It was 30 years ago today. Los Angeles Lakers point guard Magic Johnson had 24 points and 24 assists in a 121-118 overtime defeat to the host Phoenix Suns.
Here’s the box score from that game: https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199001090PHO.html
In UPI’s report of the game, it was noted that Magic tied his career high in assists.
Magic Johnson highlights
Despite Magic’s heroics on that day, the defeat was a nutshell of the team’s season. The Lakers were good, but not good enough. They had, after all, impossibly high standards based on what they achieved in the 1980s.
Here’s a look back at the end of their 1989-90 campaign, which ended in the playoffs against the Suns: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-05-16-sp-174-story.html.
