Head-to-Head: Games Played Between Magic Johnson and John Long

This is the detail of NBA games in which Magic Johnson and John Long played against each other, including head-to-head record, stats average, game highs and game-by-game data both in the Regular Season and Playoffs.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Games against each other

They faced each other a total of 21 times in NBA games. Magic Johnson has a 16-5 winning record over John Long, but John Long won more matchups in the Playoffs for a 1-0 postseason record.

Games Played Against Each Other

Magic Johnson

vs.

John Long


NBA Timeline:	1946-47 2025-26
Magic Johnson: 1979-80 to 1995-96
John Long: 1978-79 to 1996-97

21 Games played

20 in Regular Season

1 in Playoffs

Summary of Victories

	Games Won	in Regular Season	in Playoffs
Magic Johnson	16	16	0
John Long	5	4	1

Stats in Games Between Them

Averages
Player	Points	Rebounds	Assists
Magic Johnson	23.3	7.6	12.0
John Long	13.6	2.3	2.6

Game Highs
Player	Points	Rebounds	Assists
Magic Johnson	40	16	19
John Long	36	6	6

Games with better stats than the other player...
Player	Points	Rebounds	Assists
Magic Johnson	16 games	18 games	21 games
John Long	4 games	2 games	0 games
Both had same stat	1 game	1 game	0 games

Head To Head Games Played: One by One

more >>


1979-80 Season
Game			Player	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	Min	FG	%	3PT	%	FT	%
	Dec. 14, 1979
1.	Lakers	138	Magic Johnson	27	4	9	4	0	3	2	37	9-14	.643	0-0	-	9-11	.818
	Pistons	122	John Long	28	5	2	1	0	3	3	36	13-21	.619	0-0	-	2-2	1.000
	Jan. 11, 1980
2.	Lakers	123	Magic Johnson	13	0	7	2	1	4	2	32	4-10	.400	0-0	-	5-5	1.000
	Pistons	100	John Long	24	4	1	3	1	3	3	39	12-23	.522	0-0	-	0-0	-


1981-82 Season
Game			Player	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	Min	FG	%	3PT	%	FT	%
	Jan. 09, 1982
3.	Lakers	130	Magic Johnson	40	10	9	1			4	36	18-23	.783	0-0	-	4-5	.800
	Pistons	127	John Long	36	4	6	5			1	45	15-31	.484	0-0	-	6-7	.857
	Jan. 22, 1982
4.	Lakers	123	Magic Johnson	26	16	12				2	38	10-15	.667	0-0	-	6-9	.667
	Pistons	111	John Long	29	5	5				3	37	14-25	.560	0-0	-	1-2	.500


1982-83 Season
Game			Player	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	Min	FG	%	3PT	%	FT	%
	Jan. 02, 1983
5.	Lakers	127	Magic Johnson	7	7	12	5	0	8	2	38	2-6	.333	0-1	.000	3-3	1.000
	Pistons	112	John Long	4	1	3	1	0	4	1	25	1-8	.125	0-1	.000	2-2	1.000
	Mar. 05, 1983
6.	Lakers	122	Magic Johnson	21	10	16	4	0		2	42	9-21	.429	0-0	-	3-4	.750
	Pistons	108	John Long	0	1	1	1	0		0	15	0-4	.000	0-0	-	0-0	-


1983-84 Season
Game			Player	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	Min	FG	%	3PT	%	FT	%
	Mar. 04, 1984
7.	Lakers	118	Magic Johnson	29	14	7	3	2	7	1	43	9-16	.563	0-0	-	11-14	.786
	Pistons	114	John Long	10	2	3	2	0	2	3	26	3-11	.273	0-1	.000	4-4	1.000
	Mar. 23, 1984
8.	Lakers	118	Magic Johnson	11	4	10	3	2	2	1	36	5-10	.500	0-1	.000	1-1	1.000
	Pistons	121	John Long	18	4	6	1	0	3	1	32	8-14	.571	0-0	-	2-2	1.000


