As in 1986 against Boston, with 49 then 63 points (record in the playoffs) in the first two games, Michael Jordan had gone up a notch in 1988 against the Cavs, even though his first outing had already been huge.
For Game 1 of the first round, he had thus scored 50 points at 19/35 on the shoot, in the victory of the Bulls. Then, for Game 2 of May 1, 1988, the MVP of the season was even stronger with 55 points at 24/45 in shooting.
Two victories for Chicago, which lost twice to Cleveland but qualified in the decisive Game 5 (at the time, the first round was played in the best of five games), like the following year with “The Shot”. These two performances at 50 points are historic since Michael Jordan – record holder for 50-point matches in the playoffs with eight – is the only player in history to have played two games in a row at such a height in the playoffs.
Less fiery then, but still very hot with 39, 44 and 38 points, he will finish the series with 45.2 points on average at 56% shooting success, against one of the best defenses in the league.
