Kenny Smith Says His Rockets Team Would've Beaten '94 Bulls with Michael Jordan

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TIMOTHY RAPPMAY 23, 2017





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TNT Inside The NBA analyst and former NBA player Kenny Smith told Scoop B Radio that the 1994 Houston Rockets would have beaten the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals even if Michael Jordan hadn't retired.

"Oh we would've beat them," Smith said (h/t Oliver Maroney of Uproxx). "And actually everyone forgets he was playing the second year, he was wearing No. 45 and the team they lost to, the Orlando Magic, we swept them," Smith said. "We were that much better than them that year, [and] they lost to them."

He continued:

"Even if a good, healthy Michael takes them to seven and maybe wins we would've beat the Bulls without a question, they didn't match up well with us and during those years that they were actually winning championships, which wasn't the playoffs. We were 8-2 against them during those years. We matched up well with them. We wouldn't have been scared I tell you that much."

 

The Rockets were more balanced than the Bulls. The Bulls were Pippen and Jordan.

Evidence:

Paper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Date: SAT 12/12/1992
Section: Sports
Page: 1
Edition: 3 STAR

Rockets turn Bulls inside out
By EDDIE SEFKO
Staff

CHICAGO -- The Rockets have caught flak, patched up holes and mended their wounds during the first six weeks of the NBA season.

All of a sudden, they became Bull-etproof.

That's the way they looked Friday night when the Rockets overwhelmed the two-time defending world champion Chicago Bulls 110-96 at Chicago Stadium.

And the impressive thing is, the best team won.

Call it a validation of the Rockets' leap into the upper crust. Call it a morale booster for a team that had yet to prove anything away from The Summit.

Call it the Rockets' fourth victory over the Bulls in their last five meetings.

"It's gigantic," coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "This game is so much more important than just a game in terms of getting respect around the league and gaining confidence in ourselves."

It remains to be seen if that confidence and respect carry over tonight in Minnesota, but the Rockets started their three-game swing through the wintry northlands with a superb effort.

Hakeem Olajuwon had 28 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists as all five Rockets starters hit for 17 points or more. Otis Thorpe had 19 points and rookie Robert Horry had 18 points. Kenny Smith had 17 points and seven assists, hitting all three of his 3-point attempts. Vernon Maxwell had 19 points and did a respectable job of making Michael Jordan work for his 26 points.

Defense? After giving up 34 first-quarter points, the Rockets held Chicago to 62 in the final three periods. In the second half, the Bulls were 11-for-40 from the field until they hit their final three attempts in junk time.

It was a dynamic performance for a collective victory.

When the Rockets fired off a 13-2 run in the third quarter, they took a 71-60 lead. Even when the Bulls bit into the lead and pulled as close as 91-87 early in the fourth quarter, the Rockets responded, rattling off a 19-3 surge that spoke volumes about how strong the Rockets were playing and silenced the sellout crowd.

"Today, I saw in the papers where Chicago was picked to beat us by 13," Maxwell said. "And what did we win by? Fourteen?

"This proves that we are an elite team when we play at our best and execute."

And there's one more requisite, Olajuwon said.

"We have to play as a team," he said. "When we do that, it makes all the difference. It's a big plus."

True enough, but when Olajuwon is dissecting an opposing defense like he did the Bulls, everybody can tag along for the ride.

"They just isolate Hakeem," Jordan said. "He's an All-Star player. He got hot and the way to stop him when he gets like that is simple -- you don't let him get the ball.

"Because when he does get it, you can't stop him. We have no one who can match up with him. No one."

Not Bill Cartwright, he of the lethal elbows. Not Scott Williams and certainly not Stacey King or Will Perdue.

It was precisely the kind of energizing victory that the Rockets got two years ago here, a win that came during a 13-game victory streak. The Rockets (10-6) won their third consecutive game and stopped the Bulls' six-game winning streak at home.

The Rockets had not beaten anybody of note on the road. Their three road victories were over teams with a collective record of 14-35.

But a victory over the Bulls at the Stadium is a red-letter achievement, and it was surprisingly easy down the stretch.

The Rockets had started the game with an offensive explosion, hitting 12 of their first 13 shots. Even so, they were ahead only by three points and they never got any breathing room until the third quarter.

With the game tied 58-58, the Rockets got a 3-pointer from Smith, a steal by Smith that led to Horry's dunk and Olajuwon's 15-footer. After B.J. Armstrong scored for the Bulls, Horry and Olajuwon converted for a 71-60 lead.

Horry did a splendid job of shackling Scottie Pippen, the Bulls' talented small forward. Pippen had 22 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, but shot only 8-for-22 from the field.

The Rockets dodged a bullet in the middle of the fourth quarter when the Bulls outscored them 5-1 to pull within 91-87.

This is the time when the Rockets usually turn meek and lose their composure. Not tonight. The Bulls had no more rally bullets in their chamber.

When they needed it, the Rockets came through with a crucial bucket. Olajuwon slammed with 8:03 to go and after an exchange of misses, he curled in a 15-foot baseline jumper.

On the Bulls' next possession, Olajuwon stole a poorly executed pass from Trent Tucker and fed Maxwell for layup.

That put the Rockets up 97-87 with six minutes to go. Moments later, Horry rose up for an astounding dunk. Before it was done, the Rockets' lead would bulge to 110-90 with a minute to go.

When looking at breakthrough victories, this one qualifies.

"One of the things we've stressed since training camp is that we have to go out and earn respect around the league," Tomjanovich said. "There were a lot of negative things about this team and the only way to change that is to go out and do it, to play smarter, to hang together and take better shots.

"That's been our rallying point."

And it has landed the Rockets a spot among the NBA's upper echelon.

 

This is what we listened to back in the day

 

Dude, we beat them before we got BEFORE WE GOT SAM CASSELL AND MARIO ELIE

 

Yes that Knicks team especially how Riley used them was a tough team. They were the complete opposite of Golden State Warriors today, they were all defense and pushing the boundaries of the defensive rules.

We started with the season with a 14 game wining streak and game 15 was against the Knicks in the Garden

 

It's amazing how you can manipulate the people through the media.
People have tried to erase that MJ played in 95 and it worked.