By: History.com Editors

1986

Michael Jordan scores 63 points in playoff game

History.com Editors

Published: November 16, 2009

Last Updated: January 30, 2025

On April 20, 1986, the Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan scores 63 points in an NBA playoff game against the Boston Celtics, setting a post-season scoring record. Despite Jordan’s achievement, the Bulls lost to the Celtics in double overtime, 135-131. Boston swept the three-game series and went on to win the NBA championship.

A standout player at the University of North Carolina, Jordan was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1984, the third overall selection behind Hakeem Olajuwon, who went to the Houston Rockets, and Sam Bowie, who joined the Portland Trail Blazers. The 6’6” Jordan quickly established himself as a star in the NBA. He was named the league’s Rookie of the Year and led the Bulls in scoring, assists, rebounding and steals. The Bulls made it to the playoffs that year, but lost to the Milwaukee Bucks. Jordan had to sit out much of his second season due to a broken foot; however, he returned in time to join his team in the playoffs.

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On April 20, 1986, in Game 2 of the first-round series against the Celtics, Jordan scored his legendary 63 points, a record that still stands. The Celtics’ star forward Larry Bird said: “He is the most exciting, awesome player in the game today. I think it’s just God disguised as Michael Jordan.” The following season, “Air Jordan” became only the second NBA player, after Wilt Chamberlain, to record 3,000 points in a season. Also that year, Jordan was the first-ever player to get 200 steals and 100 blocks in a single season. Despite Jordan’s skills, the Bulls were once again swept by the Celtics in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

The Bulls made it to the playoffs three more times in a row before winning their first NBA championship in 1991, a feat the team repeated in 1992 and 1993. Jordan then retired briefly to pursue a baseball career before returning to the Bulls in 1995 and leading them to three more championships, in 1996, 1997 and 1998. In 1999, Jordan retired a second time, only to return to the NBA again in 2001 to play for two years with the Washington Wizards, a team in which he also had an ownership stake.

Jordan finished his career with five NBA Most Valuable Player awards (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998), 14 All-Star game appearances and three All-Star MVP titles (1988, 1996, 1998), 10 scoring titles and two Olympic gold medals (1984, 1992).

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on April 20th

1777

New York adopts state constitution

The first New York state constitution is formally adopted by the Convention of Representatives of the State of New York, meeting in the upstate town of Kingston, on April 20, 1777. The constitution began by declaring the possibility of reconciliation between Britain and its former American colonies as remote and uncertain, thereby making the creation […]

1861

Robert E. Lee resigns from U.S. Army after Virginia secedes from Union

Colonel Robert E. Lee resigns from the United States army two days after he was offered command of the Union army and three days after his native state, Virginia, seceded from the Union. Lee opposed secession, but he was a loyal son of Virginia. His official resignation was only one sentence, but he wrote a […]

1871

Ku Klux Klan Act passed by Congress

With passage of the Third Force Act, popularly known as the Ku Klux Act, Congress authorizes President Ulysses S. Grant to declare martial law, impose heavy penalties against terrorist organizations and use military force to suppress the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Founded in 1865 by a group of Confederate veterans, the KKK rapidly grew from […]

1914

Militia slaughters strikers at Ludlow, Colorado

Ending a bitter coal-miners’ strike, Colorado militiamen attack a tent colony of strikers, killing dozens of men, women and children. When the evictions failed to end the strike, the Rockefeller interests hired private detectives that attacked the tent colonies with rifles and Gatling guns. The miners fought back, and several were killed. When the tenacity […]

1933

FDR suspends the gold standard for U.S. currency

The United States goes off the gold standard, a monetary system in which currency is backed by gold, when Congress enacted a joint resolution nullifying the right of creditors to demand payment in gold.

1971

Supreme Court declares desegregation busing constitutional

On April 20, 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously declares busing for the purposes of desegregation to be constitutional. The decision in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education settled the constitutional question and allowed the widespread implementation of busing, which remained controversial over the next decade. The Supreme Court’s 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of […]

1971

Pentagon announces a rise in “fragging” among U.S. military units

As the Vietnam war continues, the Pentagon releases figures confirming that fragging incidents are on the rise. In 1970, 209 such incidents caused the deaths of 34 men; in 1969, 96 such incidents cost 34 men their lives. Fragging was a slang term used to describe U.S. military personnel tossing of fragmentation hand grenades (hence […]

1978

Korean Air Lines jet forced down over Soviet Union

Soviet aircraft force a Korean Air Lines passenger jet to land in the Soviet Union after the jet veers into Russian airspace. Two people were killed and several others injured when the jet made a rough landing on a frozen lake about 300 miles south of Murmansk. The jet was on a flight from Paris […]

1980

Fidel Castro announces Mariel Boatlift, allowing Cubans to emigrate to U.S.

On April 20, 1980, the Castro regime announces that all Cubans wishing to emigrate to the U.S. are free to board boats at the port of Mariel west of Havana, launching the Mariel Boatlift. The first of 125,000 Cuban refugees from Mariel reached Florida the next day. The boatlift was precipitated by housing and job […]

1999

Teen gunmen kill 13 at Columbine High School

On April 20, 1999, two teenage gunmen kill 13 people in a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.

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2008

Danica Patrick becomes first woman to win Indy race

On April 20, 2008, 26-year-old Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan, making her the first female winner in IndyCar racing history. Danica Patrick was born on March 25, 1982, in Beloit, Wisconsin. She became involved in racing as a young girl and as a teenager moved to […]

2010

Massive oil spill begins in Gulf of Mexico

April 20, 2010: An explosion and fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 50 miles off the Louisiana coast, kills 11 people and triggers the largest offshore oil spill in American history. The rig had been in the final phases of drilling an exploratory well for BP, the […]

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Citation Information

Article title
Michael Jordan scores 63 points in playoff game
Website Name
History
Date Accessed
April 08, 2025
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
January 30, 2025
Original Published Date
November 16, 2009

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