Michaerl Jordan vs. Magic Johnson Career Head-to-Head Stats

[dankok8]

We already have Jordan-Bird and Magic-Bird. It's time for Jordan-Magic!!

'84-'85 Season

12/02/1984

Jordan: 20/2/3/1/1 (7/13, 6/8) with 4 turnovers
Magic: 12/7/16/0/2 (4/9, 4/5) with 2 turnovers

Bulls win. Magic wins match-up.

02/19/1985

Jordan: 16/6/8/0/0 (6/13, 4/5) with 3 turnovers
Magic: 20/3/12/0/0 (9/13, 2/4) with 4 turnovers

Lakers win. Magic wins match-up.

Cumulative Stats

Jordan: 18.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 5.5 apg, 0.5 bpg, 0.5 spg on 50.0 %FG/56.7 %TS with 3.5 topg
Magic: 16.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 14.0 apg, 0.0 bps, 1.0 spg on 59.1 %FG/61.6 %TS with 3.0 topg


'86-'87 Season

11/28/1986

Jordan: 41/10/3/1/1 (19/43, 3/4) with 3 turnovers
Magic: 30/2/9/0/0 (10/24, 10/10) with 3 turnovers

Lakers win. Wash.

02/20/1987

Jordan: 33/2/5/2/5 (11/27, 11/12) with 2 turnovers
Magic: 28/6/16/0/0 (12/20, 4/5) with 5 turnovers

Lakers win. Magic wins match-up.

Cumulative Stats

Jordan: 37.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 4.0 apg, 1.5 bpg, 3.0 spg on 42.9 %FG/48.0 %TS with 2.5 topg
Magic: 29.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 12.5 apg, 0.0 bpg, 0.0 spg on 50.0 %FG/57.3 %TS with 4.0 topg


'87-'88 Season

02/02/1988

Jordan: 39/2/4/1/3 (14/26, 11/11) with 3 turnovers
Magic: 25/2/11/0/0 (11/17, 3/5) with 3 turnovers

Lakers win. Wash.

03/10/1988

Jordan: 38/9/7/1/3 (17/34, 4/4) with 2 turnovers
Magic: 7/2/4/0/0 (2/5, 3/3) with 1 turnover

Bulls win. Magic played just 10 minutes.

Cumulative Stats

Jordan: 38.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5.5 apg, 1.0 bpg, 3.0 spg on 51.7 %FG/57.8 %TS with 2.5 topg
Magic: 16.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 7.5 apg, 0.0 bpg, 0.0 spg on 59.1 %FG/62.7 %TS with 2.0 topg


'88-'89 Season

12/20/1988

Jordan: 42/7/8/0/4 (11/23, 18/22) with 1 turnover
Magic: 31/4/12/0/3 (11/18, 9/9) with 2 turnovers

Bulls win. Wash.

03/21/1989

Jordan: 21/8/16/0/1 (7/20, 7/8) with 5 turnovers
Magic: 20/8/12/0/2 (7/13, 5/6) with 7 turnovers

Bulls win. Jordan wins match-up.

Cumulative Stats

Jordan: 31.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 12.0 apg, 0.0 bpg, 2.5 spg on 41.9 %FG/56.0 %TS with 3.0 topg
Magic: 25.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 12.0 apg, 0.0 bpg, 2.5 spg on 58.1 %FG/67.8 %TS with 4.5 topg


'89-'90 Season

12/19/1989

Jordan: 37/7/5/1/2 (15/29, 5/5) with 7 turnovers
Magic: 18/12/10/0/4 (6/16, 5/6) with 3 turnovers

Bulls win. Jordan wins match-up.

02/07/1990

Jordan: 32/4/4/1/0 (12/21, 8/12) with 8 turnovers
Magic: 22/8/17/0/2 (7/14, 5/5) with 4 turnovers

Lakers win. Magic wins match-up.

