Do you think that the Suns finals run in 1993 was a fluke.

[coastalmarker99]

Let’s look at their playoff series.

In the 1st Rd, Phoenix played the 39 win, -1.2 SRS Lakers.

And barely escaped.

Lost their first 2 at home (KJ out gm 1). Won 2 in LA.

In game 5, Phoenix was down 4 with 1:03 to play they won in OT…but just outran a historic choke.


As The Lakers had finished the season 6-15 plus No #8 had beaten a #1 on its home court and it Happened almost 3X here.

PHX also got NBA/Stern help.

In gm 5, Barkley made a shot too late with 2:28 to go It counted and they Also got a 31-21 FTA edge.


Next was the 49 win Spurs.

This was the Tarkanian Spurs, who went 18-1 when Lucas took over.

But…they finished 15-17.

Robinson dropped off in the final weeks.

Beat Portland with Drexler hurt.

Antoine Carr led all scorers in gm 3, got hurt in gm 4, didn’t play games 5 and 6.

The Suns won in 6, but it was close

They won gm 5, after being down 7 in the 4th; won gm 6, down 10 in the 4th.


With Carr out.

The Spurs got 43 more rebounds, but the Suns got forty more FTAs (more help).

The Suns & Spurs scored the same points in the series.


The Conference Final was against Seattle, a 55 win, 6+ SRS team.

Seattle was feuding as Karl had benched McKey and Kemp late in the season.

Seattle was 4th in ORtg.

They scored 107 PPG vs PHX, in a series with a 93 pace. 120, 118, 114, etc.

They shot 50%+ each of the last 4 gms.


The Seattle series went 7.

In gm 7, Barkley had his best game ever. 44/24.

But Game 7 is…suspect. The NBA wanted MJ vs Barkley.

So the Suns got 64 FTAs.

Tied a 40 yr record.

A ‘travesty.”

The Suns outscored Seattle by 1 pt in the series.


So after 3 series, the Suns:

Went the limit (w/OT) vs a 39 win team
Didn’t outscore 49 win Spurs missing a starter
Outscored the Sonics by 1 pt and got a “free pass” in gm 7

They were 11-7, winning on avg 104-103.

Taken to the limit twice.

Got/needed NBA help.


The more I look at that playoff run the more I think it was a fluke.

[AussieSteve]

No way.

They definitely win the championship the next year if Barkley doesn't hurt his back.

They were 26-6 when he went down. And only lost to the rockets in game 7 by a bucket, despite Barkley being severely hobbled. Had he been fit, they win it all for sure

[iamgine]

Well Phoenix had perfect winning record against LA in the regular season so the fluke is actually LA being able to beat them twice in the playoff.

[ArbitraryWater]

No.

[ArbitraryWater]

No way.

They definitely win the championship the next year if Barkley doesn't hurt his back.

They were 26-6 when he went down. And only lost to the rockets in game 7 by a bucket, despite Barkley being severely hobbled. Had he been fit, they win it all for sure

could Chuck have won the 94 MVP if he hadnt gone down? He was averaging 25/12/5 on 53% at that point, not too far off his 93 campaign. The rest of the way with the game he got injured in he did 19/11/4 on 47%.

[Phoenix]

could Chuck have won the 94 MVP if he hadnt gone down? He was averaging 25/12/5 on 53% at that point, not too far off his 93 campaign. The rest of the way with the game he got injured in he did 19/11/4 on 47%.

I still think Hakeem wins it. Barkley would have been in the mix with Admiral, Pippen and Shaq for rankings 2-5.

[Da_Realist]

Looking back the 93 Suns rocky run was not so surprising. Leading up to that year, for both Barkley and the Suns, neither of them were ever expected to get out of the second round. In 93, Barkley coming to the Suns gave them the talent to be champions but not the experience. They went from 2nd round fodder to having the expectation of winning it all in one year. Going from being expected to be one of eight to being the last one standing is a huge jump in expectation and it's hard to prepare for that without going through trials over time as a team. Neither the Suns or Barkley had ever played with a target on their backs. They were able to display their talent in the Regular Season but the Playoffs tests your grit and it took the Suns by surprise. (One good reason why regular season win totals are overrated) The Suns struggled to get their footing in the Playoffs and only let loose once they were down 0-2 to the Bulls because there was no more pressure on them at that point. No one expected them to come back from 0-2 against the two-time defending champs so the Suns played freely without that monkey on their backs the last four games. It was a respectable effort but it was too late.

They also struggled the next couple of years against Houston not being able to close them out. In 94, The Suns won the first two games in Houston to go up 2-0 in the series. Expectations increased. Houston dug in. Phoenix choked away the lead and lost the series. The next year, Phoenix went up 3-1. Expectations increased. Houston dug in. Phoenix choked away another series.

[CurryOverLebron]

So why didn't NBA rig it for Barkley to go to Finals in other years? As for injuries, I don't see you complaining about Hakeem beating an injured Barkley the following season. So you only have a problem with injuries when they help a team you don't like.

[ArbitraryWater]

So why didn't NBA rig it for Barkley to go to Finals in other years? As for injuries, I don't see you complaining about Hakeem beating an injured Barkley the following season. So you only have a problem wit injuries when they help a team you don't like.

He literally says "The NBA wanted MJ vs Barkley."

[L.Kizzle]

No way.

They definitely win the championship the next year if Barkley doesn't hurt his back.

They were 26-6 when he went down. And only lost to the rockets in game 7 by a bucket, despite Barkley being severely hobbled. Had he been fit, they win it all for sure

Now, they was up 3-1 to Houston TWICE. In 94 and 95. Chocked both away.

[SouBeachTalents]

Now, they was up 3-1 to Houston TWICE. In 94 and 95. Chocked both away.

They were up 2-0 in '94, not 3-1.

[L.Kizzle]

They were up 2-0 in '94, not 3-1.

You're right. Still lost tho, both times.

[1987_Lakers]

[3ba11]

No way.

They definitely win the championship the next year if Barkley doesn't hurt his back.

They were 26-6 when he went down. And only lost to the rockets in game 7 by a bucket, despite Barkley being severely hobbled. Had he been fit, they win it all for sure

The Suns win the 93' Finals easily if KJ was healthy and playing at the same level that he did in 94' and 95' against Hakeem where he averaged 28/5/9 in 2 seven-game series - this includes numerous 40-pt games and the famous poster over Hakeem....... or when KJ upset Magic's 1 seed in 1990 by dominating..

KJ was a dominant playoff performer and a healthy KJ would've forced MJ to average 45-50 to win (Pippen was already at capacity with 46% true shooting, aka couldn't handle more volume)

Basically, that Phoenix team was a massive juggernaut with crazy talent.. A guy like Richard Dumas (Pippen -loke talent) was 5th option

[Phoenix]

The Suns win the 93' Finals easily

A healthy KJ possibly makes it a 7 game series. We saw in the following two seasons as mentioned in this thread, that the Suns had two opportunities to knock off the Rockets and failed to do so. They're not going to 'easily' knock off a battle-tested Bulls squad with the 'championship chemistry' you like to throw around when talking about the 94 Bulls.