One of Michael Jordan’s all-time scoring records just fell and nobody noticed

Michael Jordan holds so many scoring records, its almost impossible to keep track.

10 scoring titles. Highest postseason scoring average. Highest scoring average in a single NBA Finals. Most points in a playoff game. On the most points in a season in Bulls history, Jordan owns the top 11 marks.

The list goes on and on.

MORE: MJ vs. LeBron, key stats to know in GOAT debate

Jordan destroyed everyone. In fact, he owns the highest career scoring average against 10 different franchises, easily the most by any player.

Perhaps Jordan’s most famous game — no small feat given there are probably eight contenders — came in the Boston Garden when a then 23-year-old MJ hung 63 on the Celtics in a losing effort. “God disguised as Michael Jordan” quipped Larry Bird.

While the Celtics probably won’t go down as Jordan’s most famous rival (a distinction reserved for the Pistons), its probably no surprise that at the time of his retirement, no player averaged more career points per game against the Celtics than His Airness.

Until now.

If you had to guess which active player just passed MJ, where would you begin? The obvious first guess is LeBron James… which is incorrect.

Maybe you’d go for Luka Doncic, Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant. Or maybe a darkhorse like Devin Booker given he once hung 70 in Boston.

Well after torching Boston for 41 points in the epic come from behind statement win in a clash of Eastern Conference powerhouses, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell now owns that distinction.

In 20 career games against the Celtics, Mitchell is averaging 30.8 points — inching just ahead of Jordan who averaged 30.7 in 56 career games. The rest of the top five is Luka Doncic (30.3), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (28.9) and Wilt Chamberlain (28.7).

I have to be honest, I had no clue this happened. I’m sure there are Cavaliers corners of the internet where this was all the rage. And there’s a reddit thread arguing for Mitchell as the No. 2 Celtics killer right now.

Anytime you can break a Michael Jordan scoring record, you deserve all the flowers. So even if this is being written a one later than it probably should have been written, consider it paid respect to a guard having an MVP-caliber year on a team sprinting away with the East.

Well done, Spida.

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Micah Adams

Micah Adams is a Managing Editor and Head of Affiliate and Commercial Content at Sporting News. Prior to joining SN in 2021, Adams spent over a decade producing and leading content teams at ESPN, DAZN and The Social Institute. Adams graduated from Duke University in 2009 and remains a Cameron Crazie at heart well into his 30s. When not losing sleep or hair over the Blue Devils, Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Bulls, and USMNT, Adams enjoys chasing his two small children around along with his wife, losing golf balls, spending time outdoors and binging terrible movies.