delta Center.
The Chicago Bulls started off the first three quarters with mediocre play, despite Scottie Pippen tying a then-Finals record with seven 3-pointers.
With the Bulls trailing by 18 points in the second quarter, Michael Jordan threw down an alley-oop slam which drew loud boos from the crowd.
He apologized, claiming he was not aware that Mormon referred to a religion and intended his remark at obnoxious Jazz fans.
[1][2][3] Due to the extremely loud Jazz fans in Game 3, Bulls coach Phil Jackson wore a pair of ear plugs.
On the next possession John Stockton grabbed a rebound from a Jordan miss and threw a full-court pass to Karl Malone for a layup with 44.5 seconds left that put Utah in front for good, 74–73.
After some Bulls misses, Karl Malone made two free throws with 17 seconds left to put the Jazz up by 3.
On the next possession, Michael Jordan's potential game-tying 3 with less than 10 seconds left rattled out; Stockton grabbed the rebound and threw another full-court pass to Bryon Russell, who escaped the intentional foul and dunked with 5 seconds left in the game to seal it, drawing a huge roar from the crowd.
At 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning, Jordan woke up and began to experience vomiting and diarrhea, and called his personal trainer to his hotel room, where he was found lying curled up in the fetal position, shaking, and sweating profusely.
At first, he displayed little energy, and John Stockton, along with reigning MVP Karl Malone, led the Jazz to a 16-point lead (36–20) in the second quarter.
He scored 17 points in the quarter as the Bulls ended the half with a large run cutting the Jazz lead to four (53–49).
Pippen then passed the ball back to a now-unguarded Jordan, who made a 3-point shot to give the Bulls an 88–85 lead with 25 seconds remaining in the game.
In the final minutes, Jordan's fadeaway jumper extended the Bulls lead to 3, before Bryon Russell hit a 3-pointer with 1:44 left to tie the game at 86.
Instead, Jordan drew a double-team, then passed to a wide-open Steve Kerr, who hit a 17-footer with 5 seconds left to send the United Center into a frenzy.
This would also be the last United Center championship celebration until the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks beat the Tampa Bay Lightning to win the 2015 Stanley Cup.
The local NBC affiliates of the participating teams included WMAQ-TV (Chicago) and KSL-TV (Salt Lake City).