Magic Johnson vs Portland Trail Blazers: 1991 WCF (Playoffs Series Highlights)
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- Опубликовано: 1 апр 2021
- Fourth episode of the 'Goat Series Rewind'. This time showcasing what was probably Magic's last great Playoff series before he had to retire prematurely because of HIV. The Blazers were heavy favourites going into this matchup, but Johnson lead the Lakers into pulling the upset. It was a real pleasure to watch him control the tempo, get to the free throw line, feed his teammates and decide the outcome with that last genius play in Game 6.
Series stats:
www.basketball-reference.com/...
Thanks to the following uploaders for providing the game footage:
- Andrew van Buuren: / channel
- 1980s Sports Home: / channel
- lakeptic: / lakeptic
#magicjohnson #lakers #nba 
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Without Magic, the Lakers are just a 1st round playoff team. Magic was so important to the team. To this day, Magic has the highest winning percentage in the regular season of all time. Larry is second place.
Magic ran that 1991 half-court Laker offense like a cop on a beat directing traffic. This was "post-Showtime" as Mike Dunleavy had taken over after the great Pat Riley had resigned (or rather, was pushed out). For this team to have gotten past a younger and deeper Portland team to the 1991 NBA Finals was incredible, especially since the Laker core was at the end of, if not, past its prime as Magic was 31, and James Worthy, Byron Scott, and Sam Perkins were all 30 and all with a lot of mileage on them. This was one of my proudest moments as a lifelong Laker fan as this was a big upset.
As well, them winning game 1 of The 91 Finals in Chicago was an indication of how great they (Magic) still were! Injuries played a roll too. Byron Scott and James Worthy not performing at 100% and being sidelined by the end of the series played a big factor! Let’s say it was reversed with Worthy & Scott healthy, but rather Scottie Pippen & John Paxson were sidelined and out with injuries. If so, Lakers would win hands down! Even though the Bulls won 4 straight, 2 of the games at The Forum were still close, with one of them going into overtime!
@@TiltBrook💯💯💯 Agreed! Big time facts! 🏀 🔥
Magic wasn't finished by 1991. Never.
Magic was a perfect general floor. No one controlled the rhythm of the game like him. Anyone who compares Curry with Magic should be ashamed.
Those old '91 Lakers were also able to get the 3rd best regular season record with 58-24 including an incredible 16-game winning streak. Portland had the best record with 63 wins and Chicago 2nd with 61 wins. I was very crushed though, by the loss to the Bulls. The "Slow-Time" Lakers were injured and worn out from the Blazer series to compete with the young hungry and athletic Bulls.
That last play...when he threw the ball against the blazers...that was a VERY HIGH IQ basketball play...
This was an upset. Worthy injured, No kareem, no Michael Cooper. I thought Blazers would win in 5 games and I was a Lakers fan back then.
@@Trancymind Worthy didn’t get injured until game 6 and then was really hurt vs Chicago. That Worthy was a far cry from the one who would regularly kill the Pistons. But the Worthy that played vs Portland was truly Big Game James.
@@eddieG667 James Worthy got hurt in game 5 in Portland. I watched that game live. It wasn't on game 6 in LA.
@@Trancymind thanks for the correction. I knew it was one of the later games. There’s no denying the Laker squad that beat Portland wasn’t the same one that played Chicago
@@eddieG667yeah he got rolled up game 5, he didn’t play well in game 6 and you could tell that thing was no where near healed.
What a legend.. jeez. His basketball IQ was off the charts. You can tell how much of a feel for the game he had. When his team needed a score he would do that. Handle the ball, post up, perimeter shots, threes, out of this world fakes to setup teammates.. there will never ever be another basketball player like this. Unique in every way and a champion. Leading the Lakers to the Finals with hobbled teammates, making Vlade Divac an all-star.. Magic was a remarkable player and his nickname was perfection. If it wasn’t Magic.. it would have been Mr. Hocus Pocus.
Drexler was so half-hearted one-on-one defender. Not even mention his 18 and 14 pts (on 35% FG) performances in pivotal games 3 and 4...
Magic controlled this series beautifully.
Watching LeBron cook makes me appreciate Magic even more. They're so similar in size and overall game! 1991 Magic was at the peak of his powers. Such a shame he had to step away after this season.
Great vid! For us Laker fans this season really hurt. Showtime was gone but we saw the precision half court game deployed against the Blazers here. Against the Bulls things really fell apart as Worthy’s Nile flares up and MJ bottled up Byron. That Bulls team was awesome, much respect, just wished the Lakers could have done more in that series.
Paxson out-shooting Byron was the difference in that entire series (along with Worthy's ankle and MJ/Scottie harassing Magic). If Byron makes ANY shots, the series goes at least 6 if not 7!
20 minutes of highlights for a 6 game series! I watched another video of his highlights of the Bulls series where it's 17 minutes long, but he honestly doesn't look like the same player as in this video.
You see why MJ took it personal when he was receiving comparisons to Clyde
@@HeathOverledger this Blazers team should’ve went to the finals and likely would’ve beaten the 1991 Bulls
@@eddieG667maybe…maybe not, same can be said for 1990 if Scottie doesn’t have a migraine…
@@HeathOverledger the 1990 and 91 teams weren’t on the same level as that 1992 squad. That was arguably the best Bulls team of the 6 championships. I know lots favor the 96 team but people forget the 92 squad was on pace to win 70 until a mid season slump
The 1990 and 91 teams still had lots of growing up to do and if you followed the Bulls you’d know that they played very tentative with the triangle. Game 4 of the finals in 91 was some of the most lackluster basketball in a championship that I witness in my lifetime
@@HeathOverledger Go watch it again. It is very clear that Magic was unguardable by MJ and Pippen. On the flip side, the Lakers could not guard MJ either
What a great video, thank you for this.
Thanks for watching, man. Glad you liked it.
If they had at least one defensive stopper, they would've been a better challenge to the Bulls.
Kareem and Cooper retiring from the NBA really hurt the Lakers in 1991 along with Worthy and Scott injuries in the 1991 NBA Finals.
Magic was at 70% due to knee tendernitis and hammys tendencies and Worthy and Scott were injured at 50% or less.On top of that Magic didn't have a good backup point guard ,Cooper was gone and Kareem had retired.Dont think Bulls would have beaten Lakers until 1993 or 1994 the proper time for Magic to have retired.