No way their asses would have been handed to them.

- Indiana Pacers. The bulls won the division by just just 2 games, and the team took the bulls 7 games in the ECF. They were better, younger and their bench was insane. Bulls weren’t going to beat them the following year. The only reason the bulls advanced to the finals was because Toni Kukoc had s tremendous game in game 7

- Other teams had arrived. New Jersey nets became powerful. Lakers won 61 games that year, and Kobe and Shaq had formed. The Spurs dynasty seeds were put in place as well with Tim Duncan.

- Bulls’s bench was weak compared to everyone else’s at that point. They weren’t going to be able to just get by with Bill Wennington, Kerr, Buchler and Randy Brown anymore. The League had changed , and everyone was starting to jump out of the building with crazy athleticism. Bulls couldn’t match that.