Monday, April 19, 2010

April 20, 1986: "God disguised as Michael Jordan"

BOSTON - It started innocently enough, with his first points coming after a goaltending call. Every possession, it seemed, the Celtics had somebody different guarding him, but it didn't matter. He'd make triple-pump layups. He'd fake one way, spin another, fade away and drain a jumper. He'd steal a rebound from three taller players for a put-back. He'd make layups over four players.

The 1985-86 Boston Celtics are included on every short list of the greatest teams of all time. They had six hall-of-famers in their regular rotation and went 40-1 at home that year. And despite all their greatness, they had absolutely no prayer of stopping Michael Jordan in game 2 of their first round playoff series.

After missing most of the regular season with a broken foot, Jordan hadn't been expected to play at all in the playoffs for the Bulls, but, fully healed, he went out against the Celtics in round 1. Popular opinion didn't give the 30-52 Bulls a chance against Boston that year, but Jordan played anyway.

In game 1, he scorched the Celtics for 49 points, but Boston won by 19. In game 2, Jordan was even better. It became obvious early on that no matter who the Celtics threw at Jordan - or how many players at once - nothing was going to stop him from scoring. He would drive around hall-of-fame perimeter defenders, shoot jumpers over hall-of-fame centers, and score every which way imaginable.

Despite his best efforts, the Bulls were still down three when Jordan tried a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. It missed, but he was fouled, and he sank all three free-throws with no time on the clock to send the game into overtime. The two teams played a second overtime as well, and Jordan ended up with 63 points, still an NBA playoff record.

His final line looks like a misprint: 22-41 field goals, 19-21 free throws, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks. He had scored 63 points against the best team of the 80s without making a three-pointer. But despite all that, the Bulls still lost, 135-131, and Boston eventually swept the series on their way to the championship.

In the aftermath of the game, when everybody was trying to put what just happened into perspective, Boston legend Larry Bird said it best: "I didn't think anyone was capable of doing what Michael has done to us. He is the most exciting, awesome player in the game today. I think it's just God disguised as Michael Jordan."

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