Michael Jordan used to dominate the game of basketball like nobody else, so much so that even his closest competitor LeBron James can’t touch him in this stat.
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The Miami Heat and Boston Celtics played a tight knit game six which saw Jimmy Butler erupt for 47 points in a 111-103 victory. Now, the two will meet in Miami for a final game seven bout to see who advances to the Finals.
The Golden State Warriors are waiting for them there. Butler’s massive performance was all anyone could talk about after the game, and it brought up memories of other great scoring performances in the playoffs.
Still thinking about this Jimmy Butler performance from last night 🤩🤩🤩 #NBAPlayoffs #HEATCulture
47 PTS
9 REB
7 AST
4 STL
Wpic.twitter.com/p6N4QRoMcA— Daily NBA Fantasy (@DailyNBAFantasy) May 28, 2022
Michael Jordan used to absolutely dominate the playoffs
Seeing the way Butler dominated the Celtics today called back to the times other legends have scored 45+ points in playoff games. Butler himself has two of those games, scoring 45 points in the Heat’s first round series against the Hawks this year in game two.
Other young stars like Ja Morant, Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic, and Donovan Mitchell all have two as well. More experienced players like Russell Westbrook, four, and Kevin Durant, five, have had their fair share of memorable playoff performances as well.
Then you have legends of the game like Allen Iverson with seven and Wilt Chamberlain with eight, earning the reputation of being some of the best playoff performers of all time.
Of course, leading the way amongst active players is LeBron James. He has 11 of these games, showing just how much of a force he is when he makes it to the playoffs. The Lakers were eliminated from contention this year after a number of things went wrong with the team, starting right at the roster makeup.
However, nobody can touch Michael Jordan who has a whopping 23 45-point playoff games. That’s more than twice the number LeBron has and is more than LeBron and Wilt combined. Right from an early age Jordan showed he was going to be a scorer in the playoffs.
In 1986, just his second year in the league, Jordan scored 63 points against the Larry Bird-led Boston Celtics. That team used to run the East back in the day and would win the Finals in the same season. Jordan’s performance had Larry Bird saying “I would never have called him the greatest player I’d ever seen if I didn’t mean it. It’s just God disguised as Michael Jordan.”
This stat just exemplifies why Jordan is considered the GOAT.