Cumulative Stats

Jordan: 34.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 4.5 apg, 1.0 bpg, 1.0 spg on 54.0 %FG/60.0 %TS with 7.5 topg
Magic: 20.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 13.5 apg, 0.0 bpg, 3.0 spg on 43.3 %FG/57.4 %TS with 3.5 topg


'90-'91 Season

12/21/1990

Jordan: 33/15/9/1/2 (14/30, 5/6) with 1 turnover
Magic: 18/9/14/0/0 (7/14, 0/1) with 5 turnovers

Bulls win. Jordan wins match-up.

02/03/1991

Jordan: 23/7/9/1/6 (10/22, 3/3) with 2 turnovers
Magic: 7/7/11/0/0 (2/4, 1/1) with 5 turnovers

Lakers win. Jordan wins match-up.

Cumulative Stats

Jordan: 28.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 9.0 apg, 1.0 bpg, 4.0 spg on 46.2 %FG/50.0 %TS with 1.5 topg
Magic: 12.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 12.5 apg, 0.0 bpg, 0.0 spg on 50.0 %FG/66.2 %TS with 5.0 topg


'91 Finals

Game 1

Jordan: 36/8/12/0/3 (14/24, 7/9) with 4 turnovers
Magic: 19/10/11/0/2 (4/5, 9/10) with 5 turnovers

Stats look in Jordan's favour but Magic absolutely dominated this game late. When Jordan defended him Earvin badly abused him in the post. Bulls would switch Pippen on Magic starting from Game 2.

Lakers win.

Game 2

Jordan: 33/7/13/1/2 (15/18, 3/4) with 4 turnovers
Magic: 14/7/10/0/2 (4/13, 6/6) with 4 turnovers

Marvellous performance by Jordan.

Bulls win.

Game 3

Jordan: 29/9/9/2/4 (11/28, 6/6) with 3 turnovers
Magic: 22/6/10/0/2 (7/15, 8/9) with 5 turnovers

This one was a wash individually between the two superstars but Jordan iced the game with a jumper over Divac in OT.

Bulls win.

Game 4

Jordan: 28/5/13/2/0 (11/20, 6/6) with 1 turnover
Magic: 22/6/11/0/0 (6/13, 10/10) with 2 turnovers

Worthy and Scott exit the game with series-ending injuries. Bulls win but the individual battle is again close though slightly in MJ's favor.

Game 5

Jordan: 30/4/10/2/5 (12/23, 6/8) with 6 turnovers
Magic: 16/11/20/0/1 (4/12, 6/6) with 6 turnovers

Magic does a valiant job leading the undermanned Lakers team but the game gets away from them. Magic posts the third 20+ assist game in the Finals and to this day is the only player in history to record even one of them. Statistically he outplayed Jordan in this one.

Cumulative Stats

Jordan: 31.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 11.4 apg, 1.4 bpg, 2.8 spg on 55.8 %FG/50.0 %3P/61.2 %TS with 3.6 topg
Magic: 18.6 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 12.4 apg, 0.0 bpg, 1.2 spg on 43.1 %FG/28.6 %3P/61.2 %TS with 4.4 topg

Jordan got the better of Magic in this series and Bulls won 4-1 but outside of Game 2, Magic played Jordan to close to a draw in the other four games. It was a valiant performance by the aging floor general who just didn't have the team behind him in this series.


'95-'96 Season

02/02/1996

Jordan: 17/7/7/0/1 (8/17, 1/1) with 3 turnovers
Magic: 15/3/3/0/1 (6/13, 1/2) with 3 turnovers

Bulls win. Jordan wins match-up.


Cumulative Season Stats

Jordan: 30.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 6.8 apg, 0.8 bpg, 2.4 spg on 47.5 %FG/28.6 %3P/54.1 %TS with 3.2 topg
Magic: 19.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 11.3 apg, 0.0 bpg, 1.1 spg on 52.2 %FG/43.3 %3P/61.0 %TS with 3.6 topg

Out of 13 games, Bulls won 7 and Lakers won 6.

Keep in mind that the 7-point game where Magic played just 10 minutes hurts his cumulative averages a fair bit. Until '90-'91 where he took over as the best player in the league, Jordan didn't get the better of Magic. Overall in the period from '87-'90 the two men played each other to a draw.

