God Disguised as Michael Jordan: The 63-Point Playoff Game

Jordan played 53 minutes on a broken foot with a 30–52 squad against five Hall of Famers and dropped 63 points, nearly beating the Celtics single-handedly. This is how it happened…

MICHAEL JORDAN ONCE SCORED 63 POINTS IN A PLAYOFF GAME AGAINST THE BOSTON CELTICS. You probably know that already. Jordan is one of the greatest athletes of all time, male or female, in any sport ever, but you already knew that, too. But do you know how the 63-point playoff game happened? Do you know who it happened against, where and when it happened, and why it’s even crazier than you remember?

ESPN’s Chicago Bulls 10-part documentary The Last Dance is giving the entire world a brand new look at Michael Jordan and his teammates, an inside look at the Jordan we often forget about, the one before the six championship rings. That MJ did not become a star overnight. His sophomore season in particular was a bumpy, injury-filled ride, but it ended with quite an exclamation point at the hands of the eventual champion Boston Celtics.

This is the story of Michael Jordan’s 63-point playoff game. Here are 63 things you need to know about that historic night in Boston…

1. MJ’s 63 points are the most all-time in any NBA playoff game, just ahead of Elgin Baylor’s 61 in 1962. Wilt Chamberlain scored 56 the same year, tied for third all-time with Jordan (1992) and Charles Barkley (1994).
2. The Bulls lost the game, despite Jordan’s heroics.
3. The game went to double overtime. Final score: 135 to 131, Boston.
4. The Celtics led by two in regulation with just seconds to play. The Bulls led by two in overtime with just seconds to play. Neither hung on to win.
5. Both Michael Jordan and Larry Bird missed potential game-winning shots at the buzzer.
6. Jordan’s 63 points didn’t happen just anywhere. They came on the road at the historic Boston Garden, parquet floor and all.
7. The Celtics went 40–1 at home that season. Their one loss was to the Portland Trail Blazers.
8. The Celtics finished 10–0 at home in the playoffs, an NBA record 50–1 record at home for a full season.
9. Boston went on to win the NBA championship.
10. The 63-point game happened on April 20, 1986.
11. These weren’t just any Celtics. These were the ‘86 Celtics, widely considered one of the greatest teams in NBA history.
12. The ‘86 Celtics featured Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Bill Walton, Robert Parish, and Dennis Johnson, five Hall of Famers. They were coached by eight-time NBA champion K.C. Jones, another Hall of Famer.
13. The ‘86 Bulls were definitely not one of the greatest teams of all time. They were hardly memorable at all. Chicago went just 30–52. They won eight games all year by more than 10 points. They had 26 such losses.
14. Michael Jordan played only 18 games all season after breaking a small bone in his foot in the third game of his sophomore campaign.
15. That was supposed to be a season-ending injury, and it surely would be today. Instead Jordan came back in March to lead the Bulls to the final Eastern playoff spot, then set the NBA record for points in a playoff game.
16. The 63-point game was only Jordan’s ninth start all year. He came off the bench for 11 regular season games in his return from injury, with a strict and frustrating minutes limit, as seen in The Last Dance.
17. The Bulls went 9–9 (.500) with Jordan, including 6–2 (.750) when he played at least 28 minutes. They were 21–43 (.328) without him. Chicago only even made the playoffs because eight of the 11 East teams qualified in 1986. They had the fourth worst record in the entire NBA.
18. Michael Jordan dragged the fourth-worst team in the NBA to the playoffs on a broken foot, then scored a playoff-record 63 points against one of the greatest teams in NBA history on their nearly-invincible home court.
19. Three days earlier, Jordan scored 49 points in Boston in a Game 1 loss. The Celtics finished the sweep in Game 3.
20. Jordan shot 22 of 41 from the field. He didn’t take a single three pointer.
21. MJ spent the game guarded by elite defenders Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge, with Kevin McHale and Robert Parish protecting the rim. The Celtics were the league’s #1 defense with an elite +9.2 net rating. All but three of Jordan’s shots were contested.
22. Jordan lived at the line that night, hitting 19 of 21 free throws.
23. Two of those free throws came at the end of regulation, with the game on the line and no time on the clock.
24. Down two with six seconds left, Jordan took the inbound pass, dribbled past Dennis Johnson, and shot a long jumper over Kevin McHale as the buzzer sounded. The shot clanged out, but the ref blew for a foul.
25. Jordan went to the line for two must-have free throws, sitting on 52 points and a chance for one of the biggest upsets in playoff history.
