"I think they would put Scottie on Curry and have that length disrupt him" - Reggie Miller on why he thinks Scottie Pippen can defend Steph Curry better than Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller had some great battles during their careers. Miller, who knows all about Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, recently compared the six-time NBA champion and Scottie Pippen as defenders and explained how they would fare against Steph Curry.
In a recent appearance on "The Dan Patrick Show," Miller was asked who would give Curry the biggest problems between Pippen and Jordan. The Indiana Pacers legend chose Pippen because of his length, which he feels would disrupt Curry and the Golden State Warriors' offense.
"I would go with Scottie because if you go back in those series where he won twice against Utah," Miller said. "It was his defense on John Stockton, right? They were going to take the point guard out. This series versus us in the conference finals, Phil Jackson said, 'Take Mark Jackson out.'
"He goes to the head of the snake. If you can take him out, that's going to disrupt the rest of their offense. I think they would put Scottie on Curry and have that length really disrupt him."
Dan Patrick then followed it up by asking Reggie Miller if Michael Jordan would be upset that he picked Scottie Pippen.
Miller was quick to point out how he could score freely against Jordan. The Hall of Famer pointed out that "His Airness" was more focused on scoring than chasing around opponents during games.
"As much as I love Michael Jordan, I was giving buckets to Michael Jordan," Miller said. "He's a great defender. ... Unbelievable defender, but you've got to be committed. Michael's job was great defensively, but offensively, that's where he was going to do most of his damage.
"He wouldn't be that committed to taking out and you see how much Curry runs? That's me, so there's no way he was going to be able to commit to doing that running all day."
Pacers pushed Michael Jordan, Bulls to the limit in 1998 Eastern Conference finals
In episode nine of "The Last Dance," the main focus was on the Chicago Bulls' battle with the Indiana Pacers in the 1998 Eastern Conference finals. Michael Jordan revealed that the Pacers were the toughest team they ever faced outside of the Detroit Pistons.
"If I had to pick a team that gave us the toughest time in the East," Jordan said. "Indiana was probably the toughest outside of Detroit."
In the 1998 ECF, the Bulls and Pacers were involved in a grueling seven-game series. Chicago was pushed to the limit by a loaded Indiana team led by Reggie Miller and coached by Larry Bird. The Pacers also had Rik Smits, Chris Mullin, Mark Jackson, Jalen Rose, Antonio Davis and Dale Davis in their ranks.
The Bulls won the first two games in Chicago, but the Pacers fought back in Games 3 and 4 with Reggie Miller leading the charge. Miller hit a famous game-winning 3-point shot in Game 4 to even the series. The two teams split the next two games to head to a decider.
In Game 7, the Pacers were up big in the first quarter, but the Bulls came back in the second. The two teams were evenly matched for the rest of the game, but the Bulls pulled away late to seal an 88-83 win.
The Bulls ended up winning their sixth championship by beating the Utah Jazz in the finals.