Chicago Bulls: 3 best games of Dennis Rodman’s NBA career

3. Chicago Bulls: Jan. 10, 1997

During the 1996-97 regular season, the Bulls would have their last truly dominant run through the Eastern Conference. The Bulls did get home court advantage throughout the East side of the playoff bracket in 1998, but 1996-97 was the last time where they were head and shoulders above the rest of the competition.

In fact, the divisional foe Indiana Pacers pushed the Bulls to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1998. That was one of the toughest playoff series that the Bulls ever played in the 1990’s in the East. But the 1996-97 season saw the Bulls dominate most of the competition in their division, including the Milwaukee Bucks.

On Jan. 10, 1997, the Bulls were looking to win their 30th game of the regular season. They carried a record of 29-4 against the 17-16 Bucks, in a game that would be on the road. A slow start to the first quarter would be redeemed by Rodman and the Bulls down the stretch. Rodman himself finished the game with 16 points (pretty good by his usual standard), a whopping game-high 26 rebounds, one assist, and two steals.

He registered a box plus/minus rating of 6.1, an insane defensive rebounding percentage higher than 57, and 156 offensive rating. Rodman hitting the glass at the insane rate that he did was the perfect complement alongside MJ (like usual). Jordan had a team-high 33 points as the Bulls would beat the Bucks in the end by a 15-point margin. He would also help the Bulls outrebound the Bucks by a margin of 12.