Here’s a look back at notable sports news on April 20 through the years.
1986: In a first-round playoff game against an all-time great Celtics team, the Bulls lost in two overtimes, 135-131, but Michael Jordan was magnificent in defeat. Weeks after returning from a foot injury that limited him to only 18 regular-season games, the Bulls’ superstar scored a playoff-record 63 points.
The Celtics and Bulls were in awe.
“I would never have called him the greatest player I’d ever seen if I didn’t mean it,” Boston’s Larry Bird told reporters afterward. “It’s just God disguised as Michael Jordan.”
“I was watching the game,” Celtics coach K.C. Jones said, “and all I could see was this giant Jordan out there and everybody else in the background.”
Thirty minutes after the game, the Bulls’ Orlando Woolridge sat at his locker, staring at the stat sheet. “Wow,” he said, slowly shaking his head. “Incredible.”
Said Bulls coach Stan Albeck: “This has to be the greatest individual performance in playoff history.”
Jordan’s point total topped the previous record of 61, set by the Lakers’ Elgin Baylor in 1962. Jordan’s stat line: 53 minutes, 22-for-41 from the field, 19-for-21 from the free-throw line, six assists, three steals. (MJ still holds the scoring record for a playoff game.)
“I wanted to win the game so badly,” Jordan told reporters, “that the points don’t even dignify anything, don’t even mean anything to me.”
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By Yardbarker Staff | Last updated 4/19/20
