Coming into the United Center with a record of 45 wins and 6 losses, the Bulls were clearly not worried about hosting the Nuggets on February 18, 1997. Michael Jordan, who had celebrated his 34th birthday the day before, left Scottie Pippen a nice gift: achieving his career record.
After a 16-point first half, Chicago's all-purpose winger scores 18 points on 6/7 shooting in the third quarter, highlighted by the triangle attack. The Bulls then lead 101-79 and the victory is in the bag.
“Everything just happened the right way for me”, Scottie Pippen will comment. “I was cutting to the basket, I was in the right place, at the right time. There was nothing spectacular, but I put it in regularly. The guys were looking for me. When you make easy baskets, the circle gets bigger.”
Read: Scottie Pippen's portrait
Michael Jordan scored 24 points and 12 assists, but it was Scottie Pippen who shone with 47 points on 19/27 shooting, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
With a few more minutes, he would have probably gone for 50 points, but Phil Jackson had decided otherwise. Especially with a Pippen who had played in the Olympic Games during the summer of 1996 after a season with 95 matches. He would follow up brilliantly, without missing a single match of the regular season and the 1996-1997 playoffs.
“I'm always impressed by Pippen's endurance.”declared the Bulls coach. “He never seems tired. He always has the ability to bounce back.”
Especially since Scottie Pippen was sparing no effort in defense.
