Michael Jordan Averaged 41 PPG In The 1993 Finals Against Phoenix

Published on May 23rd, 2024 2:49 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


A very select group of players - Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Bernard King and Michael Jordan - have averaged 40 PPG (Points Per Game) is a single playoff series.

Only one of those players - Michael Jordan - has accomplished the task more than once.

In fact, Michael Jordan averaged 40 PPG or more in FIVE playoff series over the course of his NBA career.

Just the GOAT doing GOAT things.

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The first time that Jordan averaged 40 PPG in a single playoff series came in 1986 against Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics.

While the Bulls were steamrolled by the Celtics, Jordan averaged 43.7 points per game, including a historic 63 point performance in Game 2 of the series.

Unfortunately for the Bulls, they were swept in this series.

In 1988, Jordan and the Bulls won a hard-fought best-of-5 series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

This would be the highest PPG output from Jordan over the course of one playoff series, as he averaged an astonishing 45 points per game over a 5 game series.

In 1990, the Bulls defeated the Philadephia 76ers 4-1 in their second round series.

In this series, Jordan averaged 43 points per game.

In 1992, in a first round series against the Miami Heat, Jordan scorched the overmatched Miami team, avveraging 45 points per game and nearly 10 rebounds per game. People in Miami still talk about this performance to this day.

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Finally, the 1993 Finals performance against the Phoenix Suns was arguably the best performance of Jordan's career.

The Suns were a very good team, led by Charles Barkley, but Jordan still ruthlessly dismantled them over the six-game series (the Bulls won 4-2).

Jordan averaged 41 PPG in the series, while also aeraging 8.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists.

It's hard to find a more impressive performance than this.