NBA Greatest Duels: Magic Johnson vs Charles Barkley (1986)

[King1991nba]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9Jyh507Ffc


Phenomenal game from the 85/86 regular season with Magic killing it for the Lakers, and young Barkley showing his talents with 76ers.

Magic Johnson: 34 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds, 13/21 FG, game tying three pointer to send the game in OT.

Charles Barkley: 24 points, 18 rebounds (11 offensive), 3 steals.

Kareem scored 28 points with 7 block shots, Moses Malone had 27 points and 12 rebounds.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/198602230PHI.html

[Soundwave]

I always forget Barkley played with Dr. J. Pretty cool, looks like Doc still could explode to the rim even at that age.

[The Iron Sheik]

i think a better duel was magic vs mullin in 91 in the western semi-finals

[swagga]

I always forget Barkley played with Dr. J. Pretty cool, looks like Doc still could explode to the rim even at that age.

Doc is prolly the second best in game dunker the game has ever seen.

[Micku]

Dr. J was amazing at driving to the rim. The vert, the hang time, and the length. The way he extends his arms is amazing. It's like his gliding through the air sometimes.

I'm always a bit in awe and a little annoyed when I watch these old vids on the defense on Magic Johnson. Every time they give space and dare him to shoot a jumpshot, he usually makes them. I swear, Magic Johnson must'a had godly midrange % because he picked his spots and the defense just lets him shoot there.

Starting from like 83 or 84 ish, he started to make them a lot from the games that I watched. Even the commentators on of the games said that the improved on his jumpshot. Why leave him open like that? I dunno. He wasn't afraid to shoot it if you leave him open. Just not off the dribble sometimes.

Oh. And Barkley was a beast.

[ralph_i_el]

Dr. J was amazing at driving to the rim. The vert, the hang time, and the length. The way he extends his arms is amazing. It's like his gliding through the air sometimes.

I'm always a bit in awe and a little annoyed when I watch these old vids on the defense on Magic Johnson. Every time they give space and dare him to shoot a jumpshot, he usually makes them. I swear, Magic Johnson must'a had godly midrange % because he picked his spots and the defense just lets him shoot there.

Starting from like 83 or 84 ish, he started to make them a lot from the games that I watched. Even the commentators on of the games said that the improved on his jumpshot. Why leave him open like that? I dunno. He wasn't afraid to shoot it if you leave him open. Just not off the dribble sometimes.

Oh. And Barkley was a beast.


If you only got footage of Rondo's best games it would look like he was a decent shooter too :confusedshrug:

[Micku]

If you only got footage of Rondo's best games it would look like he was a decent shooter too :confusedshrug:

Yeah, I know. But even in some playoffs series that I watched, it just seems he makes the jumpers every time. He picked his spots very well. He usually shoots it by passing it to the post guy (Kareem or Bob Macdoo or whoever), and draws the defense in, and they kick it back out and he makes it. And he shoots off the pick too. He isn't like Rondo from all the games that I watched of him. He wasn't afraid to shoot it if the shot was there. Rondo would only shoot if he was hot while Magic took with the defense gives him a lot. At least from the games that I watched, which is mostly playoff series.

I'm very interested to see his midrange % tho. I think it must'a been pretty high. Well...post 83.

[East_Stone_Ya]

nice block on magic :applause:

[Round Mound]

Simply The GOAT Decade of Players :bowdown:

[SHAQisGOAT]

Another great upload. :applause: Great basketball.

Magic's height was not fair given his talent, and he was really smart on the court.

Barkley was a freaking beast! Great to watch.

Doctor was 36 here and still doing incredible stuff, what an athletic freak. Bobby Jones also still pretty athletic at 34.

Weird to watch McAdoo against the Lakers at that point. He could still hit those contested mid-range jumpers, one of the best at it in his prime. Shame for injuries.

People who say that nowadays bigmen can't play as before should watch someone like Kareem, he was so smart, always knew what to do, either if he was swarmed or if they played him straight up, dude like Dwight can't even think of reaching that type of skill and IQ. Still great at that point.

Rambis look like a straight up geek but he didn't take no shit from anyone, gotta respect that. Slapped Barkley's hand :lol




I'm always a bit in awe and a little annoyed when I watch these old vids on the defense on Magic Johnson. Every time they give space and dare him to shoot a jumpshot, he usually makes them. I swear, Magic Johnson must'a had godly midrange % because he picked his spots and the defense just lets him shoot there.

Starting from like 83 or 84 ish, he started to make them a lot from the games that I watched. Even the commentators on of the games said that the improved on his jumpshot. Why leave him open like that? I dunno. He wasn't afraid to shoot it if you leave him open. Just not off the dribble sometimes.


