Michael Jordan in 1986 season review
Micheal Jordan's second season proved to be a roller-coaster ride. The expectations were high, as the Bulls had aquired new talent in the person of a rookie power forward name Charles Oakley, along with a point guard which was to become a vital piece in the Bulls' first championship run: John Paxon. But everything seemed to crumble the moment Jordan broke a bone in his left foot, just 3 games into the regular season.
The injury seemed mild at first, but the reabilitation took longer then people first anticipated. Still, as a testament to Jordan's grip on the NBA even then, he was voted into the all-star game even though he didn't even play that first half of the season. This served as extra motivation for Michael to come back stronger than ever.
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Even if every was thinking the wisest thing for him to do was to play it safe and come back in the next campaign, Michael Jordan was determined to help the team reach the playoffs. And he did exactly that: coming back with only 15 games remaining in the regular season, he helped his team secure the 8th and final playoff spot. His statistics due to the injury were not as great as his in his rookie season, averaging little over 22 PPG on .45 FG, so the Bulls didn't have much hopes of a great showing, considering they had to face in the first round of the playoffs the mighty Boston Celtics.
The Celtics had won the East the previous 2 years, and had just posted a 67-15 regular season, with only one home loss. And all this while being lead by a shining Larry Bird, which had won the previous 3 MVP awards, and was expected to take the spotlight in the series against Chicago. But what people didn't count on was Michael Jordan's rejuvenated form. In the first game at the Boston Garden he scored a mammoth 49 points, despite a clear 123-104 Boston victory.
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The Celtics didn't expect Jordan to be able to repeat the performance in Game 2, so they were supremely confident. And Michael didn't repeat it, he got one better, scoring 63 points, which still is today the playoff record for points scored by one player. Boston still won the game in overtime, 135-131, but MJ's performance prompted Bird to acclaim that he saw "God disguised as Michael Jordan".
The Celtics went on to win game 3 of the series as well, and continue their path to the NBA championship and complete the most successful season in their franchise history. But besides that, what everyone remebers from that day was the fact that Michael Jordan served notice to everyone that he can dominate the very best in the business at an early age and after a serious injury, and gave evertbody a taste of what he was about to become.
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