No, he isn’t Wilt Chamberlain, who accomplished the feat an absurd 118 times. But Jordan’s 31 50-point games still rank second all-time in NBA history, and it doesn’t look like anyone is catching him anytime soon (LeBron, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and James Harden have a COMBINED 30 such games).
Jordan’s averages in his 50-point games? 54.1 points on 60.9 percent shooting, 7.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists. The Bulls went 22-8 in those games, and the Wizards (sorry for the reminder) went 1-0. Jordan also had eight playoff games of 50 or more points, including his 63-point outing against the 1986 Celtics. The Bulls went 6-2 in the postseason when Jordan topped 50 points.
The most incredible feat in all this might be that Jordan had more career games of scoring 50 or more points (31) than he had games of scoring 11 or fewer points (26). That’s correct: In 1,072 games, Jordan was more likely to score 50 on an opponent than be held to 11 or fewer points, from age 21 to 39.
Previous Countdown to Opening Night posts:
38. Bobby Portis' career-high in points
37. Michael Jordan's career-best PPG in 1987
36. Lauri Markkanen's 3-point FG% as a rookie
NBA
35. Michael Jordan's PPG in 1988, his first MVP season
34. Wendell Carter
33. Scottie Pippen
32. Kris Dunn