Charles Barkley's 1993 Playoffs

[The Infamous1]

26.6/13.6/4.3 55%TS 42.8 MPG. Lost in the finals to the bulls

What did you think of this playoff run in general? Would you say it's overrated/underrated? Where would you rank it all time among playoff runs(of at least 3 rounds) were the guy didnt win the title?

[ThunderDan9]

Some footage:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1DVKWo_tBs[/youtube]

That was an elimination game, the 2nd of 5 until Game 6 of the Finals... they've won all 5, of course.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1DVKWo_tBs[/youtube]

That is sick. He even blocks the Admiral's dunk attempt!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyFVKd2Nw-s[/youtube]

The famous series-clinching shot over the Admiral.

And the ice on the cake, the WCF:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs-XO5h5bAg[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP1MV2rSxIU[/youtube]

Pure domination.

But in the end, they weren't able to win a home game in the Finals:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI5WYT3ERpo[/youtube]

[ThunderDan9]

This must be one of the best inidividual playoff runs by someone who failed to win it all.

[LakerLegend]

This must be one of the best inidividual playoff runs by someone who failed to win it all.

Without a doubt.

[O_6]

The problem with this run is the amount of poor performances it includes. Barkley's epic games during this run are well known, those 2 games vs. the Sonics were nothing short of incredible. He was an incredible player and had some incredible moments during this run.

26.6 PPG -- 13.6 RPG -- 4.3 APG -- .477 FG% -- .552 TS% -- 24.9 PER -- 24 playoff games

The man was a hell of a player. But his efficiency wasn't up to his usual historic standards during this run because he had a ton of poor offensive performances.

Barkley had 9 games with a FG% lower than .400 during the '93 playoffs (24 games)
Barkley had 11 games with a FG% lower than .400 during the '93 regular season (76 games)

If the Suns won the NBA Finals over the Bulls, this run probably goes down as similar to Dirk's '11 run. But the truth is, while there were some epic peaks there were also way more stinkers for Barkley than we were used to seeing. One of the most efficient scorers of all-time yet for 9 out of 24 games he shot below .400, that's unacceptable for Barkley standards.

It was a very very good run, but I wouldn't consider it historic due to how inconsistent Barkley was during this run as a scorer.

[ThaRegul8r]

The problem with this run is the amount of poor performances it includes. Barkley's epic games during this run are well known, those 2 games vs. the Sonics were nothing short of incredible. He was an incredible player and had some incredible moments during this run.

26.6 PPG -- 13.6 RPG -- 4.3 APG -- .477 FG% -- .552 TS% -- 24.9 PER -- 24 playoff games

The man was a hell of a player. But his efficiency wasn't up to his usual historic standards during this run because he had a ton of poor offensive performances.

Barkley had 9 games with a FG% lower than .400 during the '93 playoffs (24 games)
Barkley had 11 games with a FG% lower than .400 during the '93 regular season (76 games)

If the Suns won the NBA Finals over the Bulls, this run probably goes down as similar to Dirk's '11 run. But the truth is, while there were some epic peaks there were also way more stinkers for Barkley than we were used to seeing. One of the most efficient scorers of all-time yet for 9 out of 24 games he shot below .400, that's unacceptable for Barkley standards.

It was a very very good run, but I wouldn't consider it historic due to how inconsistent Barkley was during this run as a scorer.

For as much as I see this season come up, I don't ever recall this being brought up. Perhaps fatal9 may have. But it's one of the details that get lost over the course of time.

[Dipper 13]

He was in a shooting slump from the outside in those playoffs. In the paint he was his old self, but outside he couldn't hit a shot consistently. This shot chart below shows his shooting by location on the floor during those playoffs, though not including the Lakers series.


19 Games Total

Spoiler:

At Rim: 105/131 FG (80.2%)
In Paint (Overall): 118/186 FG (63.4%)
Mid-Range: 53/151 FG (35.1%)
3 Point: 8/38 FG (21.1.%)

[bastillon]

For as much as I see this season come up, I don't ever recall this being brought up. Perhaps fatal9 may have. But it's one of the details that get lost over the course of time.

yeah fatal9 talked about this:

i cant see anythink hakeem would have been able to do to get by 93 barkley. 93 barkley put his stamp on games like few if any players i have ever seen before. he was on an absolute mission that season. hakeem wasnt standing in his way. hell jordan almost coudlnt stand in his way.