[stalkerforlife]

I don't get why you compared these two. Jordan is so far ahead, it is mind boggling.

Magic isn't even the best player ever for his own franchise.

[beastee]

Your definition on winning a matchup is pure crap. So magic had a few more assists or rebounds here or there....Jordan killed him in about 3-4 of those matchups you said Magic won. We get it, you are trying to discredit the GOAT and raise up a Laker great...but your independent research is garbage.

[Sarcastic]

I don't get why you compared these two. Jordan is so far ahead, it is mind boggling.

Magic isn't even the best player ever for his own franchise.

The exact same thing can be said about Bird.

Magic is closer to being best for his franchise than Larry is.

[stalkerforlife]

The exact same thing can be said about Bird.

Magic is closer to being best for his franchise than Larry is.

No, Larry is the greatest Celtic of all time. He didn't play in a league with 8-10 teams that players had to get second jobs because the salaries were so low. Forget about international players, the talent pool was way too diminished.

[dankok8]

I don't get why you compared these two. Jordan is so far ahead, it is mind boggling.

Magic isn't even the best player ever for his own franchise.

Look at the stats... Plus Magic won 5 titles and 3 MVP's in a tougher era. Jordan wasn't clearly better until 1991.

Your definition on winning a matchup is pure crap. So magic had a few more assists or rebounds here or there....Jordan killed him in about 3-4 of those matchups you said Magic won. We get it, you are trying to discredit the GOAT and raise up a Laker great...but your independent research is garbage.

Like which ones?

[fpliii]

The exact same thing can be said about Bird.

Magic is closer to being best for his franchise than Larry is.

Just wondering about this line. Because you have the Russ>Kareem gap or Magic>Bird gap bigger?

[CavaliersFTW]

They rarely ever guarded each other so these aren't head-to-head stats as individuals, these are Magic Johnson vs Jordan-era Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan vs Magic-era LA-Lakers stats

[beastee]

Like which ones?

Jordan: 39/2/4/1/3 (14/26, 11/11) with 3 turnovers
Magic: 25/2/11/0/0 (11/17, 3/5) with 3 turnovers

Lakers win. Wash. - More assists yes, but Jordan was Elite this whole game.

Jordan: 41/10/3/1/1 (19/43, 3/4) with 3 turnovers
Magic: 30/2/9/0/0 (10/24, 10/10) with 3 turnovers

Lakers win. Wash. One of Jordans biggest shot jacking games that years...and he still shot a better FG% than Magic and had a better overall stat line.

Jordan: 38/9/7/1/3 (17/34, 4/4) with 2 turnovers
Magic: 7/2/4/0/0 (2/5, 3/3) with 1 turnover

Bulls win. Magic played just 10 minutes -Not MJ's fault. He lit it up this game.

Jordan: 42/7/8/0/4 (11/23, 18/22) with 1 turnover
Magic: 31/4/12/0/3 (11/18, 9/9) with 2 turnovers

Bulls win. Wash. A Wash? That is an elite statline by MJ.

[dankok8]

Jordan: 39/2/4/1/3 (14/26, 11/11) with 3 turnovers
Magic: 25/2/11/0/0 (11/17, 3/5) with 3 turnovers

Lakers win. Wash. - More assists yes, but Jordan was Elite this whole game.

Jordan: 41/10/3/1/1 (19/43, 3/4) with 3 turnovers
Magic: 30/2/9/0/0 (10/24, 10/10) with 3 turnovers

Lakers win. Wash. One of Jordans biggest shot jacking games that years...and he still shot a better FG% than Magic and had a better overall stat line.

Jordan: 38/9/7/1/3 (17/34, 4/4) with 2 turnovers
Magic: 7/2/4/0/0 (2/5, 3/3) with 1 turnover

Bulls win. Magic played just 10 minutes -Not MJ's fault. He lit it up this game.

Jordan: 42/7/8/0/4 (11/23, 18/22) with 1 turnover
Magic: 31/4/12/0/3 (11/18, 9/9) with 2 turnovers

Bulls win. Wash. A Wash? That is an elite statline by MJ.

