1993 Bulls-Suns: Game 4, Jordan 55 pts

[Senser81]

Pretty amazing stuff from Jordan, and a lot going on in this game. KJ and BJ Armstrong scuffle, Jordan and Ainge get into it twice towards the end of the game. At the 7:00 mark, Jordan has a HUGE dunk on Ainge. In one of the few times he was punked, Jordan fouls Majerle on a 3 pointer at the end of the half, and then goes "Dwayne Wade" on the ref. And finally, Jordan gets fouled by Barkley on the last play and makes the game-clinching 3pt play.

I was impressed that Jordan could blow by anyone the Suns put on him. KJ was terrible, Majerle was worse, Ainge was bad, Dumas was bad. The only guy they didn't try on Jordan was Barkley. And then after Jordan would get a path to the basket, Chambers and West were slow to step up so Jordan got a ton of layups.

 

[EmpireWF]

lol Jordan running from half court or the back court AT two guys at the bucket and STILL gets the dunk.

His prime is always incredible to watch.

 

[FedEx227]

The Suns help defense is pretty awful through most of those highlights. MJ and Pip are just on a different level athletically but there was not a ton of rotations on Phoenix's end.

 

[FirstTimer]

Jordans entire Finals that year was disgusting.
41 ppg on nearly 51 percent shooting
8.5 rpg
6.3 apg
1.6 spg

Barkley got off that series a few time but what helped is he had 3 games where while he filled the stat sheet he was pretty inefficient doing so.

 

[ralaw]

Jordans entire Finals that year was disgusting.
41 ppg on nearly 51 percent shooting
8.5 rpg
6.3 apg
1.6 spg

:walker:

 

[ralaw]

It's amazing at how efficient Jordan was with his moves.....he made the game look so easy.

 

[FirstTimer]

It's amazing at how efficient Jordan was with his moves.....he made the game look so easy.

It really makes you wonder what amazing basketball we missed from Jordan during his first retirement. He was so beyond anyone in the league in 93 it wasn't even funny really.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

This was my favorite NBA season of all time, and my favorite finals.

Majerle had nothing defensively for Jordan. Keep on mind that that this was a pre knee injuries Majerle that was known as a tough defender and was the Suns stopper. So Kevin Johnson was eventually given the task, and all things considered he did a better job than Majerle at occassionally harrassing Jordan. I always thought Johnson was a woefully underrated player. He ciuld have been a big scorer, and was when asked, but he was a tremedous pure point guard and a good defender.

This season also proved Barkley tanked in Philly to get out of town. All of a sudden he was a pinpoint jump shooter and active defender (not good per say, but active).

I was annoyed a few years later when the Suns traded Majerle for Hot Rod Williams, but it turned out his knees were shot by then. He had some goood seasons as a role player for the Heat., where he would play defense and shoot 3's for 20 minutes per game. He was a 48 minute iron man pre injury.

 

[FedEx227]

They also got a relatively drug-free year out of Dumas who was one of their key players. Had he been able to keep it together, Suns are probably favorites in 1994.