barkley dictated the pace and attitude of games in 93. he stepped on the court that year and he knew he was winning that day and wouldnt allow otherwise. what he did against the sonics was nothing short of remarkable.

he dominated them in the regular season as well. his triple double in their first meeting was insane. he destroyed the offensive glass that game. hakeem was little resistance. they even had hakeem on him for stretches when the suns went small with west at center.

barkley vs the rockets that year

25-17-10-2-2
29-10-8-2-1
17-18-4-1-1

hakeem was a great player. and ive seen some argue his 93 season was better then barkleys, which isnt a bad argument. but anyone who watched that season would be aware of chucks ability to put his stamp on games that year, and how that doesnt show up in the stats. barkley was just on anohter level. guys were forced to react to his play. he was simply more dominant and his will was greater then anyone that season. would have loved to see how that finals would have played out if paxson doesnt hit that 3 after the fluky tip around in game 6 to win it. game 7 in Phx with barkley in straight kill mode vs. jordan in game 7 would have been insane.... that game 6 in general was crazy. Jordan scored EVERY bulls point in the 4th outside of paxsons 3.

This sounds nice in writing and all but Barkley's offensive performance fluctuated a lot, some games he really struggled to make shots. You're defining his playoff run by a couple of performances and forgetting what happened in all the other games. His performance swung wildly on both ends of the extremes. You couldn't depend on him with the kind of game after game consistency that Hakeem and Jordan brought. The problem was his shot selection was sometimes really bad (stubbornly settling for jumpers), could be made even worse if he was frustrated, and his midrange jumper wasn't very consistent, it made him a very erratic scorer, dominant some times, lousy other times. In that playoff run, he had just as many games shooting below 40% (9) as he did shooting above 50% (9), his median TS% was 50.1%, median FG% 42.9% and we all know he wasn't exactly bringing a lot of value defensively. Bringing up a couple of games where he dominated completely ignores the other half of the story. Watch that year's playoff run on a game by game basis, and Barkley's play is downright cringeworthy sometimes. "Putting a stamp on games", as you say, was what the two real MVPs of the league (Jordan and Hakeem) were doing night after night. Barkley wasn't in that league.

[G35]

The problem with this run is the amount of poor performances it includes. Barkley's epic games during this run are well known, those 2 games vs. the Sonics were nothing short of incredible. He was an incredible player and had some incredible moments during this run.

26.6 PPG -- 13.6 RPG -- 4.3 APG -- .477 FG% -- .552 TS% -- 24.9 PER -- 24 playoff games

The man was a hell of a player. But his efficiency wasn't up to his usual historic standards during this run because he had a ton of poor offensive performances.

Barkley had 9 games with a FG% lower than .400 during the '93 playoffs (24 games)
Barkley had 11 games with a FG% lower than .400 during the '93 regular season (76 games)

If the Suns won the NBA Finals over the Bulls, this run probably goes down as similar to Dirk's '11 run. But the truth is, while there were some epic peaks there were also way more stinkers for Barkley than we were used to seeing. One of the most efficient scorers of all-time yet for 9 out of 24 games he shot below .400, that's unacceptable for Barkley standards.

It was a very very good run, but I wouldn't consider it historic due to how inconsistent Barkley was during this run as a scorer.

Wow really....so this is what it comes down to.

Jordan 1993 playoff run:

vs Knicks
Game 1 10-27, 2 reb's, 5 ast, 4 stl, .455 TS%
Game 2 12-32, 9 reb's, 1 ast, 2 stl, .477 TS%
Game 3 3-18 , 8 reb's, 11 ast, 2 stl, .432 TS%
Game 4 18-30, 6 reb's, 2 ast, 2 stl, .747 TS%
Game 5 11-24, 10 reb, 14 ast, 2 stl, .519 TS%
Game 6 8-24, 2 reb, 9 ast, 3 stl, .447 TS%


Can you believe these shooting numbers by Jordan? HORRIBLE! That game 3 is particularly egregious. But guess what?....the Bulls won that game. They actually won 4 straight with Jordan shooting terribly. Can you imagine if Kobe had a series like this vs Boston or SA? These forums would be calling for his head and that he is no "Jordan". Jordan wouldn't keep shooting like that. What peolpe fail to realize is that Jordan's "supporting cast" actually carried him sometimes. Pippen carreid the offense in game 3, with Paxons/Armstong providing the outside shooting. They won that game by 20 points with Jordan missing 83% of his shots.....

