The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
‘This would have to be my greatest game’
Jordan torched Cavs for career-best 69 points
“The Shot” is arguably Michael Jordan’s most iconic moment.
For Cavaliers fans, that 1989 shot at the buzzer in the deciding Game 5 of a first-round playoff series was a painful reminder of Jordan’s greatness and his ability to stick a dagger into their hearts.
Unfortunately for the Cavs and their fans, there was more to come.
Thirty years ago — March 28, 1990 to be exact — that dagger was plunged a little deeper. That was the night Jordan scored a career-high 69 points at Richfield Coliseum in the Bulls’ wild 117-113 overtime win over the Cavs.
Cleveland overcame an 18-point second-half deficit, and forced OT when Craig Ehlo swished a 3-pointer with seconds remaining in regulation.
Jordan, however, kept filling up the stat sheet. He scored eight points in that extra session to finish with 69 points. His previous high in a regular-season game was 61. His best scoring game in the playoffs was 63 against the Celtics in 1986.
“This would have to be my greatest game,” Jordan said in the postgame. “When I scored 63 against Boston, we lost. It sure feels a lot better.”
It was not a performance filled with high-flying dunks. Jordan had just one, but he did just about everything else. He was 2 of 6 from 3-point range and finished 23 of 37 from the field, and 21 of 23 from the freethrow line. Jordan made a living that night with mostly mid-range jumpers, driving layups, pullup shots in the lane, putbacks and fadeaways.
He played 50 minutes, grabbed 18 rebounds, had six assists, four steals and blocked a shot. He turned the ball over just twice and committed five fouls.
As a one-man effort, this has to be right up there during the Jordan era. Horace Grant scored 16 points, but that was it for other players in double figures. Bill Cartwright scored nine points, and Scottie Pippen seven.
On the other side, the Cavs were more balanced.
Mark Price led with 31 points and eight assists. Ehlo had 26 points and nine rebounds and John “Hot Rod” Williams added 23 points and 10 rebounds. Larry Nance (11) and Brad Daugherty (10) were also in double figures in scoring.
This night was all Jordan. He scored 16 points in the first quarter, 15 in the second, 20 in the third, 10 in the fourth and eight in OT. At halftime, he was 11 of 15 from the field, had 31 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
“He’s one in a million, one in a billion,” said Williams in the postgame.
Coach Lenny Wilkens — who was ejected from the game for arguing a call
— tried everything to slow Jordan. Winston Bennett started the game guarding him, then Johnnie Morton got a shot, but to no avail. Eventually, Ehlo took his turn. The Cavs also doubleand triple-teamed Jordan. No luck, as Jordan kept on attacking.
“I didn’t think about being tired because I wanted to win the game,” said Jordan. “I’ve been in that situation where I’ve scored a lot of points and we lost, and I didn’t want that to happen. So I kept pushing myself, kept talking to myself, saying, ‘Don’t stop, don’t stop. Keep going.’ You feel better about the effort when you win.”
Jordan won the scoring title that season — as he averaged 33.6 points — but in five games against the Cavs (all victories) he averaged a whopping 44.8. In the season opener against the Cavs, Jordan poured in 54, then 38 and 41 in the next two games, and then his historic 69. In those first four games against the Cavs in 1989-90, Jordan’s scoring average was 50.5.
In the Bulls’ last game against the Cavs on April 11, Jordan scored just 22 points, which dropped his scoring average against the team he tormented to 44.8.