Chicago Bulls: 3 times Reggie Miller outplayed Michael Jordan

1. Jan. 10, 1990

The first time that the NBA landscape got the exposure of Miller taking down Jordan and the Bulls in dramatic fashion was in early 1990. At a key point in the 1989-90 season, the Pacers were an up and coming divisional foe of the Bulls. And even the Bulls themselves were building up in the division, trying to take down the defending champion Detroit Pistons.

At the time, the Bulls and Pacers were on similar playing fields with near identical regular season records. And the Pacers would give the Bulls all they could handle and more in this career-high for Miller and Jordan in the regular season.

In this early 1990 affair between Jordan and Miller, the latter registered a game-high 44 points, three rebounds, one assist, and one steal. He shot 13-of-22 from the field, 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, and 14-of-15 from the charity stripe. That saw Miller post a box plus/minus rating of 12.1, 156 offensive rating, and 76.9 true shooting percentage.

Jordan was on in this game, posting 35 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals, and one block. But he didn’t have his best shooting performance, going 13-of-30 from the field and 1-of-3 from beyond the arc. Jordan did post a box plus/minus rating better than seven, but it couldn’t help the Bulls overcome the Pacers to the tune of a seven-point defeat on the road.