[O_6]

The problem with this run is the amount of poor performances it includes. Barkley's epic games during this run are well known, those 2 games vs. the Sonics were nothing short of incredible. He was an incredible player and had some incredible moments during this run.

26.6 PPG -- 13.6 RPG -- 4.3 APG -- .477 FG% -- .552 TS% -- 24.9 PER -- 24 playoff games

The man was a hell of a player. But his efficiency wasn't up to his usual historic standards during this run because he had a ton of poor offensive performances.

Barkley had 9 games with a FG% lower than .400 during the '93 playoffs (24 games)
Barkley had 11 games with a FG% lower than .400 during the '93 regular season (76 games)

If the Suns won the NBA Finals over the Bulls, this run probably goes down as similar to Dirk's '11 run. But the truth is, while there were some epic peaks there were also way more stinkers for Barkley than we were used to seeing. One of the most efficient scorers of all-time yet for 9 out of 24 games he shot below .400, that's unacceptable for Barkley standards.

It was a very very good run, but I wouldn't consider it historic due to how inconsistent Barkley was during this run as a scorer.

Wow really....so this is what it comes down to.

Jordan 1993 playoff run:

vs Knicks
Game 1 10-27, 2 reb's, 5 ast, 4 stl, .455 TS%
Game 2 12-32, 9 reb's, 1 ast, 2 stl, .477 TS%
Game 3 3-18 , 8 reb's, 11 ast, 2 stl, .432 TS%
Game 4 18-30, 6 reb's, 2 ast, 2 stl, .747 TS%
Game 5 11-24, 10 reb, 14 ast, 2 stl, .519 TS%
Game 6 8-24, 2 reb, 9 ast, 3 stl, .447 TS%


Can you believe these shooting numbers by Jordan? HORRIBLE! That game 3 is particularly egregious. But guess what?....the Bulls won that game. They actually won 4 straight with Jordan shooting terribly. Can you imagine if Kobe had a series like this vs Boston or SA? These forums would be calling for his head and that he is no "Jordan". Jordan wouldn't keep shooting like that. What peolpe fail to realize is that Jordan's "supporting cast" actually carried him sometimes. Pippen carreid the offense in game 3, with Paxons/Armstong providing the outside shooting. They won that game by 20 points with Jordan missing 83% of his shots.....

I'm not sure what your point is. Are you trying to say that even Jordan had poor shooting performances so it's ok for Barkley to have a lot of poor shooting performances during the '93 playoffs?

Yes, anyone can have a bad shooting night. Even Jordan had stinkers, but that doesn't mean Barkley's inconsistency during the 1993 playoff run is excused.

Barkley had 6 games of lower than .400 TS% during the '93 playoffs (24 games)
Jordan had 4 games of lower than .400 TS% during his playoff career (179 games)

Barkley had more poor shooting nights in the '93 playoffs than Jordan had in his entire playoff career. So the "but Jordan also did it..." argument you were trying to make above doesn't apply here. Jordan was an amazingly consistent playoff scorer and never had an inconsistent scoring stretch like Barkley had in the '93 playoffs.

Barkley's most valuable skill as a player was his ability to match high volume with legendary efficiency. And yet in the '93 playoffs, Barkley was surprisingly inconsistent with his efficiency. He had some incredible moments especially against Seattle, but this playoff run is a little bit inconsistent offensively for me to consider it one of the best runs ever. Consistently bad defense + Inconsistent offense = All-Time Great playoff run? I don't know about that. A very very good run by a one of a kind player in Barkley but overrated imo.

[G35]

If the Suns won the NBA Finals over the Bulls, this run probably goes down as similar to Dirk's '11 run. But the truth is, while there were some epic peaks there were also way more stinkers for Barkley than we were used to seeing. One of the most efficient scorers of all-time yet for 9 out of 24 games he shot below .400, that's unacceptable for Barkley standards.

It was a very very good run, but I wouldn't consider it historic due to how inconsistent Barkley was during this run as a scorer.

I'm not sure what your point is. Are you trying to say that even Jordan had poor shooting performances so it's ok for Barkley to have a lot of poor shooting performances during the '93 playoffs?

Yes, anyone can have a bad shooting night. Even Jordan had stinkers, but that doesn't mean Barkley's inconsistency during the 1993 playoff run is excused.

Yes that's exactly what I'm saying. Jordan had miserable shooting, not just "stinkers" and since Jordan's forte is shooting then he shouldn't have any poor shooting performances "by Jordan's standards".

