Top 3 playoffs series where Michael Jordan shot better than 91% from the free throw line
Widely considered to be the greatest of all time, Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan impacted the game and revolutionized it in more ways than one. One of the primary methods which made everyone revere Michael Jordan was his scoring ability. Be it from the free-throw line or the perimeter or attacking the basket, His Airness scored at will and with ease.
Jordan and his scoring prowess catapulted the Chicago Bulls into a dynasty alongside the likes of Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman as they dominated the 1990s. Six championships and six Finals MVPs is what MJ has to show for because of how great of a scorer he was.
We've seen a lot of great players average over 25 a night but struggle from the line. MJ, for his career, averaged over 30 points per game and shot better than 83% from the free throw line. With that said, we look at the top three playoffs series where Michael Jordan shot better than 91% from the free throw line.
#3. Vs Cleveland Cavaliers, 1988 - 91.8%
In the 1988 Eastern Conference First Round, the Chicago Bulls went up against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Michael Jordan was coming off one of the best seasons of his career and was determined to take his team all the way to the title. His Airness averaged a whopping 45.2 points per game in this series along with 5.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists while shooting better than 55% from the field and 91.8% from the line.
Michael Jordan started his career off with a bang earning rookie of the year honors.
Jordan was prolific as a rookie, with 33 30-point games, fifth-most by a rookie in NBA history.
Only Wilt Chamberlain, Walt Bellamy, Oscar Robertson & Elvin Hayes had more. https://t.co/qrJey41sCr
Jordan played over 43 minutes a night in this series as the Chicago Bulls won, 3-2. MJ opened the series with 50 points and 55 points in Game 1 and 2 respectively, all the while going perfect from the line by making all 19 of his free throws. In the closeout game, Jordan attempted a series-high 18 free throws while making 15 of them.
#2. Vs New York Knicks, 1991 - 95.7%
In the series against the New York Knicks, Michael Jordan shot 23 free throws in total and made all but one of them. His Airness averaged 29 points, 6 assists and 4.7 rebounds while shooting the ball better than 52% from the field, over 95% from the line and shot 50% from beyond the arc.
LeBron James and Michael Jordan are the only players in NBA history to average 27-5-5 at age 36 or older during a 10-game span. https://t.co/NvBDuR332D
It was a complete performance from His Airness against the Knicks as the Chicago Bulls beat the New York-based franchise 3-0 to move to the next round. In the series opener, MJ shot 9 free throws and made all of them. Eventually, MJ would go on to win the first of his six championships.
#1. Vs Washington Bullets, 1997 - 100%
Back when the Washington Wizards were known as the Washington Bullets, Michael Jordan and co. ran into them in the 1997 NBA Eastern Conference First Round. The series ended with the Chicago Bulls sweeping the Bullets in three games and moving onto the next round.
Michael Jordan made 9 game-winning buzzer-beaters in his career (including the postseason), the most in NBA history.
Kobe Bryant and Joe Johnson are tied for the 2nd-most game-winning buzzer-beaters with 8 apiece. twitter.com/TheWIZEKen91/s… https://t.co/kLs7Ni988k
Before that, Michael Jordan dropped his best performance of the series in Game 2 with 55 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals while shooting the ball better than 62% from the field and making all 10 of his free throws. In fact, MJ in this series attempted 15 free throws and made all of them. He played over 42 minutes a night and averaged over 37 points for the series.