Jordan in the clutch
Game winning/tying shots in the Finals with 25 seconds or less
- ’91 NBA Finals Game 3 game-tyer.
- ’97 NBA Finals Game 1 game-winner over Russell.
- ’97 NBA Finals Game 5 go-ahead 3-pointer.
- ’98 NBA Finals Game 6 series winning steal and shot.
Game winning/tying assists in the Finals with 25 seconds or less
- ’97 NBA Finals Game 6 series-winning assist to Kerr.
- ’98 NBA Finals Game 1 tying-assist to Longley to send the Game to OT.
’91 Finals, Game 3 (series tied 1–1)
Bulls ball down 2, 92–90 with about 11 seconds remaining. Jordan hits the game-tying shot with 3.4 seconds left to tie the game at 92. On the ensuing Lakers inbound, Jordan sprints across the court to break up Vlade Divac’s drive attempt by poking the ball loose. Bulls win in OT behind Jordan’s 8 OT points and take a 2–1 series lead.
’92 Finals, Game 6 (Bulls lead 3–2)
Bulls ball with 46.9 seconds left and a 2 point lead. Jordan scores a layup to put the Bulls up 4 with 35.9 seconds left. Portland converts on 2 free throws to cut the deficit back down to 2 points with 27 seconds remaining. Jordan is fouled with 11.8 seconds left. He makes both free throws, and the Bulls are back up by 4 points with 11.8 seconds left. He scored 10 of the Bulls last 12 points in the series deciding game. Back to back championships.
’93 Finals, Game 4 (Bulls lead 2–1)
Bulls ball, up by 2 points with under 30 seconds remaining. Jordan converts an and-1 layup over Charles Barkley with 13.3 seconds left to put the Bulls up 4. He hits the free throw and the Bulls lead by 5 and ultimately win the game. Bulls take a commanding 3–1 series lead. In the series-deciding game 6 in Phoenix, Jordan scored 9 of his teams 12 points in the 4th quarter
’97 Finals, Game 1
Bulls ball with the game tied 82–82 with 7.5 seconds remaining on the clock. Jordan hits a buzzer-beating jump shot and the Bulls win 84–82, taking a 1–0 series lead.
’97 Finals, Game 5 (series tied 2–2)
With 46.5 seconds remaining, Jordan splits a pair of free throws to tie the game at 85. Jordan somehow comes away with an offensive rebound off the second free throw that he missed. The Bulls now have the ball in a tie game with under 40 seconds remaining. Jordan hits a go-ahead 3 pointer with 25.0 seconds left to put the Bulls up 3, 88–85. The Bulls win the game 90–88 and take a 3–2 series lead.
’98 Finals, Game 2 (Jazz lead 1–0)
Bulls ball down 1 point, 86–85 with 59 seconds left and counting. Jordan converts an and-1 layup with 47.8 seconds remaining and makes the free throw to give the Bulls an 88–86 lead. Steve Kerr and Jordan ice the game at the free throw line and the Bulls tie the series 1–1.
’98 Finals, Game 6 (Bulls up 3–2)
With about one minute remaining, the Bulls are down by 2 points, 83–81. Jordan is fouled driving to the hoop with 59.2 seconds left in the game. He hits both free throws and the game is now tied 83–83 with under a minute left to go. John Stockton then nails a three pointer with 41.9 seconds left on the next possession for the Jazz to put them up by 3 points, now with an 86–83 lead. On the next Bulls possession, Jordan scores a layup with 37.1 seconds remaining to cut the deficit down to 1 point and the Jazz now lead 86–85. With about 20 seconds remaining, Jordan strips Karl Malone in the post and the Bulls now have possession, still trailing by 1 point, with time winding down. Jordan then famously hits a jump shot with 5.2 seconds left to put the Bulls up 1 point, 87–86. The Bulls win the game, and win their 6th championship in as many tries. Jordan scored 6 points in the last minute alone, and 16 points in the 4th quarter as a whole to cap off his 6th Finals MVP award.
*Jordan also had multiple clutch assists in the Finals with the game on the line: John Paxson, Luc Longley and Steve Kerr.