Bottom line is in this comparison you are being that negative half-glass empty guy and only seeing what you can criticize. You are also being a sheep and saying Barkley didn't have any defensive presence at all in the playoff's. So my question to you is who can compare to Barkley's standards?

As far as regular season no one besides Adrian Dantley can compare with volume scoring + TS%.

In the playoff's the only people would be again Dantley/Bernard King and perhaps Kevin McHale. So Barkley's standards are far and away above everyone else's. Point being is Barkley has higher high's than most everyone else to counter any off nights he has. He had 6 games in those 93 playoff's where he shot over .700 TS% and one night where he was over .800 TS% and scored 43 points.

And this overblown, non-analyzing crap about Barkley's defense.

Phx 1993 playoff's PF's faced

vs Lakers Elden Campbell
Game 1 4-10 9 pts
Game 2 6-15 15 pts
Game 3 8-17 17 pts
Game 4 4-11 12 pts
Game 5 7-16 17 pts

Campbell didn't shoot 50% nor score 20 points in any single game in the series.

vs Spurs Antoine Carr/JR Reid games 4-6
Game 1 9-14 19 pts
Game 2 5-12 10 pts
Game 3 10-14 21pts
Game 4 6-8 16 pts
Game 5 4-8 8 pts
Game 6 6-14 14 pts

Carr actually played well but he must have gotten hurt; Reid was not much of a factor.

vs Sonics Shawn Kemp
Game 1 6-11 16 pts
Game 2 5-5 16 pts
Game 3 5-14 19 pts
Game 4 8-13 20 pts
Game 5 13-18 33 pts
Game 6 8-12 22 pts
Game 7 5-12 18 pts

Pretty good against one of the great PF's in the middle of his prime. Only one game did Kemp really break loose.

vs Bulls Horace Grant
Game 1 5-9 11 pts
Game 2 10-13 24 pts
Game 3 6-11 13 pts
Game 4 7-11 17 pts
Game 5 0-1 1 pt
Game 6 0-5 1pt


Grant had one good game but he was completely shut down in the last two games.

The Suns were poor on defense but they were not getting torched at the PF position. Barkley more than held his own on the defensive end against some of the better PF's in the playoff's. This lazy analysis that Barkley's defense is like Amare or Steve Nash is just dumb.

Barkley held his own and usually doubled whatever he gave up......

[Sebastian]

All those stats do is reiterate the obvious truth that Barkley was a non-factor defensively.

[O_6]

If the Suns won the NBA Finals over the Bulls, this run probably goes down as similar to Dirk's '11 run. But the truth is, while there were some epic peaks there were also way more stinkers for Barkley than we were used to seeing. One of the most efficient scorers of all-time yet for 9 out of 24 games he shot below .400, that's unacceptable for Barkley standards.

It was a very very good run, but I wouldn't consider it historic due to how inconsistent Barkley was during this run as a scorer.

I'm not sure what your point is. Are you trying to say that even Jordan had poor shooting performances so it's ok for Barkley to have a lot of poor shooting performances during the '93 playoffs?

Yes, anyone can have a bad shooting night. Even Jordan had stinkers, but that doesn't mean Barkley's inconsistency during the 1993 playoff run is excused.

Yes that's exactly what I'm saying. Jordan had miserable shooting, not just "stinkers" and since Jordan's forte is shooting then he shouldn't have any poor shooting performances "by Jordan's standards".

Bottom line is in this comparison you are being that negative half-glass empty guy and only seeing what you can criticize. You are also being a sheep and saying Barkley didn't have any defensive presence at all in the playoff's. So my question to you is who can compare to Barkley's standards?

As far as regular season no one besides Adrian Dantley can compare with volume scoring + TS%.

In the playoff's the only people would be again Dantley/Bernard King and perhaps Kevin McHale. So Barkley's standards are far and away above everyone else's. Point being is Barkley has higher high's than most everyone else to counter any off nights he has. He had 6 games in those 93 playoff's where he shot over .700 TS% and one night where he was over .800 TS% and scored 43 points.

I don't get your argument.

Me: Charles Barkley was legendarily efficient
You: Charles Barkley was legendarily efficient
Me: Charles Barkley was inconsistent and not super efficient during the '93 playoffs
You: But Michael Jordan had bad games so it's okay for Barkley to have a bunch of bad shooting nights

It's a stupid argument and one that doesn't even make sense because I showed you in my last post how much more consistent a scorer Jordan was in his playoff career than Barkley was in '93. Jordan had some bad performances but only 4 times in his ENTIRE PLAYOFF CAREER did he shoot below .400 TS%. Barkley did it 6 times in '93 alone.

