The 10 greatest rivalries in NBA history

#4 Bulls-Knicks

John Starks and Michael Jordan (Image Courtesy: The Triangle Offense)

No one suffered more at the hands of the Bulls and Michael Jordan than the Knicks. From 1989 to 1996 the two teams faced off 6 times in the playoffs, and the Knicks won just one series.

To be fair to the Knicks, no one managed to push the Bulls to their absolute limits like the Knicks did during the first 3 peat. After getting tossed around in the playoffs by the Bulls in 89 and 91, the Knicks hired Pat Riley in 1991 and that's when the rivalry went to a whole other level. The rough, physical, defensive-minded Knicks took the Bulls to 7 games, one of only 2 occasions when the Bulls were taken to a 7th game in those Championship seasons. They lost to the Bulls again the following year, but there was a ray of hope as MJ retired after this season.

With Jordan out of the way, the Knicks finally got past the Bulls in a brawl-filled slugfest. Game 3 saw a fight break out between Jo Jo English and Derek Harper in which teammates got involved and the whole mess went all the way to the stands. With MJ returning the following year though, the Knicks reign was short-lived. They faced off one last time in 1996 but it wasn't really competitive.

With new contenders rising in the East, the Knicks fell out of the picture for a while and by 1998, the Bulls dynasty was finished and so was the rivalry.