Michael Jordan: 39 Points v Orlando Magic 1995 Playoffs Game 5

[babyfaceace23]

What did he avg this series .. He wasn't the full Jordan as far as timing but he still was the best .. the team just wasn't the same with the chemistry until they played the full season

[gf4670]

@babyfaceace23 He averaged 31 a game on 47% shooting - not bad, and only a bit below his career playoff averages. The problem was the turnovers. His scoring was fine and his defense was ok, but he just didn't have the feel yet. And like you said, the only one on the team who knew how to play with him - and win big games in general - was Pippen. The team needed time. It's sort of a myth that he played "terrible" in this series because all anyone remembers is the Nick Anderson steal.

[bibssy]

it also helps that Grant was injured the following year and sat a couple of the games in the 96 playoffs. They didn't have a strong low post defender that year so they had to double. Mike actually played better in this series than he did in the series the year after but he had Rodman down low doing good job on shaq

[gladyshoffmann1761]

jxn23, unbelievable that is crazy. That's coming from a guy who s 5 5 but do windmill dunks. I followed the training program at "50-inch-vertical[dot]com" and increased over 14 ins on my jump.

[clokey8]

G.O.A.T

[WarrenKoolidge]

Legend

[szaret1]

At :26 he broke his ankles bad and dunked it left handed. Happens alot but only jordan can make it look that good.

[MyDrugAssociations]

What more can 1 man do?

[arkade2345]

[cont]...He could seem very tentative at times in the offense & sometimes looked a little scared to get the ball.Obv that is natural for someone who just returned & I think MJ did better than anyone else would have in that situation.But compared to his incredible standards, you could tell he wasn't quite the same. You saw flashes but he seemed hesitant, esp in crunch time.But I agree that people don't appreciate how amazing MJ did play in 95 & how incredible a feat it was to do what he did!

[arkade2345]

MJ actually had a ton of sick highlight moves in the 95 playoffs and played much better than people assume.His problem was 1. CONSISTENCY and 2. CONFIDENCE.Being away from the game for so long is a huge obstacle to overcome but he did it anyway.Gm 1 vs the Hornets was vintage 93 Jordan in every way.After that, you could tell his confidence was a little shaky & he was never able to really play consistent.The Magic series, he was like a roller coaster--miss a bunch of shots, then go on a tear.

[Jumpman1989]

Michael was a freaking beast during that playoffs!!! Anybody who thinks differently must be completely blind.

He built up his shape so quickly after almost 2 years retirement, and even in regular season where he played only 17 games he was 10th or 11th in the MVP race.

The only thing which I think was essential but in the Bulls team was still a little bit shaky was chemistry. They had to readjust the lineup, the situation inside changed so that was I think the main reason of loss in 1995

[falkner23]

Sweet game right here.. id been waiting for someone to upload this game, thanks man.

[sportsfan8107]

I could literally watch clips of MJ all day everyday and they would never get old. I love the NBA but it was just better with him in it. Period.

[popeyeisgood]

in that very short season of his come back he shows amazing speed and quickness that reminds me of his pre 93 games. he is more showy in some of those drives and dunks then the way he played overall in 93. perhaps it is a statement of how well he can still play.

[popeyeisgood]

i think besides the double teams problem ( yes grant is one of the major reason why they beat the bulls) the 95 bulls has chemistry problem as well. jordan certainly lifts them up a lot but most of the players arent accustomed to play with jordan. i remember them being scared of taking their own shots in many occasions. in the mean time i remember magic overall playing more cohesive as a team too.

[jxn23]

@popeyeisgood Yeah I agree, the Magic played better as a team and the Bulls were trying to piece together a team that year and still didnt know where everyone fit in after MJ came back.

I watched the whole series again just recently, and I couldnt believe how open the Magic players (especially Grant) were left for free throw line jump shots or cuts down the lane. I honestly believe the Bulls could've won this series though. They looked unbeatable during some games.

[jaboo82681]

Nice to see u back bro I hope you keep posting, but MJ did play well in these Playoffs and you can see he had fresh legs because of the way he was finishing close to the basket even at age 32. Remember the 48 pt game in rd 1 vs the Hornets and like Michael said about is frustrating performance "I was disappointed because I couldn't dominate on call." But the man still had some great moments in that yrs Playoffs...

[jumpnam]

To clarify he had 29 in the first half of Game 3, finishing with 40. He didn't top 30 in any half this series.

His shooting was good in the series, but it was his conditioning that let him down. Late in games he didn't have the lift in his legs consistently, which contributed to the late turnovers and missed shots in Game 6. By his own admission, he was still in baseball shape. It wasn't that he played bad in the series, more that his timing was off and he couldn't close games out consistently.

[jordanlover23]

@jumpnam That is absolutely false. In game 3 at Chicago he had a 35 point half at a minimum.

[jordanlover23]

@jumpnam That is absolutely false. In game 3 at Chicago he had a 35 point first half at a minimum, and the second half of game 2 was 30 points at least. I can even tell you the type of shots he hit for many of his buckets in the first half of game 3. I have both these games on tape (I believe it was the TBS or TNT broadcast).

[jumpnam]

@jordanlover23 I just checked the game report for Game 3, I was wrong, he had 31 at half. My bad.

[jordanlover23]

@jumpnam Like I said, I'm about 95% certain that he had a 35 point first half in a Chicago home game in that series, because I have it on tape somewhere and have watched it many times years ago. Game 3 is the only game it could have been given his point totals. I'm also pretty sure the second half of game 2 was also a 30+ point half.  What game report are you accessing? Maybe I'll try to dig up my videos.

[jumpnam]

@jordanlover23 I just searched for the game on YouTube and found an upload, the dude who posted it also put up the game report from the New York Times in the description.

I'll tell you what though, he was channeling '92 in a lot of his moves in this series. So much speed and athleticism. He didn't seem as quick or aggressive in any part of the '96 playoffs, after he'd got back in game shape.

[jordanlover23]

His speed here at age 32 is ridiculous. Love how he drops Nick Anderson to the floor with the in-and-out dribble and explosion at the 27 second mark. Then again blazing speed at 41 seconds as he somehow gets baseline past Shaq despite Shaq being like 9 feet off of him. The number of adjustments and the speed with which he makes them on the play at 3:20 is amazing. Catches it, realizes Penny's overplaying towards his right side, so he fakes it and comes back left, and then to the right again

[jordanlover23]

Jordan also shut down Penny in a couple of halves in this series, completely taking him out of the game. Even the commentators were saying that they had never seen Penny taken out of a game like that.

[jordanlover23]

Jordan actually had not one, but TWO consecutive 35+ point halves in this series (game 2 second half, and game 3 first half; one of them was 35 and one was 36 points). How frequently does a player even have ONE 35 point half? He did it in two consecutive games.

[yaiqab]

@jordanlover23

Are you sure about that? If I remember correctly, he had 38 points in Game 2. I don't remember him only having 3 in the first half. Also, I believe that in game 3 he had 33 in the first half, but I could be wrong.

[jordanlover23]

@yaiqab I'm 99% sure. I have both games on tape. It was at least 30+ in each half at the worst, but the first half in game 3 I'm certain he scored 35 or 36 points, because he made a basket at the buzzer that seemed like maybe it was tipped in by Kukoc, but they credited it to MJ.