1st game...

Lakers won
Jordan has 14 more points, Magic 7 more assists
Jordan took 9 more shots

I don't see a clear edge for Jordan. Wash.

2nd game...

Lakers won
Jordan has 11 more points, Magic 6 more assists
Jordan took 19 more shots!

Wash. In fact I might lean to Magic slightly here.

3rd game...

Definitely Jordan. Never claimed it wasn't. Just pointed out that Magic played 10 min.

4th game...

Bulls won
Jordan has 9 more points, Magic 4 more assists
Jordan took 5 more shots

Again not much separating them. Wash.

[Psileas]

Jordan: 39/2/4/1/3 (14/26, 11/11) with 3 turnovers
Magic: 25/2/11/0/0 (11/17, 3/5) with 3 turnovers

Lakers win. Wash. - More assists yes, but Jordan was Elite this whole game.

Jordan: 41/10/3/1/1 (19/43, 3/4) with 3 turnovers
Magic: 30/2/9/0/0 (10/24, 10/10) with 3 turnovers

Lakers win. Wash. One of Jordans biggest shot jacking games that years...and he still shot a better FG% than Magic and had a better overall stat line.

Jordan: 38/9/7/1/3 (17/34, 4/4) with 2 turnovers
Magic: 7/2/4/0/0 (2/5, 3/3) with 1 turnover

Bulls win. Magic played just 10 minutes -Not MJ's fault. He lit it up this game.

Jordan: 42/7/8/0/4 (11/23, 18/22) with 1 turnover
Magic: 31/4/12/0/3 (11/18, 9/9) with 2 turnovers

Bulls win. Wash. A Wash? That is an elite statline by MJ.

1st game: 7 assists more by Magic, 14 point more by Jordan, better defensive stats by Jordan, better FG%'s by Magic. I see no "destruction" here.

2nd game: Unless your whole team has an off game, taking 43 shots on 44% in the 80's is more damaging to your team than taking 24 shots on 42%.

3rd game: Not Jordan's fault, but if you seriously try to compare his performance to some other superstar's who played 10 minutes, you're showing clear bias - reminds me of Kobe fans pretending that back on 12/17/1997, he erupted in the second half with Jordan guarding him and seriously compare their performances.

4th game: I'll give this to Jordan, but it's still a close matchup.

[SamuraiSWISH]

Jordan: 42/7/8/0/4 (11/23, 18/22) with 1 turnover
Magic: 31/4/12/0/3 (11/18, 9/9) with 2 turnovers

Bulls win. Wash. A Wash? That is an elite statline by MJ.

LOL, this one got me the most. Like seriously? 42/7/8 ... he had 11 more actual self created points, but 4 less assists and the game is given to Magic?

Makes no sense.

Anytime either of their offensive stats are relatively close, take into account defense and MJ is the default winner of the individual comparison.

[dankok8]

LOL, this one got me the most. Like seriously? 42/7/8 ... he had 11 more actual self created points, but 4 less assists and the game is given to Magic?

Makes no sense.

Anytime either of their offensive stats are relatively close, take into account defense and MJ is the default winner of the individual comparison.

I never gave it to Magic. I said wash.

Magic had better intangibles and made his teammates better than probably any player ever. That doesn't show up in the stats either.

[ArbitraryWater]

LOL, this one got me the most. Like seriously? 42/7/8 ... he had 11 more actual self created points, but 4 less assists and the game is given to Magic?

Makes no sense.

Anytime either of their offensive stats are relatively close, take into account defense and MJ is the default winner of the individual comparison.

So if we assist = 2 points, MJ has a 3 point gap with worse efficiency... but he did get to the line.

I'd say MJ but its close.

[mr4speed]

We already have Jordan-Bird and Magic-Bird. It's time for Jordan-Magic!!

'84-'85 Season

12/02/1984

Jordan: 20/2/3/1/1 (7/13, 6/8) with 4 turnovers
Magic: 12/7/16/0/2 (4/9, 4/5) with 2 turnovers

Bulls win. Magic wins match-up.