Charles Barkley had 11 games of <.400 TS% in his playoff career (123 games)
Charles Barkley had 6 games of <.400 TS% in the '93 playoffs (24 games)

For those of you that suck at math, this means... Charles Barkley had 5 games of <.400 TS% during his 99 game playoff career outside of '93, yet he had 6 games of <.400 TS% in the '93 playoff run alone.

THAT is my point. Barkley was one of the most efficient scorers of all-time. But this run in '93 is overrated because Barkley was oddly inconsistent with his efficiency. He basically had more horrid shooting performances in '93 than the rest of his playoff career combined. Because of how inconsistent a scorer Barkley was during this run, I would rank it a little bit lower than most.

[NO-KG-AI]

Even without the good/bad breakdown, it's really not THAT great. 26.6/13.6/4.3 really isn't legendary in 43 minutes, unless it comes with dominating defense or something else.

[ThaRegul8r]

Barkley was one of the most efficient scorers of all-time. But this run in '93 is overrated because Barkley was oddly inconsistent with his efficiency. He basically had more horrid shooting performances in '93 than the rest of his playoff career combined. Because of how inconsistent a scorer Barkley was during this run, I would rank it a little bit lower than most.

I've always found it curious when people talk about peak seasons, when talking about Barkley they talk about his monster efficiency, but then turn around and choose as his peak a season which isn't representative of that self-same efficiency. If people value a certain quality of a particular player, it would seem that a player's "absolute peak" should be the best example of whatever it is that player brings to the table that that person holds that player in high regard for, whatever it is that that person believes makes that player great.

[O_6]

Barkley was one of the most efficient scorers of all-time. But this run in '93 is overrated because Barkley was oddly inconsistent with his efficiency. He basically had more horrid shooting performances in '93 than the rest of his playoff career combined. Because of how inconsistent a scorer Barkley was during this run, I would rank it a little bit lower than most.

I've always found it curious when people talk about peak seasons, when talking about Barkley they talk about his monster efficiency, but then turn around and choose as his peak a season which isn't representative of that self-same efficiency. If people value a certain quality of a particular player, it would seem that a player's "absolute peak" should be the best example of whatever it is that player brings to the table that that person holds that player in high regard for, whatever it is that that person believes makes that player great.

1993 was just Barkley's year. He was the most exciting player on the Dream Team and he became an icon that summer because of his awesome personality. After Jordan put a stranglehold on the league, the media was looking for someone to challenge MJ's supremacy and they chose Barkley as that guy going into '93. And he backed it up with a 26/12/5 MVP campaign on a 62 win title finalist.

Barkley had also improved his ability to create for himself and for others off the dribble. He averaged 5 assists in '93 and was just a more versatile player during this year than his earlier Philly years. But what made him so historically special in Philly (the insane efficiency) had declined. He was still very efficient, but not what he once was.

.661 TS% in 1990
.596 TS% in 1993

Barkley was a genetic freak and that's a big reason why he had such crazy efficiency as a scorer. He did become a more diversified player in 1993 and was more skilled, but I believe that 1990 season was Barkley's peak as an impact player. He may not have been as complete skill-wise, but he was more physically dominant and at his peak in terms of efficiency (his biggest strength as a player).

[LakerLegend]

Well let's not forget Barkley played the Finals with an injured elbow.

[ThaRegul8r]

Well let's not forget Barkley played the Finals with an injured elbow.

The Finals are the end of the postseason. That doesn't cover the postseason prior to the Finals. People were saying it was the worst postseason of Barkley's career well before the Finals. I watched basketball as it happened, I read the papers and I have the articles. I just have no reason to get into it in detail, and on some sites people have taken my posts as ammunition to support their agendas, and as I couldn't care less about people's agendas, I'm not giving people material to support them. I just find it interesting how some things are remembered years after the fact, and what people focus on, depending on where they stand.

[therealbig3]

Kobe's 08 playoff run was pretty great actually...I'd probably take that over Barkley's 93 playoffs. LeBron in 09. Wade in 2005 and 2011 also comes to mind. Dirk in 2006 also has a case.

I'm sure it's pretty easy to find playoff runs by Magic, Jordan, and Bird as well where they played at least 3 rounds but didn't win that were better than Barkley's 93 playoffs.

