Jordan's Spectacular 47-Point Outing Bamboolzes Knicks
April 19, 1988
Madison Square Garden
New York, NY
Chicago Bulls (49-30) - 121 pts
New York Knickerbockers (37-43) - 118 pts
The New York Knicks road to the playoffs would have been smoother if they could have won their final home game at Madison Square Garden. But 47 points by Michael Jordan wouldn't allow it to happen as the Chicago Bulls edged New York, 121-118, before a capacity crowd of 19,591.
The Knicks, who trailed by 98-84 with 8 minutes 26 minutes remaining, twice came within 1 point of catching the Bulls. In the final 12 seconds, 3-point attempts to tie the game by Gerald Wilkins, Trent Tucker and Mark Jackson missed the mark.
The Knicks' record of 37-43 dropped them into the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot, a half-game behind the idle Washington Bullets, one game ahead of the idle Pacers and one and a half up on the victorious Philadelphia 76ers. The Knick defeat also allowed the Cleveland Cavaliers to clinch the sixth playoff spot.
After a 20-point first half in which he only missed 3 of his 10 shots from the field, Jordan, who has clinched his second straight National Basketball Association scoring title, began to entertain the third straight capacity crowd he had drawn to the Garden. There were baseline drives to the basket, jumpers and dunks. His 12 points in the third quarter helped Chicago produce 36 in the period and break open a close game.
Jordan added 15 points in the final quarter to enable him to score 40 or more points for a 17th time this season, but got a battle from the hometown team. New York, trailing by 117-109 with 1:48 left, ran off 7 straight points on a 3-pointer by Wilkins, a layup up Tucker and a hook shot by Patrick Ewing to slice the Bulls' advantage to 1 point with 37 seconds remaining. But Ewing, who finished with 26 points, missed a short jumper with 15 seconds left.
After Paxson restored a 3-point Chicago lead with two free throws, Wilkins, who also scored 26 points, again cut Chicago's lead to a point. But two free throws by Jordan with 12 seconds left again put Chicago ahead by 3 points.
The Knicks then called a timeout to set up the 3-point attempt. When they broke out of their huddle, Johnny Newman failed to see an unguarded Ewing when he attempted to inbound the ball and he was forced to call another time out. This time he got the ball to Wilkins, who quickly launched a 3-point attempt, which Jordan deflected. Tucker got the rebound and fired the ball up, and when he missed everything, Ewing got the ball and gave it to Jackson. His shot hit the front rim.
Boxscores
Chicago Bulls
| Player | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | FT | FTA | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | PTS |
| Sam Vincent | 42 | 2 | 9 | .222 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1.000 | 8 | 17 | 3 | 8 |
| Michael Jordan | 40 | 18 | 27 | .667 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 13 | .846 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 47 |
| Dave Corzine | 39 | 5 | 14 | .357 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 10 |
| Charles Oakley | 38 | 6 | 8 | .750 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | .625 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
| Brad Sellers | 13 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Scottie Pippen | 27 | 7 | 10 | .700 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| Horace Grant | 19 | 7 | 9 | .778 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| John Paxson | 17 | 3 | 6 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| Granville Waiters | 5 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 240 | 49 | 84 | .583 | 1 | 3 | 22 | 27 | .815 | 47 | 30 | 8 | 121 |
New York Knickerbockers
| Player | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | FT | FTA | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | PTS |
| Patrick Ewing | 44 | 12 | 22 | .545 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 26 |
| Mark Jackson | 41 | 7 | 13 | .538 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 5 | 14 | 4 | 16 |
| Gerald Wilkins | 38 | 11 | 22 | .500 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | .750 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 26 |
| Kenny Walker | 32 | 4 | 11 | .364 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | .600 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Sidney Green | 32 | 4 | 11 | .364 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .250 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| Johnny Newman | 19 | 2 | 11 | .182 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 1.000 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Trent Tucker | 16 | 4 | 6 | .667 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Bill Cartwright | 11 | 3 | 7 | .429 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Sedric Toney | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Team Totals | 240 | 49 | 105 | .467 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 24 | .667 | 39 | 24 | 13 | 118 |
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