Michael Jordan 1998: 40pts Vs Rockets (Clyde, Hakeem, Chuck)

I had forgotten about this game until I stumbled upon it. This was MJ's last game against Clyde, Hakeem and Barkley (aside from MJ and Hakeem meeting during the 2002 season). The veteran gathering brought out some interest in Mike and on top of that, Barkley strongly suggested that he was going to win his last game against him.

Well we know what usually happens after someone talks like that.

MJ had answers for all three HOFers in this one. Each bucket by any of them was answered immediately by MJ. MJ decided to enter his zone and from then on, the game was reduced to watching his mastery. While the Rockets kept it close until around the 4th quarter, MJ calmly picked his spots and used his incredible basketball IQ to thwart the challenge.

What you see here is MJ's perfection of the game. Sure he still could rely on his athleticism but his knowledge of the game was so high that he only needed to use little tricks to get his shots. His game was so polished and refined that even at age 35, he could dominate on call. Watching all the legends in this game was pure basketball. And watching MJ pull out another masterpiece when the world was watching was even purer.

(I credit JXN for having this game up earlier to remind me).