“Michael Jordan dropped 30+ on Larry Bird 24 times but lost 23 times?”: How the Bulls couldn’t seem to string together wins against the Celtics despite having ‘His Airness’

Michael Jordan went off against Larry Bird and the Celtics on numerous occasions but has a losing record against them. 

Michael Jordan worked his way to the top like no other superstar in the league. Having lost in the Playoffs 5 consecutive seasons, inching closer to the NBA Finals in each season, Jordan and his Chicago Bulls knew what it took to go up against the best of the best. 

The first team to truly but the Bulls through the blender, prior to the Detroit Pistons from 1988-1990, were the Boston Celtics. Led by 3x MVP, Larry Bird, the ‘86 and ‘87 Celtics were some of the strongest iterations of the team in franchise history.

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The 1986 Playoffs featured the famed first round series between the Bulls and the Celtics which saw Michael Jordan drop 63 points on the Finals hopefuls Game 2, eventually losing in OT to the battle-tested squad from New England. 

The Bulls would get swept in 1986 and history would repeat itself the next year in ‘87 where the Celtics would win 0-3 against Jordan and company in the first round. 

Michael Jordan vs Larry Bird, head to head in the regular season. 

Given that they both played in the Eastern Conference, Michael Jordan would have to face off against Larry Bird much more than any superstars on the West Coast. When it comes to a Playoff record between the two, MJ is sadly 0-6 against the Indiana State alum.

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The regular season however, saw MJ lose to Bird and his Celtics a whopping 17 times, winning only 11 of their match-ups against one another from November 15th, 1984-March 11th, 1992. 

Jordan drop 30+ points a total of 24 times on a Bird led team, including the Playoffs with some of his point totals being 63, 49, 52, 50, 48, 44, 41, 41, 39, and so on.  

While Jordan did win a decent amount against a historically stacked team with the likes of Robert Parish and Kevin McHale, it’s safe to say that MJ couldn’t conquer the Celtics like he did historically great teams.