[G35]

Barkley was one of the most efficient scorers of all-time. But this run in '93 is overrated because Barkley was oddly inconsistent with his efficiency. He basically had more horrid shooting performances in '93 than the rest of his playoff career combined. Because of how inconsistent a scorer Barkley was during this run, I would rank it a little bit lower than most.

I've always found it curious when people talk about peak seasons, when talking about Barkley they talk about his monster efficiency, but then turn around and choose as his peak a season which isn't representative of that self-same efficiency. If people value a certain quality of a particular player, it would seem that a player's "absolute peak" should be the best example of whatever it is that player brings to the table that that person holds that player in high regard for, whatever it is that that person believes makes that player great.

1993 was just Barkley's year. He was the most exciting player on the Dream Team and he became an icon that summer because of his awesome personality. After Jordan put a stranglehold on the league, the media was looking for someone to challenge MJ's supremacy and they chose Barkley as that guy going into '93. And he backed it up with a 26/12/5 MVP campaign on a 62 win title finalist.

Barkley had also improved his ability to create for himself and for others off the dribble. He averaged 5 assists in '93 and was just a more versatile player during this year than his earlier Philly years. But what made him so historically special in Philly (the insane efficiency) had declined. He was still very efficient, but not what he once was.

.661 TS% in 1990
.596 TS% in 1993

Barkley was a genetic freak and that's a big reason why he had such crazy efficiency as a scorer. He did become a more diversified player in 1993 and was more skilled, but I believe that 1990 season was Barkley's peak as an impact player. He may not have been as complete skill-wise, but he was more physically dominant and at his peak in terms of efficiency (his biggest strength as a player).

Regula8r is right. 1993 Barkley isn't even his peak or even one of his top 3 seasons imo. He was at his best in Philly when he wasn't shooting so many damn 3pt shots. You can clearly see where his efficiency began to drop and it's when he was traded to PHX and they played a wide open game and Westphal allowed him to shoot up three's whenever he wanted to. Barkley would start off the game heat checking a three. If he missed two he would get his ass back in the post but he liked to take heat checks randomly in the game and defenders would let him. Sometimes he was on but more times than not he was off.

Imo he lost his physical edge when he left Philly and gained probably 10-15lbs in PHX. Without that dominating physical ability it was harder for him to get his shot off against taller players. I remember watching the 1st rd series vs the Lakers when they switched up the matchups on the Suns and they took AC Green off Barkley and put the taller Elden Campbell and that really messed up Barkley's game. Barkley had a terrible shooting series due to Eldens presence and they had Divac and Green as a triple tower defense to slow him down. Plus the Suns had lost KJ to an injury so he wasn't even in the lineup.

What also made the Suns run historic was they came back from being down 0-2 in a best of 5 which had never been done before.

http://www.nba.com/suns/history/93playoffs_round1.html

In Game 1, L.A.’s Sedale Threatt scored 35 points as the Lakers upset the Kevin Johnson-less Suns, 107-103. KJ suffered a knee injury during a post-game celebration at Portland a week earlier, but Phoenix got a strong performance from Charles Barkley, who tallied 34 points and 15 rebounds despite Elden Campbell’s 6-11 defensive posture.

In Game 2, Vlade Divac’s 19 points and 19 boards negated KJ’s return. Barkley pulled down a Phoenix record-tying 21 rebounds, but in what seemed like just a snap of the fingers, the Suns saw their homecourt advantage disappear and were left scratching their heads.

Yet, with frightening poise and confidence, coach Paul Westphal uttered words that will be etched forever in the annals of Suns basketball: “We will go to Los Angeles and win both games. We will then come back to Phoenix and win Game 5. Then everyone will say what a great series it was.”

Prophecies aside, the Suns would not lose with Barkley shifting gears with MVP-like power and will. The Suns ventured to the City of Angels – with faint sounds of Taps ringing in their ears – only to play like they had during their record-setting and NBA-best 62-win season. With history bearing a mischievous smirk and pointed finger, Phoenix did not blink an eye. No team had ever come back after losing the first two games at home in a five-game series, but this storied Phoenix bunch was not like any team of the past.

Barkley carried that Suns team that suffered key injuries. KJ got hurt before the playoff's even started. Then Cedric Ceballas who had killed the Bulls in the regular season got hurt right before the finals. Barkley carried that team.

That damn Paxson.....