“That was god disguised as Michael Jordan”: When Larry Bird could not help but admire Black Jesus’s record breaking performance in the TD Garden

Michael Jordan stunned the Boston crowd in the 1986 playoffs – his effort was still not enough to win the game.

Despite scoring a mammoth 63 points against the then-best team in the world Boston Celtics, Michael Jordan could not come up with enough for a win. He came mightily close to clinching a win though, coming only 4 points short in a double OT performance.

“Fifty points, 49 points, 63 points, I just want to win again,” said the young Bull, tired of being on the losing end every time come playoffs. It was only his 3rd year in the league, yet he was hungry for the ultimate prize. You could see the desire in the way he played, and the fire in him never died until the day he finally retired in 2003.

Known for hitting iconic clutch shots his whole life, Jordan had 2 opportunities to win the game, yet he ended up missing both of them. Even the best cannot make everything, and on this day, even deified Jordan could not get the ball into the halo when it came to it. He did not give up though, overcoming the final speedbump in 1991.

Larry Bird and co. managed to hold off the Bulls, and win their 33rd home game in a row, equaling a record set by the Minneapolis Lakers back in 49-50.

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Michael Jordan and scoring are like fish and water – one cannot exist without the other

The man was so in tune with scoring, that opposing defenders were quaking in their boots just by the sight of his silhouette. They were worried that he would put them in a blender at any point in time, and dunk them on their heads. With games being more televised, nobody wanted to be called “That guy Michael Jordan posterized”.

LeBron James may be closing in on the all-time most points, but MJ did it like no other. Consistently known for scoring 30 points with his eyes closed, his range of attack was so immense, that guarding him was a nightmare. Yes, his early days did not yield championships, but he still was an incredible player who just needed a few cogs to fall in place.

Winning 10 scoring titles in his 15-year career, Jordan was not someone to be reckoned with. A few wonder to this day what his career would have been if he did not taken those breaks. One thing is for sure, records would be very different if he continued playing.

Also Read: “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’