On January 16, 1993, a then-rookie, Shaquille O’Neal, faced off against the multi-titled Michael Jordan at the Chicago Stadium. While many expected the Bulls to dominate the young Magic, Shaq and his crew had other plans as they stunned the Bulls in overtime, 128-124, overcoming Jordan’s incredible 64-point performance.
Memorable night
Jordan had a night to remember as he made 27 field goals out of 49 attempts in that game—the highest mark of his decorated career. The only thing missing was the victory, and the Bulls were one defensive stop away from attaining that as they led 108-105 with 3.9 seconds to go.
However, the Magic found a wide-open Nick Anderson at the top of the key, who sank a 3-pointer to tie the game and send it into overtime. From there, Shaq and his teammates took over as they outscored the Bulls 16-12 in the extra period to secure an unlikely victory.
Point guard Scott Skiles led the Magic’s balanced attack with 31 points and 10 assists, while Shaq was as good as advertised, compiling 29 points, 24 boards, and five blocks.
Sorry loss
After the game, Jordan couldn’t care less about his scoring total as he lamented his team’s meltdown late in the fourth quarter. They led by six points with under a minute to go but got outscored by the Magic, 7-1, in that stretch to send the game to overtime.
“The points don’t make a difference to me,” Jordan said.
“It’s just wasted energy in a sense because we didn’t finish the game the way we should have. We just gave away the game. We played good enough, but we just made some dumb plays. When you blow a six-point lead in less than a minute, there is something wrong with that. Getting 64 points doesn’t mean anything when you lose.”
