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#1 - Michael Jordan's pull-up jumper With Chicago trailing by three points in the final minute, Jordan first scored on a drive. Then he stripped the ball from Karl Malone at the defensive end. Finally, he buried the game-winning shot, a 20-footer with 5.2 seconds left, that gave the Bulls an 87-86 victory and their sixth championship in eight years.
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2.
#2 - Magic Johnson a team to himself Abdul-Jabbar and the rest of the Lakers caught Johnson's enthusiasm that year, and they rode it to a Finals date against Julius Erving and the Philadelphia 76ers. The teams split the first four games before Abdul-Jabbar suffered a sprained ankle in Game 5, which the Lakers somehow managed to win anyway 108-103. Abdul-Jabbar limped his way to 14 ... [more] Abdul-Jabbar and the rest of the Lakers caught Johnson's enthusiasm that year, and they rode it to a Finals date against Julius Erving and the Philadelphia 76ers. The teams split the first four games before Abdul-Jabbar suffered a sprained ankle in Game 5, which the Lakers somehow managed to win anyway 108-103. Abdul-Jabbar limped his way to 14 points down the stretch.
Game 6 looked like it would be a different story. When the team gathered at the airport for the flight to Philadelphia, Abdul-Jabbar stayed home. Not to worry, said Johnson, who boarded the plane and planted himself into Abdul-Jabbar's customary front-row seat. He winked to coach Paul Westhead and then playfully announced to his teammates: "Never fear, E.J. is here!"
Johnson's confidence lifted his team's spirits, and then he backed it up with one of the most remarkable games in NBA Playoff history. He began by jumping the opening tap in Abdul-Jabbar's place, then went on to play every position on the floor at one time or another, from his customary point guard role to Abdul-Jabbar's pivot spot. Johnson scored 42 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 7 assists as the Lakers stunned the 76ers 123-107 to clinch the first of his five NBA championships. Lost in Magic's brilliance was the play of Jamaal Wilkes who finished with 37 points, 25 in the second half.
After the game, Magic looked into the TV cameras and sent a message to Abdul-Jabbar back in his Bel-Air home: "This one's for you, Big Fella!" [less]
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#3 - Willis Reed plays through the pain It was Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals, and nobody knew if Willis Reed would play. The center and captain of the New York Knicks had suffered a torn muscle in his right thigh during Game 5 against the Los Angeles Lakers, and had not played in Game 6 when Wilt Chamberlain's 45 points and 27 rebounds enabled the Lakers to tie the series at 3-3.
Whe... [more] It was Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals, and nobody knew if Willis Reed would play. The center and captain of the New York Knicks had suffered a torn muscle in his right thigh during Game 5 against the Los Angeles Lakers, and had not played in Game 6 when Wilt Chamberlain's 45 points and 27 rebounds enabled the Lakers to tie the series at 3-3.
When the teams took the floor for pre-game warmups, Reed was not with his New York teammates. He remained in the lockerroom, deep in the bowels of the building.
"I wanted to play," Reed recalls. "That was for the championship, the one great moment you play for all your life. I didn't want to have to look at myself in the mirror 20 years later and say I wished I had tried to play."
Reed took an injection to dull the pain in his leg, and just moments before tipoff he limped through the tunnel and onto the court. Waves of cheers cascaded down from the Garden stands as fans caught sight of the Knicks' captain, a sight that was not lost on New York's opponents.
"I saw the whole Laker team standing around staring at this man," said Knicks guard Walt Frazier. "When I saw that, when they stopped warming up, something told me we might have these guys!"
Reed lined up against Chamberlain for the opening tap and scored the Knicks' first two baskets of the game. Those would prove to be his only points, but his presence was more than enough to inspire the Knicks to a 113-99 victory and the franchise's first NBA Championship. Overshadowed by Reed's emotion-charged effort was one of the great playoff performances in NBA history by Frazier, who led the Knicks with 36 points and 19 assists. [less]
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#4 - Larry Bird steals the inbound The defending champion Boston Celtics were down and almost out. Playing the young, tough-as-nails Detroit Pistons in the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals, the aging Celtics were in danger of losing Game 5, which would have given the Pistons a chance to clinch the series at home in Game 6.
With Boston down by a point and Detroit in possession of t... [more] The defending champion Boston Celtics were down and almost out. Playing the young, tough-as-nails Detroit Pistons in the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals, the aging Celtics were in danger of losing Game 5, which would have given the Pistons a chance to clinch the series at home in Game 6.
With Boston down by a point and Detroit in possession of the ball in the closing seconds of the game, those famed Celtic leprechauns decided to make an appearance.
As Detroit's Isiah Thomas prepared to toss the ball inbounds from the sideline, Boston's Larry Bird looked away from his man and stole a glance at Thomas. He saw the Pistons' captain look toward center Bill Laimbeer in the low post an instant before releasing the ball. So Bird cut into the passing lane and stole the ball before it could reach Laimbeer's hands.
His momentum looked like it would carry him out of bounds, but Bird somehow managed to gather his balance at the baseline and turn toward the court, where he spotted teammate Dennis Johnson beginning his cut from the foul line toward the basket. Bird whipped a crisp pass to DJ who laid it in with one second remaining for a 108-107 victory.
The steal was remarkable. Bird's instinct and ability to turn it into the winning basket only compounded the greatness of the play.
"Larry's mind takes an instant picture of the whole court," noted Bill Fitch, Bird's first coach with the Celtics. "He sees creative possibilities."
The Celtics went on to win the series in seven games and advance to the NBA Finals for the fourth year in a row, where they would surrender their title to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games. [less]
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#5 - Johnny Most calls Game 7 of the '65 Eastern Conference Finals It is the most famous radio call in basketball history, hoops' equivalent to Russ Hodges' famed "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!" from baseball's 1951 National League playoffs. There simply is nothing like the gravelly tones of the late Celtics broadcaster Johnny Most describing the closing seconds of Game 7 of the 1965 E... [more] It is the most famous radio call in basketball history, hoops' equivalent to Russ Hodges' famed "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!" from baseball's 1951 National League playoffs. There simply is nothing like the gravelly tones of the late Celtics broadcaster Johnny Most describing the closing seconds of Game 7 of the 1965 Eastern Conference Finals between the defending champion Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Hall of Fame guard Hal Greer prepared to toss the ball inbounds under his own basket. The logical target seemed to be massive Wilt Chamberlain in the low post, but Russell fronted Chamberlain and took away that option. K.C. Jones, guarding Greer, leaped along the baseline and frantically waved his arms to distract him as the five seconds ticked away.
To get a better view of the court, Greer jumped up and spotted high-scoring forward Chet Walker, seemingly open beyond the key. But Boston's John Havlicek had taken a position several feet off the direct line between Greer and Walker, making it look like Walker was open when he really wasn't. After counting off a couple of seconds in his head, Havlicek sneaked a peek over his shoulder at Greer just as he prepared to release the ball. He moved into the passing lane ... but let Most tell it:
"Greer is putting the ball into play. He gets it out deep," Most intones, before his voices rises into a frenzy. "Havlicek steals it. Over to Sam Jones. Havlicek stole the ball! It's all over! Johnny Havlicek stole the ball!"
Havlicek tipped the inbounds pass away from Walker and toward teammate Jones, who dribbled out the clock as fans poured onto the court. The Celtics had the win, and would go on to capture their seventh consecutive championship.
Havlicek went on to score over 26,000 points in an NBA career that lasted 16 seasons, but he is best remembered for that steal immortalized on tape by the late Johnny Most. [less]
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