Agreed.
He really wasn't a good shooter at first, and he was incredible at driving and finishing, in the post, or at finding the open man, so that's why some teams gave him the space. But like you've said, plenty of times he made those open jumpers - especially/mostly when he developed his shot more - and he was pretty smart at finding his spots (like after he passed down low to Kareem he knew when to drive or if Jabbar was doubled he waited to make the open jumper), so they couldn't give him the same space as in the beginning. He didn't have that great FG% just because of his post-game and finishing at the rim, mostly yea, but not all of it.

I remember watching Magic and Bird's short-charts from the 1984 Finals, and while he shot a bit less from mid than Bird, he was shooting like 55% while Bird was at 40%. It's clear to see when watching those Finals too, Celtics were trying to double Kareem and give room to Johnson so he wouldn't get it to Worthy and them, so Magic was taking and making a lot of open mid-range jumpers, while Bird had Coop all over him like a cheap shirt (Worthy and McAdoo also though) so he was taking him down-low and just killing them in the paint.

[Psileas]

Honestly, I feel that if very long 4-pointers existed, Magic would be, if not among the greatest such shooters, definitely among the first to adapt. It seems like every time Magic throws a long distance prayer shot, it's still a well-calculated shot that either goes in or comes close.

Incredible defense by Moses on Kareem's skyhook attempt at 9:10, how many have we seen doing this? Him, Thurmond, maybe Wilt?

[Pointguard]

Honestly, I feel that if very long 4-pointers existed, Magic would be, if not among the greatest such shooters, definitely among the first to adapt. It seems like every time Magic throws a long distance prayer shot, it's still a well-calculated shot that either goes in or comes close.

I was just saying that the other day. Magic has at least 15, 40footers or plus shots that I saw he made and I didn't see this one before. I think it's the exactness of his passing arm. Its amazing that his shooting percentage was so high because he had taking them a whole lot.

[Pointguard]

Another great upload. :applause: Great basketball.

Magic's height was not fair given his talent, and he was really smart on the court.

Barkley was a freaking beast! Great to watch.

Doctor was 36 here and still doing incredible stuff, what an athletic freak. Bobby Jones also still pretty athletic at 34.

Weird to watch McAdoo against the Lakers at that point. He could still hit those contested mid-range jumpers, one of the best at it in his prime. Shame for injuries.

People who say that nowadays bigmen can't play as before should watch someone like Kareem, he was so smart, always knew what to do, either if he was swarmed or if they played him straight up, dude like Dwight can't even think of reaching that type of skill and IQ. Still great at that point.

Rambis look like a straight up geek but he didn't take no shit from anyone, gotta respect that. Slapped Barkley's hand :lol [/B]



[B]Agreed.
He really wasn't a good shooter at first, and he was incredible at driving and finishing, in the post, or at finding the open man, so that's why some teams gave him the space. But like you've said, plenty of times he made those open jumpers - especially/mostly when he developed his shot more - and he was pretty smart at finding his spots (like after he passed down low to Kareem he knew when to drive or if Jabbar was doubled he waited to make the open jumper), so they couldn't give him the same space as in the beginning. He didn't have that great FG% just because of his post-game and finishing at the rim, mostly yea, but not all of it.

I remember watching Magic and Bird's short-charts from the 1984 Finals, and while he shot a bit less from mid than Bird, he was shooting like 55% while Bird was at 40%. It's clear to see when watching those Finals too, Celtics were trying to double Kareem and give room to Johnson so he wouldn't get it to Worthy and them, so Magic was taking and making a lot of open mid-range jumpers, while Bird had Coop all over him like a cheap shirt (Worthy and McAdoo also though) so he was taking him down-low and just killing them in the paint.
Well said.

[Round Mound]

Honestly, I feel that if very long 4-pointers existed, Magic would be, if not among the greatest such shooters, definitely among the first to adapt. It seems like every time Magic throws a long distance prayer shot, it's still a well-calculated shot that either goes in or comes close.

Incredible defense by Moses on Kareem's skyhook attempt at 9:10, how many have we seen doing this? Him, Thurmond, maybe Wilt?

Magic Had Great Range and Weird Unique Way of Shooting Long Set Shots. It Was As If The Ball Was Attatched To Him In Finger Rolls, Lay Yups, Hooks etc.

[Round Mound]

[B]How Many 6

[Replay32]

Thanks for the video. Barkley was such a beast. His explosiveness was off the charts. And Magic was just truly amazing.

[SHAQisGOAT]

Honestly, I feel that if very long 4-pointers existed, Magic would be, if not among the greatest such shooters, definitely among the first to adapt. It seems like every time Magic throws a long distance prayer shot, it's still a well-calculated shot that either goes in or comes close.


True.

What about Dennis Johnson though? He was never a solid 3pt shooter but I swear I've never seen a player hit so many half/full-court shots at the end of periods, quite like he did. And he made it look easy, I mean sometimes even with just one hand looking like he was not even trying. If you go to youtube and check a big number of Bird's single-game highlights, chances are that you'll see more than a couple of DJ's half/full-court buzzer beaters (that's if you're not willing to watch full games).