Michael Jordan - 49 points vs LA Clippers (Nov 21, 1997)

This early regular season game between Chicago and LA was seen as a part of the Bulls' farewell tour, given their age and the time they had already spent together. Pippen was out for months and to make matters worse, sharp shooter Steve Kerr received an injury as well.

And from the start of the first quarter the Bulls looked very old indeed. Uncharacteristic mistakes and a terrible percentage from the field gave the Clippers an early lead. Jordan had a lot of problems with his shot release because of the dislocated finger, noticeable especially at the freethrow line. Despite a great game by Longley the Clippers led 27-14 after the 1st quarter.

But the Bulls showed pride. They got back into the game with their defense and started a 18-3 scoring run to erase the Clippers' big lead. At the end of a hard-fought 4th quarter, Barry hit two huge freethrows to tie the game at 92-92 with 10 seconds to go. A lot of time for Jordan to work his magic, but he missed at the buzzer and the game went into the first of two overtimes.

The Clippers looked a bit fresher and got a four point lead with 40 seconds to go, but Jordan made two baskets to tie the game again at 102-102 and forced a second overtime. He then completely took over and scored all 9 Bulls points in the 2nd overtime.
Overall he scored the last 13 points in the game, unanswered by the Clippers who couldn't buy a basket and went scoreless on Jordan's run.
While the 34-year-old Jordan looked sharper as the game progressed, the younger Clippers ran out of gas and lost the game, 111-102.

"The thing is that Mike doesn't get tired. I know I get tired in the fourth quarter, but he doesn't. He just gets stronger and keeps responding." - Ron Harper

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Michael
• Jordan
• Chicago
• Bulls
• Los
• Angeles
• Clippers
• NBA
• Basketball
• overtime
• 49
• 1997
• 1998
• regular
• season

[vidaa82]

what in the world?! clippers crowd cheering for jordan? thats something. oh yeah those black jerseys are sweet too?

[pennywisem22]

Clippers should move to Anaheim or something. I hate that they share STAPLES with the Lakers. Freeloaders!

[zankou4]

Last thing... this was the most MJ scored that whole season!

[zankou4]

The crowd, including myself, was going insane! Another INSIDE INFO: The crowd was just as crazy when the Clippers made shots. So, imagine, at both ends the crowd was going crazy! It was such an amazing experience, one that I'd never forget!

[zankou4]

IMPORTANT INSIDE INFO about this game, what the video doesn't show. I was at this game!! The Bulls were down 3 points with a few seconds left at the end of the first OT. Jordan got fouled and went to the line. He made the first free throw, then missed the second on purpose, rebounded it on the right side and made a layup to tie it. Then the Clippers missed and it went to the 2nd OT!! It was unbelievable!!

[iriggs444]

I was at this game..as a die hard bulls fan that was a treat...I miss the chance to see him play in 1988 against the lakers..I .had vip seats at the fourm and couldnt go..So to get a chance to see him again..his last year with the bulls(although it was the clippers) and he had a performance like that was cool.... he was just on it...

[CJV619]

@Famous1MB No San Diego Sports Arena is even more garbage than L.A. Sports Area so I prefer L.A. Sports over ours xD

[mediabench]

@evenmixer yes, but it's for Jordan specifically. It happened everywhere. Weird, right? lol

[Evenmixer]

It's me or the clipper's fan support the chicago bulls ???

[delfra70]

@kOrOne79 Exactly, a great deal of MJ's big scoring games came against either championship contenders or playoff teams. Sometimes when you get flakes who don't know what the hell they're taliking about, people like yourself and i have to school these fools. Unlike a lot of players who rack up high scoring games against mediocre teams, MJ did his damage against the best teams, he did'nt have to pat his stats against weak squads, he was usually on the bench with 20-30 point leads.

[TiltBrook]

@Famous1MB I'd rather watch a game from an old L.A. Sports Arena than a nice new polished Staples. At the Sports Arena you could actually SEE the action from the upper deck. At Staples, you feel like you're looking down from the top of a football or baseball stadium, the players look like ants. Staples is also too corporate, the Sports Arena has some old school character to it!

[MyOtherFile]

Hey thats my birth date (exactly) on that game ... Awesome