LeBron James bested Michael Jordan’s postseason scoring record in 120 fewer shots.
LeBron James now claims the top spot in all-time postseason points, passing Michael Jordan’s longstanding record last night as he dropped 35 points in what’s now a 5,995-point bucket.
https://twitter.com/cavs/status/867928878525825025
As James’ detractors – and Jordan truthers – are wont to do, there will be an attempt to discredit this feat. The argument that you’ll hear is that while James did indeed pass Jordan in postseason points, Jordan did it in fewer games.
As FS1’s Nick Wright points out, that assertion isn’t wrong. It just lacks a complete context.
When LeBron passes MJ in playoff points, folks are gonna say, "But he played more games!" It's true. Also true: He did it on 120 fewer shots
— nick wright (@getnickwright) May 26, 2017
While Jordan (179 games) did play in 33 fewer games than James (212 games) did, Jordan (4,497 field goal attempts) took 120 more shots than James did (4,379 field goal attempts) to get to 5,987 postseason points.
Compared to Jordan’s average field goal attempts per game in the postseason, James’ average field goal attempts reflect a player more judicious in his shot selection since the eye test would give fans the impression James could take as many shots as Jordan if he wanted to. In fact, James did as much in the 2014-2015 postseason, as the Big Three was broken down into The Chosen One.
James’ assists per game in both the regular season and postseason reflect a player more focused on setting up his teammates. Watching James play, his basketball IQ, court vision and pinpoint passes is on the level of all-time great point guards like John Stockton, Magic Johnson and Chris Paul.
It would be a disservice to James’ skillset to just focus on scoring or passing. James would rather be remembered as a playmaker, period.
LeBron on nearing MJ for most playoff points: "I'm not a scorer. I don't want to be labeled as a scorer. I'm a playmaker." pic.twitter.com/wKNenPEb5t
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) May 25, 2017
Yet, even while scoring has never been a fixation for him like it was for Jordan, he’s the top scorer in playoff history and in 118 shots, when he finally catches up to Jordan’s field goal attempts, he’ll begin padding that record to what could be an untouchable level.
He’s been the model of consistency and efficiency but what’s separated James from Jordan in terms of scoring is his three-point shot.
James is already the NBA’s all-time playoff leader in three-point attempts (971) and last night he passed Manu Ginobli (318) for third all-time in made treys with 319 three-pointers made in the postseason. Jordan made 148 out of 446 three-point attempts.
Related Story: LeBron comments on Jordan comparisons
*All stats courtesy of www.basketball-reference.com