The Chicago Bulls closed the 1995-96 regular season with a 103-93 victory over the Washington Bullets on April 21, cementing a 72-10 record. That total shattered the previous mark of 69 wins set by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers and stood as the NBA's single-season standard for two decades.
A finale that sealed history
At the United Center, Michael Jordan led the way with 26 points on 11-of-22 shooting, adding four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Scottie Pippen contributed 20 points and five assists, while the Bullets' Juwan Howard scored 27 in a losing effort.
The win completed a season-long demolition. The Bulls finished 39-2 at home and set a league record with 33 road victories, their average margin of victory a punishing 12.3 points.
An eighth scoring crown and unbreakable pace
In his first full campaign back from a brief hiatus, Jordan captured his eighth scoring title at 30.4 points per game, breaking Wilt Chamberlain's record of seven. He earned Most Valuable Player while Phil Jackson took Coach of the Year and Toni Kukoc claimed Sixth Man of the Year.
Chicago finished 20 games clear of Indiana in the Central Division. Winning streaks of 13 and 18 games punctuated a run that rendered every opponent a step behind.
A quieter milestone in Milwaukee
Win number 70 had arrived five days earlier, an 86-80 grind against the Bucks in which Jordan shot just 9-of-27. With 16 seconds left he blocked Johnny Newman's three-point attempt, a defensive stop that preserved the record-breaking victory.
"We didn't really play our kind of basketball," Jordan told reporters afterwards. "Somehow, our defense kind of got hot and we were able to hold them down."
The season launched the Bulls toward a fourth championship that June, closing out Seattle at the same United Center floor and beginning the second three-peat of Jordan's career.
