1997-98 NBA ATS Standings

Here are the final NBA standings for the 1997-98 basketball season. Included are the straight up records, ats records, offensive efficiency, and defensive efficiency for the teams.

REGULAR SEASON

PLAYOFFS

View ATS and straight up records for the previous NBA seasons below.

Recap of the 1997-98 NBA Basketball Season

The '97 - '98 season saw the end of an era and the last of a dynasty.

The Bulls were off to a shaky start of 8-7 with Scottie Pippen on the injured list, but they hit their stride when he returned and finished the season with a 62-20 record. Legend Larry Bird began his coaching career with Indiana Pacers, who kept pace with the Bulls for much of the season and in fact overtook Chicago for the Eastern Conference lead at the All-Star break. They finished the season second-best in the East at 58-24, earning Bird the Coach of the year award.

Out West, the Utah Jazz struggled with their own injuries: All-Star John Stockton missed the first 18 games of the season. But by riding the formidable shoulders of Karl Malone, the Jazz finished right alongside Chicago with a 62-20 record; Utah had home-court advantage throughout the playoffs by virtue of having won both of their regular-season games against the Bulls. The San Antonio Spurs, with the help of the Rookie of the Year Tim Duncan, stayed close to Utah throughout the season, finishing at 56-26.

The '98 All-Star game was played at Madison Square Garden, where the Eastern Conference defeated the West in a 135 - 114 victory. Jordan received the midseason MVP honors.

In the playoffs, the Bulls swept the New Jersey Nets in the first round, and defeated the Charlotte Hornets 4 - 1 in the second before taking the Pacers in seven games to secure their Finals berth and a rematch against the Jazz. Utah struggled in the first round, going to five games against the Rockets before taking the second round with only one loss and sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers for the Western Conference crown.

After splitting the first two games of the Finals, Chicago humbled Utah in Game 3, winning with a score of 96 - 54 and holding the Jazz to the fewest points in any NBA game since the shot clock was added in 1955. The Bulls set two new records in their rout of the Jazz in Game 3: biggest margin of victory and fewest points scored in an NBA Finals game.

In Game 5, Malone stepped up and broke out of his series-long slump by scoring 39 points, but the Bulls, riding high with another memorable Jordan performance of 45 points, took the crown home in Game 6 for their second three-peat in eight years. Jordan was awarded the Finals MVP trophy, as well as the one for regular season MVP, while also passing Kareem Abdul Jabbar as the all-time scoring leader in the playoffs.

After Phil Jackson announced he would not return to coach the Bulls, Jordan announced his second retirement from the NBA during the following off-season. Although Jordan would rejoin the league one last time, this would be his last season with the Bulls - this, along with Scottie Pippen being traded and Dennis Rodman not being resigned, led to the end of an era for the both Bulls and the NBA

Other honors included the Sixth Man of the Year award, presented to Danny Manning of the Phoenix Suns, and the Defensive Player of the Year award, given to Dikembe Mutombo of the Atlanta Hawks. Alan Henderson, also out of Atlanta, was honored with the Most Improved Player award.