Reggie Miller had some epic battles with Michael Jordan back in the 1990s. He was one of a few players who could challenge Jordan head-to-head, and he did it by constantly studying his game and looking for flaws.
A perfect example was a game between the Chicago Bulls and the Indiana Pacers in January 1990, with Miller entering the contest ready to use Jordan’s health issues to his advantage.
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“I saw he had a little knee problem in the Milwaukee game and it was in the back of my mind,” the legendary sharpshooter admitted. “Anytime you can get an advantage on a player like Michael Jordan, you’ve got to use it. You have to make him use his legs on the defensive end. Come the fourth quarter, he doesn’t have the spring.”
Miller’s defense was overshadowed by his offense
Reggie did go berserk offensively in that game. He finished with a game-high 44 points, converting 13 of his 22 shots from the field. He went 4-of-8 from three and converted 14 of 15 attempts from the free throw line.
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Jordan, meanwhile, had 35 points, seven rebounds and five assists. However, he shot only 13-of-30 from the field.
“I just had the opportunity to get the wide open shots. I was just trying to give us a little spurt, anything I could do,” Miller said about his performance in that game.
Miller’s performance was a testament to his defensive skills. A lethal outside shooter and one of the best 3-point specialists the league had in the 1990s, many saw him as nothing more than an elite bucket-getter. But the Pacers forward proved, in that game at least, that he could throw even the best of the best off their rhythm.
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Still, one strategy that Miller admitted he never used on Jordan was talking trash. He was wary of how the Bulls legend would get back at him if he ever tried to engage in the war of words.
“Did we talk to each other on the floor? He might have been the one player I didn’t talk to. Because he might have been the one player who could really embarrass you. He could come right back at you,” the Hall of Famer stated.
Jordan vs. Miller head-to-head
Jordan and Miller faced each other 56 times throughout their legendary NBA runs — 49 times in the regular season and seven in the postseason. Jordan won 36 of those games (32 in the regular season, four in the playoffs), while Miller came out on top 20 times (17 in the regular season, three in the postseason).
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In their regular-season head-to-heads, Jordan averaged 29.5 points per game to Miller’s 19.1. In the playoffs, the Bulls legend even increased the gap — he averaged 31.7 per contest, while Miller’s numbers dropped to 17.4. respectively.
Still, their most intense battle was one for the ages. It happened in the 1998 Eastern Conference finals, when Jordan and the Bulls barely beat Miller’s Pacers with a Game 7 88-83 victory.
Reggie and Michael respected each other as competitors during their careers. Even though the Bulls guard dominated those games, Miller was far from an easy matchup.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 24, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.