Pistons, Bulls Go At It Again in Eastern Conference Final

A year hasn’t changed much in the Eastern Conference, only the contenders who have fallen, leaving the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls to play again for a berth in the NBA finals.

The best-of-seven conference championship series, won by the Pistons in six games last season, opens today at Auburn Hills, Mich. Game 2 will be played there Tuesday night, before the next two are played Saturday and next Monday at Chicago.

On display will be Michael Jordan against the Piston defense, both having kicked into postseason form. Jordan is coming off a second-round series against Philadelphia that Bull Coach Phil Jackson termed the greatest five-game playoff run ever. And the Pistons, with Joe Dumars the first line against the game’s premier offensive weapon, have held 22 of their last 25 postseason opponents to 100 points or fewer.

“I feel confident,” said Jordan, who averaged a league-best 33.6 points a game during the regular season and 43 in the 76er series. “Our bench has improved, and we’re going to need it, facing a team with a strong bench as well.”

With Detroit at 59-23 and Chicago 55-27, the teams finished 1-2 in the Central Division and Eastern Conference standings. The Pistons, looking to become only the fifth team and third franchise to win consecutive NBA titles, after Minneapolis-Los Angeles and Boston, allowed only 98.3 points a game during the regular season, the league low.

Detroit won four of the five regular-season meetings.