hit for 27 points three nights later against the Boston Celtics, scored 21 against the Orlando Magic on March 24, and then popped in 32 against the Atlanta Hawks the following night. On March 29 he showed that his skills were undiminished with a memorable 55-point performance against the Knicks in New York. He finished with averages of 26.9 points, 5.3 assists, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.76 steals in 39.3 minutes per game. Jordan struggled from the field, however, shooting just .411. The Bulls drew the Charlotte Hornets as opponents in the opening round of the postseason. Jordan kicked off the playoffs by scoring 48 points in Game 1, then followed that up with a 32-point performance in Game 2. The Bulls eliminated Charlotte in four games as Jordan averaged 32.3 points per outing in the series. In Chicago's second-round match up with the Orlando Magic he scored 38 points in Game 2, 40 in Game 3, and 39 in Game 5, but the Bulls fell in six games. In 10 postseason games he averaged 31.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists, but he also coughed up 4.1 turnovers per contest.1995-96 Jordan proved he was all the way back by winning a record eighth scoring championship, one more than Wilt Chamberlain, and leading the Bulls to their fourth NBA championship of the 1990s. He joined Willis Reed (1970) as only the second man to win Most Valuable Player awards for the regular season, All-Star Game and NBA Finals in the same season. Jordan started all 100 games for the Bulls-he was the only player to start all 82 regular season games for Chicago, and he also started all 18 playoff contests. Though perhaps he drove to the hoop a bit less than earlier in his career and lacked a drop of his previous explosiveness and reckless abandon, Jordan was a far more effective and controlled jump-shooter and three-point scoring threat and remained an outstanding all-around contributor. Besides his league-leading 30.4 points per game, Jordan averaged 6.6 rebounds, 4.3 ass...