02/19/1985

Jordan: 16/6/8/0/0 (6/13, 4/5) with 3 turnovers
Magic: 20/3/12/0/0 (9/13, 2/4) with 4 turnovers

Lakers win. Magic wins match-up.

Cumulative Stats

Jordan: 18.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 5.5 apg, 0.5 bpg, 0.5 spg on 50.0 %FG/56.7 %TS with 3.5 topg
Magic: 16.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 14.0 apg, 0.0 bps, 1.0 spg on 59.1 %FG/61.6 %TS with 3.0 topg


'86-'87 Season

11/28/1986

Jordan: 41/10/3/1/1 (19/43, 3/4) with 3 turnovers
Magic: 30/2/9/0/0 (10/24, 10/10) with 3 turnovers

Lakers win. Wash.

02/20/1987

Jordan: 33/2/5/2/5 (11/27, 11/12) with 2 turnovers
Magic: 28/6/16/0/0 (12/20, 4/5) with 5 turnovers

Lakers win. Magic wins match-up.

Cumulative Stats

Jordan: 37.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 4.0 apg, 1.5 bpg, 3.0 spg on 42.9 %FG/48.0 %TS with 2.5 topg
Magic: 29.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 12.5 apg, 0.0 bpg, 0.0 spg on 50.0 %FG/57.3 %TS with 4.0 topg


'87-'88 Season

02/02/1988

Jordan: 39/2/4/1/3 (14/26, 11/11) with 3 turnovers
Magic: 25/2/11/0/0 (11/17, 3/5) with 3 turnovers

Lakers win. Wash.

03/10/1988

Jordan: 38/9/7/1/3 (17/34, 4/4) with 2 turnovers
Magic: 7/2/4/0/0 (2/5, 3/3) with 1 turnover

Bulls win. Magic played just 10 minutes.

Cumulative Stats

Jordan: 38.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5.5 apg, 1.0 bpg, 3.0 spg on 51.7 %FG/57.8 %TS with 2.5 topg
Magic: 16.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 7.5 apg, 0.0 bpg, 0.0 spg on 59.1 %FG/62.7 %TS with 2.0 topg


'88-'89 Season

12/20/1988

Jordan: 42/7/8/0/4 (11/23, 18/22) with 1 turnover
Magic: 31/4/12/0/3 (11/18, 9/9) with 2 turnovers

Bulls win. Wash.

03/21/1989

Jordan: 21/8/16/0/1 (7/20, 7/8) with 5 turnovers
Magic: 20/8/12/0/2 (7/13, 5/6) with 7 turnovers

Bulls win. Jordan wins match-up.

Cumulative Stats

Jordan: 31.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 12.0 apg, 0.0 bpg, 2.5 spg on 41.9 %FG/56.0 %TS with 3.0 topg
Magic: 25.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 12.0 apg, 0.0 bpg, 2.5 spg on 58.1 %FG/67.8 %TS with 4.5 topg


'89-'90 Season

12/19/1989

Jordan: 37/7/5/1/2 (15/29, 5/5) with 7 turnovers
Magic: 18/12/10/0/4 (6/16, 5/6) with 3 turnovers

Bulls win. Jordan wins match-up.

02/07/1990

Jordan: 32/4/4/1/0 (12/21, 8/12) with 8 turnovers
Magic: 22/8/17/0/2 (7/14, 5/5) with 4 turnovers

Lakers win. Magic wins match-up.

Cumulative Stats

Jordan: 34.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 4.5 apg, 1.0 bpg, 1.0 spg on 54.0 %FG/60.0 %TS with 7.5 topg
Magic: 20.0 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 13.5 apg, 0.0 bpg, 3.0 spg on 43.3 %FG/57.4 %TS with 3.5 topg


'90-'91 Season

12/21/1990

Jordan: 33/15/9/1/2 (14/30, 5/6) with 1 turnover
Magic: 18/9/14/0/0 (7/14, 0/1) with 5 turnovers

Bulls win. Jordan wins match-up.

