The Clinic

Hanging in the rafters of Boston’s FleetCenter are banners cluttered with numbers. Seventeen retired jersey numbers, representing former Celtic greats. One of those numbers, 23, was raised for Frank Ramsey, who wore the green until the early ‘60s. But another name should be added, in honor of the game’s greatest player, who put on his greatest post-season offensive exhibition on Boston Garden’s parquet floor. Michael Jordan had broken his left foot in the third game of the ’85-86 season, and was sidelined for more than four months. Doctors and Bulls brass asked him to stay out the remainder of the year, but Jordan, citing his desire to reach the playoffs, returned to action in mid-March. By the time he took the court on April 20, he was back to full-strength. Obviously. After the Bulls lost game one of their opening-round series with the Celtics, 123-104, Jordan came out of the locker room shooting in Game Two. The CBS Sports broadcast seemed more like a personal highlight reel than an actual game. There was a drive around Kevin McHale that ended with a vicious jam in the face of Robert Parish. There was the head-fake, between-the-legs-twice and pull-up jumper over Larry Bird. And of course, there were countless shakes of Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge, his assigned defenders, for seemingly effortless 20-footers. At one point, MJ went baseline, drove towards the cup, jumped, lowered the ball to tongue level as he went under the arms of Bird and Ainge, and then took it up and over McHale’s block attempt. The ball banked as he was knocked to the ‘wood. And one. “All day, baby. All day,” he yelled early in the third. By the end of the double-OT war, he’d hit for 63. It was the most ever scored in the Garden and is still the highest totalt registered in playoff history. Unfortunately, it still wasn’t enough. The Celts prevailed, 135-131, and went on to sweep the Bulls and raise another banner.

They should’ve raised two.-JERAMIE MCPEEK