1984-85 Season
Game			Player	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	Min	FG	%	3PT	%	FT	%
	Jan. 13, 1985
9.	Lakers	98	Magic Johnson	22	8	10	0	0	4	1	37	9-18	.500	0-0	-	4-6	.667
	Pistons	121	John Long	19	6	3	0	0	2	1	36	8-20	.400	0-0	-	3-3	1.000
	Mar. 24, 1985
10.	Lakers	148	Magic Johnson	25	10	19	1	0	5	3	36	9-13	.692	0-0	-	7-8	.875
	Pistons	130	John Long	18	3	3	1	1	0	1	34	8-20	.400	0-1	.000	2-2	1.000


1985-86 Season
Game			Player	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	Min	FG	%	3PT	%	FT	%
	Dec. 15, 1985
11.	Lakers	132	Magic Johnson	19	7	15	2	0	8	2	29	5-9	.556	0-0	-	9-11	.818
	Pistons	119	John Long	16	0	0	2	1	1	2	17	8-11	.727	0-0	-	0-0	-
	Jan. 19, 1986
12.	Lakers	115	Magic Johnson	10	6	18	1	0	3	1	40	5-15	.333	0-1	.000	0-0	-
	Pistons	118	John Long	6	1	3	0	0	0	0	08	3-5	.600	0-0	-	0-0	-


1986-87 Season
Game			Player	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	Min	FG	%	3PT	%	FT	%
	Jan. 22, 1987
13.	Lakers	118	Magic Johnson	29	10	11	1	0	1	2	38	9-17	.529	0-0	-	11-12	.917
	Pacers	108	John Long	17	0	4	1	0	0	2	34	6-17	.353	0-2	.000	5-5	1.000
	Feb. 13, 1987
14.	Lakers	113	Magic Johnson	40	6	7	1	1	4	2	41	14-24	.583	0-0	-	12-14	.857
	Pacers	108	John Long	11	2	1	2	0	3	6	24	5-12	.417	1-1	1.000	0-0	-


1987-88 Season
Game			Player	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	Min	FG	%	3PT	%	FT	%
	Jan. 09, 1988
15.	Lakers	101	Magic Johnson	21	3	13	0	0	3	2	39	6-13	.462	0-2	.000	9-10	.900
	Pacers	98	John Long	5	2	3	0	0	1	1	28	2-9	.222	0-0	-	1-2	.500
	Feb. 09, 1988
16.	Lakers	108	Magic Johnson	19	3	11	2	0	3	3	43	7-13	.538	0-1	.000	5-6	.833
	Pacers	110	John Long	19	1	3	1	0	3	2	34	9-18	.500	1-1	1.000	0-0	-


1988-89 Season
Game			Player	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	Min	FG	%	3PT	%	FT	%
	Dec. 10, 1988
17.	Lakers	112	Magic Johnson	32	11	13	0	0	7	5	41	9-25	.360	0-0	-	14-14	1.000
	Pacers	105	John Long	8	3	2	1	0	1	2	21	4-7	.571	0-0	-	0-0	-


1989 Playoffs - NBA Finals
Game			Player	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	Min	FG	%	3PT	%	FT	%
	Jun. 06, 1989
18.	Lakers	97	Magic Johnson	17	5	14	3	0	5	2	41	6-12	.500	0-2	.000	5-6	.833
	Pistons	109	John Long	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	02	1-1	1.000	0-0	-	0-0	-


1989-90 Season
Game			Player	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	Min	FG	%	3PT	%	FT	%
	Feb. 02, 1990
19.	Lakers	112	Magic Johnson	19	9	13	0	0	4	2	38	5-15	.333	2-4	.500	7-8	.875
	Hawks	106	John Long	3	2	1	0	0	0	1	31	1-8	.125	0-0	-	1-2	.500
	Mar. 11, 1990
20.	Lakers	123	Magic Johnson	32	8	14	3	1	5	0	39	10-19	.526	3-5	.600	9-10	.900
	Hawks	115	John Long	12	2	4	2	0	2	5	36	4-12	.333	0-1	.000	4-4	1.000


1990-91 Season
Game			Player	Pts	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	Min	FG	%	3PT	%	FT	%
	Feb. 24, 1991
21.	Lakers	102	Magic Johnson	31	8	11	3	0	3	1	47	11-18	.611	2-3	.667	7-9	.778
OT	Pistons	96	John Long	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	04	0-1	.000	0-1	.000	0-0	-