On This Date in Sports March 28, 1990: A Nice Game for Jordan
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
Michael Jordan has the highest-scoring game of his career, with 69 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers, leading the Chicago Bulls to a 117-113 overtime win at the Richfield Coliseum. Jordan also had 18 rebounds and six assists, as the Bulls improved to 46-23 for first-year coach Phil Jackson. Michael Jordan would win the scoring title with 33.6 ppg to win his fourth straight scoring title.
Michel Jordan was born on February 17, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York. Raised in North Carolina, he burst upon the scene as a freshman at the University of North Carolina, hitting the game-winning basket against Georgetown in the 1982 NCAA Championship Game. Selected third in 1984 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls, Jordan was the Rookie of the Year in 1985.
Of the next few seasons, Michael Jordan became the biggest star in the NBA, setting a record for most points in a playoff game against the Boston Celtics in 1986. However, the 63 points were in a losing effort as the rest of the team around him left a lot to be desired. In 1989, Jordan hit a dramatic shot to knock off the Cavaliers in Game 5 to win his first series. The Bulls would go on to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Despite their run in 1989, Phil Jackson was hired to replace Doug Collins as the new coach of the Bulls, hoping his Zen ways could take Jordan and his team that was derisively called the Jordanaires to the next level. The Bulls were second to Detroit Pistons again as they began to put to the pieces of their dynasty together. Facing the Cavaliers in a late-season game, the Bulls were in control most of the way, holding an 18-point lead in the third quarter. The Cavaliers would rally to tie the game, but Jordan took over in overtime, as the Bulls won 117-113.
In scoring a career-high 69 points, Michael Jordan made 23-of-37 shots from the field and was 21-of-23 from the free-throw line. Jordan made two-of-six from downtown, with 18 rebounds, six assists, and four steals. Horace Grant was the only other player on the Bulls to reach double digits, scoring 16 points. Cleveland meanwhile was led by Mark Price, who had 31 points, while Craig Ehlo scored 26.
Michel Jordan would lead the league with 33.6 ppg, as the Bulls took the Pistons to seven games in e Eastern Conference Finals. It would be the final full season in which Jordan did not lead Chicago to an NBA Championship as their dynast of six titles in eight years beginning in 1991.