26. Because there was no time on the clock, it was just Jordan, an empty lane, and a raucous arena of screaming fans.
27. The first free throw rattled around and used every part of the rim before dropping through the net.
28. Jordan stepped away, then calmly stepped back to the line and swished the tying free throw to send it to OT with a signature fist pump to celebrate.
29. Jordan finished regulation with 54 points.
30. It’s possible he should have had 55.
31. Watch the video of the game. Jordan stops behind the arc, pulls up, and gets called for the foul. It certainly looks like a three. Watch his feet. They sure look like they’re behind the arc.
32. Jordan should have had three free throws. He should have had a chance to win the game in regulation, an all-time playoff upset.
33. Except not. The rules in 1986 awarded only two free throws on a three-point attempt. Those rules lasted until 1995. James Harden was six.
34. Actually, maybe Jordan should have had no free throws at all.
35. Watch the replay again. This time, watch Kevin McHale leaping out at him. Where exactly is the foul? How is that a foul??
36. Imagine being that referee in that arena in that moment calling a touch foul on a jump shot against that team.
37. Maybe Michael Jordan really did get all the calls.
38. Perhaps two free throws was a good compromise. This game deserved overtime, and Jordan wouldn’t have scored his 63 without it.
39. Those 54 points in regulation were already the second most all-time against the Celtics in any playoff game.
40. The only player to score more against the Celtics? Elgin Baylor, whose record 61 came against Boston in the NBA Finals 24 years earlier.
41. Baylor also held the all-time record for points against the Celtics in any game (64) until Devin Booker’s 70. Baylor played in eight NBA Finals in a 12-year stretch. Seven were against the Boston Celtics. He lost all seven.
42. Only Jerry West, LeBron James, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have scored more Finals points than Baylor and Jordan.
43. Jordan ranks fourth all-time in points scored in the Finals. He played only 35 Finals games, nine fewer than anyone else in the top 10. His 33.6ppg in the Finals ranks second all-time to Rick Barry’s 36.3.
44. The Celtics entered the first overtime period without Bill Walton, who fouled out in regulation. They left it without Dennis Johnson, another DQ.
45. Jordan fouled both of them out, of course.
46. Jordan scored five points in the first overtime and the Bulls led by two with 15 seconds remaining.
47. In the final minute of OT, Jordan had a turnover and a missed shot, then allowed an open Ainge layup to tie the game. He also missed a go-ahead bucket with two seconds on the clock in a tie game.
48. Larry Bird had a three at the buzzer to win it but hit back rim. Bird played all but two minutes, finishing with 36 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists.
49. Jordan and Bird weren’t the only NBA legends playing that day. Hall of Famer George “Iceman” Gervin also played five minutes for the Bulls.
50. Gervin scored 16ppg that season, starting 75 games in Jordan’s place. He didn’t score here, one of only four scoreless games in his career.
51. Gervin didn’t even get a shot up. It was the only such game of his career. He also didn’t play in Game 3. He then retired.
52. Michael Jordan’s 63-point game was the final game of George Gervin’s career.
53. Jordan played the 53 minutes Gervin sat. He led Chicago with six of the team’s 15 assists.
54. Fifteen assists on 131 points. Cuz MJ had to score most of his points all on his own. And he had to score them against a pissed-off Dennis Johnson, who had just given up 49 points to Jordan three days before.
55. The same Dennis Johnson who had just been named to his eighth consecutive All-Defense team.
56. In the second half, Johnson began face guarding Jordan off the ball, the same box-and-one zone defense the Raptors used against Stephen Curry.
57. MJ scored 31 second-half points anyway.
58. In the second overtime, the Celtics began trapping Jordan in the back court to get the ball out of his hands.
59. Jordan still hit two jumpers in the final minute to tie the game at 131.
60. Michael Jordan played 53 minutes on a broken foot with a 30–52 squad against five Hall of Famers in an arena where they went 50–1 and dropped 63 points, nearly beating them single-handedly.
61. Imagine if you took this year’s Charlotte Hornets, gave them Michael Jordan, and asked them to beat the 73–9 Warriors, at home, in the playoffs… and then they almost did.
62. Michael Jordan was only 23 years old.
63. Said Larry Bird after the game: “I think he’s God disguised as Michael Jordan. He is the most awesome player in the NBA.” ■

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