ESPN Forecast: Predicting a Warriors vs. '95-96 Bulls series

ByABC News
April 13, 2016, 6:23 PM

— -- The Golden State Warriors need one more victory to break the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls' wins record in Wednesday's season finale against the Memphis Grizzlies  (ESPN/WatchESPN, 10:30 p.m. ET).

Whether they pick up that historic W or not, we wanted to know: How would a series between these Warriors and those Bulls go down?

So, we got our ESPN Forecast panel together to predict the outcome. Who wins, and in how many games?

We had 105 voters for each of five different scenarios: Neutral court, home-court advantage for each squad, 2016 rules and 1996 rules.

Which team wins on a neutral court?

According to the majority of our panel, Michael Jordan and the Bulls would take care of Stephen Curry and the Warriors in a series played on a neutral court, likely in six or seven games. 

Still, two voters thought the Warriors would sweep the Bulls, and only one said the Bulls would sweep. Sorry, Scottie!

Which team wins if the Warriors have home-court advantage?

Giving Golden State home-court advantage was enough to swing about one-fourth of our panel, many of whom decided that it would be too difficult for Chicago to pull off a Game 7 win in Oakland.

Which team wins if the Bulls have home-court advantage?

The Bulls run away with it when given home-court advantage, taking almost 80 percent of the vote. That's a landslide, with a majority of our panel saying that Chicago wouldn't even need a Game 7 to wipe out the Warriors.

But you'll notice that a steady 1.9 percent (or more) of voters pick the Warriors to sweep no matter what.

Which team wins in a series played by 2016 rules?

Golden State takes this one, but not by much. The part of our panel leaning Bulls appears unfazed by Chicago's ability to adjust to the modern hand-checking rules.

Which team wins in a series played by 1996 rules?

Send the Warriors back to the '90s and our panel doesn't predict it going well for them, with more than 78 percent taking the Bulls in the series.