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Michael Jordan 1988: 59pts Vs. Detroit Pistons on CBS

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This is the single most important game of the modern basketball era. Also, it kept solidifying the fact that MJ saved his best for the best teams. MJ rarely cared to score big against poor teams unless he had to since it was a chance to get the team to play. In MJ's first 19 games vs. Detroit, he averaged 36ppg including a 61pt spanking the year before (a game I also have edited on youtube.com). After this 59pt game on national TV on Easter Sunday in front of a record crowd at Detroit, the Pistons' coach Daly had enough. He vowed never to let MJ beat them again. Born was the beginning of the most awesome defense ever - "The Jordan Rules". The basics of the defense were to 'funnel MJ to the middle so the big guys could knock him on his butt'. But, the defense was so specific that there was a rule for what to do wherever MJ had the ball. Go here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c... The "Jordan Rules" went on to revolutionize the game - making defense win championships. The Pistons went on to win two titles and their 'bruiserball' defense on Jordan forced the NBA to invent the flagrant foul. The Knicks and the Heat copied this football style and soon, the league's scoring plummeted. MJ, still scoring 30+ ppg was unaffected with his insane skills but the league itself couldn't score. We saw in the 90s, slow games with teams scoring just 60 points each with no one able to make any shots. After MJ retired, the NBA tinkered with the rules to get scoring back up and today, we are still seeing this tinkering with the shortened half-court clock, the lax hand-checking rules, the illegal step-in defense for centers and so forth. MJ is responsible for all this. I remember this game vividly. Few NBA games were on national TV so the ads building this game's drama were strong. We knew MJ and the Pistons already hated each other. The Pontiac Silverdome had a record crowd. What was MJ going to do? Well, all he did was go 21-27 for 59. But, the real key was that he won the game on two clutch defensive stops - a block and steal on Zeke - to make sure his 59 didn't go to waste. MJ's jumper was laser-like here and I remember actually being upset that he was so 'on' since that would mean he would be driving less. I wanted to see more acrobatic shots. But, that's just being a selfish fan. Enjoy The Master becoming 'The Master'.

Channel: Sports
Uploaded: August 7, 2006 at 4:59 pm
Author: hoopsencyclopedia

Length: 06:21
Rating: 4.82
Views: 305970

Tags: Allen  Bryant  Car  Detroit  Dwyane  Iverson  James  Jordan  Kobe  Lakers  Lebron  Magic  Michael  Pistons  Shaq  ter  Tmac  Vince  Wade  

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julesickdrums (October 3, 2008 at 9:29 am)
mc'donalds effect.
jordancesar007 (September 30, 2008 at 6:50 am)
ahahaha u can hear their sneakers squeak on the floor...thats how quiet the piston fans are...they are helpless watching jordan at his prime shit on the whole piston team
timothyjesus (September 27, 2008 at 8:44 am)
everyone seems so thin at that time.
dbruin85 (September 23, 2008 at 6:56 am)
slow starter? Hahaha...yeah right.
kennyrogers71 (September 21, 2008 at 2:28 am)
21 of 27???!!! Dude, Kobe is nowhere near that! And I'm a Big Kobe Bryant Fan!
ShaolinSurfer777 (September 19, 2008 at 3:12 pm)
This man is truely the Mozart, The DaVinci, the Miyamoto Musashi of basketball period.
loepower (September 16, 2008 at 6:39 pm)
Lot of truth in your statement. Young players tried to copy micheals highlight moves and dreamed of being just like him(one man that could almost single handely lead his team to victory) and forgot to learn to play the game, which Jordan knew how to do better than anyone else.
loepower (September 16, 2008 at 6:37 pm)
Great guard get it right. Won two championships brought a nothing franchise to one of the best teams ever. They should've won 3 if not for bad refs. He's a horrible G.M but an amazing basketball player. But of course no one compares to Jordan.
SammySmooth (September 16, 2008 at 4:34 am)
Amen. I remember people gettin hyped only when someone got dunked on, blocked, or just scored on regularly. Now there is so much emphasis on "breaking angles" with all these crossovers. We are in the era of overdribbling.
jordanlover23 (September 13, 2008 at 9:57 am)
Jordan did more than get Dumars "a couple of times." He AVERAGED 39.8 ppg vs. Dumars/Rodman and Detroit over 12 meetings in the 1987 and '88 regular seasons, including games of 47 pts, 61 pts, 49 pts/8 ast, 38 pts/8 reb/12 ast, 36/10/10, and 59 pts/6 ast. And he did this against two of the best defenders of their generation in Dumars and Rodman, and tons of help. This is why Detroit devised "The Jordan Rules" heading into the 1988 playoffs.

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