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1997 McDonald's Championship

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1997 McDonald's Championship
LeagueMcDonald's Championship
SportBasketball
Duration16–18 October
Top scorerUnited States Michael Jordan
Finals championsUnited States Chicago Bulls
  Runners-upGreece Olympiacos
Finals MVPUnited States Michael Jordan
McDonald's Championship seasons

The 1997 McDonald's Championship took place at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France.

Summary

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Michael Jordan helped Champions Chicago Bulls win the 1997 McDonald's Championship.

The teams that took part in the 8th edition of the tournament were the Chicago Bulls, Paris Basket Racing (France), Olympiacos Piraeus (Greece), Atenas de Cordoba (Argentina), Benetton Treviso (Italy) and FC Barcelona Banca Catalana (Spain). The 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996 & 1997 NBA champions, the Chicago Bulls won it beating Olympiacos in the final at the Palais Omnisport de Paris-Bercy, in Paris.

Surprisingly, both the Italian and Spanish champions, traditional European powerhouses Benetton and FC Barcelona, lost their preliminary stage games and were forced to battle for 5th place. The Chicago Bulls instead led by Michael Jordan, and without Scottie Pippen managed to win their semifinal game against the hosts PSG Racing coached by Božidar Maljković, by 89–82. In the final game Chicago Bulls faced European champions Olympiacos Piraeus. The Greek side coached by legendary Serbian coach Dušan Ivković proved stronger than PSG Racing, but the Bulls pulled the best of their abilities and cruised to an easy 104–78 win.

The tournament was mentioned in an early episode of the documentary miniseries, The Last Dance.

Participants

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Bracket

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Preliminary roundSemi-finalsFinals
 
          
 
October 16
 
 
France PSG Racing 97
 
October 17
 
Spain FCB Banca Catalana84
 
United States Chicago Bulls89
 
 
France PSG Racing82
 
 
October 18
 
 
United States Chicago Bulls104
 
October 16
 
Greece Olympiacos78
 
Argentina Atenas87
 
October 17
 
Italy Benetton Treviso78
 
Greece Olympiacos89
 
 
Argentina Atenas86 Third place
 
 
October 18
 
 
France PSG Racing78
 
 
Argentina Atenas88
 
 
Fifth place
 
  
 
October 18
 
 
Spain FCB Banca Catalana103
 
 
Italy Benetton Treviso106
 

Final

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October 18
(CET)
Chicago Bulls United States 104–78 Greece Olympiacos
Scoring by quarter: 30-20, 24-23, 21-17, 29-18
Pts: Michael Jordan 27 Pts: Artūras Karnišovas 19

Final standings

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Club Record
United States Chicago Bulls 2–0
Greece Olympiacos 1-1
Argentina Atenas 2–1
4. France PSG Racing 1–2
5. Italy Benetton Treviso 1-1
6. Spain FC Barcelona Banca Catalana 0–2
1997 McDonald's Champions
United States
Chicago Bulls

Sources

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