23 years ago today, Michael Jordan dropped 54 points on the New York Knicks and saved the Bulls’ chances at their first three-peat in the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals.
When it comes the legend of Michael Jordan, there’s plenty of memories and games that come to mind. Just off the top of my head, games like Jordan’s 63-point performance against the Boston Celtics in 1986 and “The Flu Game” in the 1997 NBA Finals are etched into NBA lore as some of the greatest performances in history.
Tuesday marks the 23-year anniversary of a rather underrated Jordan moment.
On this date in 1993 -- Michael Jordan drops 54 points (18-30 FG) on New York in @chicagobulls' Game 4 win pic.twitter.com/46wGy1fe5d
— NBA.com (@NBAcom) May 31, 2016
Jordan dominated the top-seeded New York Knicks in Game 4 of the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals with a 54-point performance to tie the series at 2-2.
Why was Game 4 against the Knicks such a key moment in Jordan’s career?
Well, the Bulls were chasing their third straight championship for one, and two, Jordan didn’t exactly shoot the lights out against the Pat Riley-led Knicks. In the other five games of the series, Jordan shot 44-for-125 (35.2%), but when the Bulls needed him most, the game’s greatest player delivered.
The more famous moment of this series was Scottie Pippen‘s defense on seemingly the entire New York Knicks roster at the rim in the closing moments of Game 5 that gave the Bulls a 3-2 series lead, but the Bulls aren’t in that position without Jordan’s masterful Game 4.
Game 4 against the Knicks is a rather forgotten performance in the career of Jordan because he’s had so many ridiculous games in his career, but this one was as clutch as clutch could be. Jordan was only shooting 32 percent in the three games prior to Game 4 against the best defensive team in the NBA and he stepped to the forefront just like he did throughout his Hall of Fame career.
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John Starks (who you see getting torched throughout the video above) was one of the few players in Jordan’s era that could keep up with Jordan’s offensive onslaught, but on this night, it didn’t matter who the Knicks put in front of Jordan.