True or False: Flu Game is the Greatest Individual Playoff Performance Ever?

[sammichoffate]

Magic's Starting at-Center Game is also up there with the Flu Game for me. Lebron's Game 6 in Boston, 2012 is also up there. I say true, but barely.

[PhutureDynasty]

IMO it's not even Jordan's best playoff performance. That would be his 63 vs that stacked Celtics squad in 1986.

[jlip]

It's arguably not even the greatest flu game performance.

[fsvr54]

Isiah Thomas' sprained ankle 4th quarter game does not get the props it deserves.

[L.Kizzle]

Baylor 61 in the Finals.

[L.Kizzle]

Isiah Thomas' sprained ankle 4th quarter game does not get the props it deserves.
Or his 16 in what 90 seconds.

[3ball]

his best performance was "the shot" against the cavs imo...

he actually had to multiple game winners in that game because the cavs kept coming back and hitting a go-ahead shot, so he'd have to come back down and do it again... plus, he had put a ton of pressure on himself by guaranteeing a win in the media several times leading up to the game.

1998 Game 6 is right there - best peak-clutch performance ever... it's funny how all of jordan's peak performances in different categories come in the Finals and are goat.

63 vs. boston is up there because of the quality of team it was against, and it was in the Garden where the Celts had lost only 1 game all year.

55 in the Finals vs. Phoenix was particularly boss because of his DEMEANOR during the whole game - like, he was all business, but you could tell that it was easy for him.

the Flu Game was particularly remarkable because it was a comeback win - they looked dead in the water in the first half, down 17 - Lebron would have given up and his stans would have forgiven him.... :confusedshrug:

The thing about Jordan, is that he would have a 40 point game every 1 in 5 playoff games (1 in 12 for Lebron... 1 in 10 for Kobe), so there are so many games to choose from... and he had EIGHT 50 point games in playoffs (none for bran).
.

[c5terror]

Magic's Starting at-Center Game is also up there with the Flu Game for me. Lebron's Game 6 in Boston, 2012 is also up there. I say true, but barely.

What do you mean greatest performance? May be for you. It's not his greatest performance as he was sick and below his actual paygrade. That would be 63pts vs boston in playoffs.

[3ball]

What do you mean greatest performance? May be for you. It's not his greatest performance as he was sick and below his actual paygrade. That would be 63pts vs boston in playoffs.
haha, that's a good point, how can it be his best performance when he was not 100% physically.

pretty awesome for having to half-ass it.... :oldlol:

and they were dead in the water, down 17 in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, so the flu game was actually a comeback as well....

contrastingly, if he was down 17, lebron would have given up even with NO flu and 100% healthy and instead taken the opportunity to pad his stats... and his fans would have been okay with it... #realtalk
.

[mehyaM24]

absolutley not. lebron's game 7 against the 2013 spurs is the greatest performance in modern nba history (dating back to the early 80s, where magic closed out the sixers without kareem).

http://the305.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/lebron-james-game-7-shot-2.jpg

^ #greatness

[La Frescobaldi]

Walt Frazier game 7 of the '70 Finals still the greatest performance I ever saw.

[Stringer Bell]

False.

I don't even think it was Jordan's best postseason game either, or the best performance by a player with a flu/cold/sickness.

Bernard King was sick and had two dislocated fingers when he put up 44 against Detroit in game 5 of the first round. The same game Isiah had 16 Pts in 94 seconds. King averaged over 40 a game in that series.

Jordan had so many great postseason performances: 63 against Boston, a couple of 50 pointers in 88' against Cleveland, "The Shot" game in 89' against the Cavs when he had 44-9-6, a couple performances in the 89' ECSF against Knicks, game 3 against the Pistons in 89', a couple of performances in 90' against Philly and Detroit, Games 1 and 3 against Miami in 92', Game 2 of the 91' Finals, Game 1 and 5 of the 92' Finals, game 4 against NY and Phoenix in 93'....and that's just before his first retirement.

Magic Johnson in game 6 of the 80' Finals, Walt Frazier game 7 of the 70' Finals, Sleepy Floyd in game 4 of the 87' WCSF against LA (he scored 51 in the game, 29 in the 4th, and a lot of them on DPOY Michael Cooper). James Worthy's 36-16-10 in game 7 of the 88' Finals, Lebron's game 5 against Detroit in 2007, game 6 against Boston in the 12' ECF, Duncan's game 1 and 6 in the 03' Finals

This is off the top of my head. I wouldn't be able to come up with a definitive list. Too hard.

[Marchesk]

West had a 42/13/12 game 7 against Boston, even though the Lakers lost.

There's been lots of great individual playoff performances. Is the argument that Jordan's being sick makes it even greater?

[Marchesk]

Russell had a 30 point, 40 rebound game 7 in 1962.

[robert de niro]

just wait til lebron pulls the Ebola Game next season

[Prometheus]

It could be called the most inspired/inspiring performance, but when you say "greatest" I think it has to be a game of brilliant production, with less regard for something like being sick. He got 38/7/5 on 13-27... a great game by any standard BUT MJ's, whereby it's really pretty average. He had many individual performances that were greater.

To be honest (and this is probably not a popular opinion), but I personally think Jordan's greatest individual performance was game two against the Lakers. Think of the context:

-Jordan's first time ever in the Finals
-Playing against an established 5x-champion and the greatest player of the preceding era
-Down 0-1 in the series facing a potential 0-2 start AT HOME (a near death-sentence if they had to go on the road for the next three)
-Just missed a potential game-winner in the previous contest.

And Jordan comes out and plays a PERFECT game. No, he didn't score much by his standards, but look at his actual line:

33/7/13 on 15-18 shooting

That is a performance of legendary efficiency. 33 points and 13 assists with only 3 missed shots and 4 turnovers.

:biggums:

And the stat line doesn't even do it justice. When one watches that game, they see Jordan's optimal style of efficacy. He spent the first half conserving his output, distributing the ball brilliantly, helping get all of his teammates in a rhythm - and in the second half, he took over - hitting THIRTEEN CONSECUTIVE FIELD GOALS as the Bulls' momentum just steamrolled the Lakers. He capped off that thirteen-fg streak with the most iconic move of his career:

https://s-media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/e6/f4/33/e6f4335cddedc85a66ddc45fd5ae19b0.jpg

If such a moment can be pinpointed, then this was exactly the moment that Michael Jordan ascended to claim the throne of the greatest player in the world. The stage was set for him to realize his potential on the game's biggest stage - and he grabbed it without hesitation. This was the greatest player in the world, in his first-ever appearance on the game's absolute grandest stage, providing EXACTLY what his team needed, dominating the game, and doing it in spectacular, mesmerizing, Air-Jordan fashion.

:bowdown:

Anyway, as far as the greatest individual playoff performance ever, by ANYONE? I could dig up the archives and surely read about many great performances that took place before the 1990's, but as far as what I have personally witnessed, this title goes to LeBron James in game 5 vs. Detroit in 2007. Mother****er scored 29 of his team's last 30 points, including ALL OF THEIR POINTS IN BOTH OVERTIME PERIODS. On the road, with the series tied 2-2, as a 22 year-old in only his fourth NBA season and second playoff campaign. Everything about that night was just incredible.

[lilteapot]

That switch hands layup was cool but so fking unnecessary.