While the Boston Celtics were not exactly at the height of relevancy for much of the time period being discussed in the Michael Jordan/Chicago Bulls ESPN documentary The Last Dance, the second episode brought up one especially important moment in the history of the NBA.
The greatest NBA team of all time by many accounts faced one of if not the greatest playoff performances of all time as Jordan’s Bulls squared off with the 1985-86 Celtics in the first round of the 1986 Playoffs on today, April 20th, of that year.
Jordan’s 63-point explosion has never been paralleled since, the record remaining in place more than three decades later.
It seems unlikely any but one of the all-time greatest teams could withstand such an onslaught — Jordan hit that record without a single 3-pointer, after all — but withstand it the Celtics did.
To this day, it has left an indelible impression on the players who witnessed it, Larry Bird famously going as far as saying it wasn’t MJ who dropped that 63 points on Boston but “God disguised as Michael Jordan“.
And particularly poor Rick Carlisle.
