A 50 point game against a losing team was extremely rare for MJ. MJ usually cruised in 2nd gear against these teams so the Bulls could ‘scrimmage’. But in this case, the awful Nuggets gave MJ some early jumpers and he just had to shoot. With his jumper on a string and a handful of relaxed, finesse drives, I’m not sure if MJ actually broke a sweat in this game and it absolutely appeared as if he was just playing in his backyard with his kids. I guess that’s what happens when you shift into 3rd gear against a bad team and you happen to be MJ. But there was one big kid named Mutombo and perhaps this was just part of MJ’s habit of dominating every Big Man in his career. Or, maybe because MJ had an off shooting night at 10-22 at 45.5% the night before was the reason why he shot a bit more at 58% here. Or maybe he was just tuning up for the coming playoffs. But whatever the case, this is a rare gem to see since MJ never cared for the Nuggets and bad teams in general. And because the Nuggets were so bad and the game was meaningless, this game is not even considered a blip on MJ’s resume. What is interesting to see is how the Nuggets started to send 2-3 men on MJ as the game wore on. MJ just resorted to his turns and fades at that point to produce the same result. I do remember Mutombo making one excuse around this time. Responding to criticism from the press about the Nuggets’ horrendous uniforms, Mutombo said, “It’s hard to play good when you look so bad.”
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Footage from NBATV’s Real Training Camp series featuring a Denver Nuggets practice from Thursday, October 9, 2008. This clip features a transition defense drill where four defenders must cover five offensive players.
Video Rating: 4 / 5