We will take LeBron as a reference here, considering that he is mostly compared to Jordan, as far as clutch shots are concerned
Playoff game-winners/tyers with 25 seconds or less
- Jordan 10/19 (53%)
- LeBron 10/27 (37%)
Playoff game-winners/tyers with 24 seconds or less
- Jordan 9/18 (50%)
- LeBron 10/27 (37%)
Playoff game-winners/tyers with 10 seconds or less
- Jordan 7/15 (47%)
- LeBron 9/22 (41%)
Playoff game-winners/tyers with 5 seconds or less
- Jordan 5/11 (45%)
- LeBron 7/17 (41%)
Finals game-winners/tyers with 25 seconds or less
Career buzzer beaters
- Jordan 9
- LeBron 7
Playoff series ending buzzer beaters
- Jordan 2
- LeBron 0
It should come as no surprise that the all-time buzzer-beater king is Jordan. His shots were all jumpers, ranging from 14 feet (’95 in Atlanta) to 26 feet (’92 vs. Detroit). 6 were in the regular season (trailing only Kobe and Johnson), and 3 were in the playoffs (trailing only LeBron). 2 of those 3 even ended the series. 7 were unassisted, which is tied for the most with Johnson. Jordan also averaged 34.4 points per game in the 9 games he won at the horn, which is the highest average among the 11 players with 5+ buzzer-beaters (beating LeBron by a fraction).
SUPPORTING CAST
Post-1954 Finals Teams with sub-60 ppg supporting casts
- ’74 Bucks — 59.4 ppg
- ’94 Rockets — 59.3 ppg
- ’07 Cavs — 58.5 ppg
- ’01 Sixers — 58.2 ppg
- ’06 Heat — 58.2 ppg
- ’15 Cavs — 57.7 ppg
- ’99 Spurs — 57.4 ppg
- ’97 Bulls — 55.5 ppg
- ’04 Lakers — 55.2 ppg
- ’98 Jazz — 55.2 ppg
- ’98 Bulls — 54.5 ppg
- ’99 Knicks — 53.8 ppg
Post-1954 Championship Teams with sub-60 ppg supporting casts
- ’94 Rockets — 59.3 ppg
- ’06 Heat — 58.2 ppg
- ’99 Spurs — 57.4 ppg
- ’97 Bulls — 55.5 ppg
- ’98 Bulls — 54.5 ppg
None of LeBron’s teams in the Finals have produced as little offensivly as Jordan’s Bulls did in ’97 and ’98, yet Jordan still won back to back titles under those circumstances, and at age 34 and 35 no less.
Title teams with sub-70 PPG supporting casts for the overall playoffs
Post-1954 (Shot-Clock Era)
12. 2002 Lakers — 69.4 PPG
11. 2000 Lakers — 69.0 PPG
10. 1994 Rockets — 68.3 PPG
9. 2006 Heat — 67.8 PPG
8. 1993 Bulls — 67.3 PPG
7. 2012 Heat — 67.0 PPG
6. 1996 Bulls — 66.7 PPG
Title teams with sub-66 PPG supporting casts for the overall playoffs
Post-1954 (Shot Clock Era)
5. 1992 Bulls — 65.9 PPG
4. 2004 Pistons — 65.6 PPG
3. 1999 Spurs — 65.2 PPG
2. 1997 Bulls — 61.5 PPG
1. 1998 Bulls — 60.8 PPG
In the shot-clock era, Jordan has
- 5 of the 8 lowest scoring playoff supporting casts for title teams
- 4 of the 6 lowest scoring playoff supporting casts for title teams
- 3 of the 5 lowest scoring playoff supporting casts for title teams
- The 2 lowest scoring playoff supporting casts for title teams- Jordan is the only player to lead multiple top 10 lowest-scoring playoff supporting casts among title teams
The only player to lead a lesser scoring supporting cast to the NBA Finals than the ’97 or ’98 Bulls is Allen Iverson on the ’01 Sixers. The ’01 Sixers’ teammates outside of Iverson scored 60.3 PPG in the 22 playoff games Iverson played. Game 3 against the Bucks in which Iverson did not play is excluded from this calculation.