02/03/1991

Jordan: 23/7/9/1/6 (10/22, 3/3) with 2 turnovers
Magic: 7/7/11/0/0 (2/4, 1/1) with 5 turnovers

Lakers win. Jordan wins match-up.

Cumulative Stats

Jordan: 28.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 9.0 apg, 1.0 bpg, 4.0 spg on 46.2 %FG/50.0 %TS with 1.5 topg
Magic: 12.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 12.5 apg, 0.0 bpg, 0.0 spg on 50.0 %FG/66.2 %TS with 5.0 topg


'91 Finals

Game 1

Jordan: 36/8/12/0/3 (14/24, 7/9) with 4 turnovers
Magic: 19/10/11/0/2 (4/5, 9/10) with 5 turnovers

Stats look in Jordan's favour but Magic absolutely dominated this game late. When Jordan defended him Earvin badly abused him in the post. Bulls would switch Pippen on Magic starting from Game 2.

Lakers win.

Game 2

Jordan: 33/7/13/1/2 (15/18, 3/4) with 4 turnovers
Magic: 14/7/10/0/2 (4/13, 6/6) with 4 turnovers

Marvellous performance by Jordan.

Bulls win.

Game 3

Jordan: 29/9/9/2/4 (11/28, 6/6) with 3 turnovers
Magic: 22/6/10/0/2 (7/15, 8/9) with 5 turnovers

This one was a wash individually between the two superstars but Jordan iced the game with a jumper over Divac in OT.

Bulls win.

Game 4

Jordan: 28/5/13/2/0 (11/20, 6/6) with 1 turnover
Magic: 22/6/11/0/0 (6/13, 10/10) with 2 turnovers

Worthy and Scott exit the game with series-ending injuries. Bulls win but the individual battle is again close though slightly in MJ's favor.

Game 5

Jordan: 30/4/10/2/5 (12/23, 6/8) with 6 turnovers
Magic: 16/11/20/0/1 (4/12, 6/6) with 6 turnovers

Magic does a valiant job leading the undermanned Lakers team but the game gets away from them. Magic posts the third 20+ assist game in the Finals and to this day is the only player in history to record even one of them. Statistically he outplayed Jordan in this one.

Cumulative Stats

Jordan: 31.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 11.4 apg, 1.4 bpg, 2.8 spg on 55.8 %FG/50.0 %3P/61.2 %TS with 3.6 topg
Magic: 18.6 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 12.4 apg, 0.0 bpg, 1.2 spg on 43.1 %FG/28.6 %3P/61.2 %TS with 4.4 topg

Jordan got the better of Magic in this series and Bulls won 4-1 but outside of Game 2, Magic played Jordan to close to a draw in the other four games. It was a valiant performance by the aging floor general who just didn't have the team behind him in this series.


'95-'96 Season

02/02/1996

Jordan: 17/7/7/0/1 (8/17, 1/1) with 3 turnovers
Magic: 15/3/3/0/1 (6/13, 1/2) with 3 turnovers

Bulls win. Jordan wins match-up.


Cumulative Season Stats

Jordan: 30.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 6.8 apg, 0.8 bpg, 2.4 spg on 47.5 %FG/28.6 %3P/54.1 %TS with 3.2 topg
Magic: 19.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 11.3 apg, 0.0 bpg, 1.1 spg on 52.2 %FG/43.3 %3P/61.0 %TS with 3.6 topg

Out of 13 games, Bulls won 7 and Lakers won 6.

Keep in mind that the 7-point game where Magic played just 10 minutes hurts his cumulative averages a fair bit. Until '90-'91 where he took over as the best player in the league, Jordan didn't get the better of Magic. Overall in the period from '87-'90 the two men played each other to a draw.

Interesting but I have to disagree with your definition of a "wash" game. There are 4 examples where I would have to favor Jordan. This is by no means a definitive measurement but consider the total of pts, reb & assists for the 11/28/86 game Jordan = 54, magic = 41. Then the 2/2/88 game Jordan = 45, magic =38. The 12/20/88 game Jordan = 57, magic =47. Then Game 3 was Jordan 47, magic 38. I cant see that as "wash" games, if anything those 4 I give the edge to Jordan