I kind of got this from Big Sexy when he had a thread about the game 7's. But what I will be talking about obviously is about the best 7 game series in NBA history in the past 30 years. I would go further but I'm pretty sure not many can remember 7 game series such as the 1978 NBA Finals with the Seattle SuperSonics and Washington Bullets or any 7 game series before that. So I'm going to talk mainly about the 7 game series that happened in the NBA Finals.
1984 Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers (This has to be one of the most memerable game 7's not only in the Lakers/Celtics rivalry but in NBA history period. It was what alot of people were waiting for a with Magic vs Bird. We all know the story of the heated rivilry between Magic and Bird it goes all the way back to their college days and these series just added more fuel to the fire. After the Lakers won Game 1, a crucial steal in Game 2 led to a tie game and the Celtics were able to win in overtime to tie the series. The Lakers won Game 3 easily and almost won Game 4, but were again thwarted. Now tied 2-2, the Lakers and Celtics each held serve at their home court to send the series to Boston for Game 7. Game 5 was a classic, with Bird coming up with a huge game in one of the hottest games ever in non-air conditioned Boston Garden. Game 7 was close but eventually went to the Celtics. Cedric Maxwell scored 24 points against the Los Angeles Lakers in the decisive Game 7 victory.
1988 Los Angeles Lakers vs Detroit Pistons (I have to say that I think this has to be one of the most underrated Finals. It has alot to due Isiah Thomas' career-defining performances came in Game 6. In Game 1 the Pistons pretty much just ran an already tired Lakers out shocking the on their home floor. However with the Lakers facing the possibility of going down 2-0 with three games to play in Detroit, the Lakers found a way to even the score with their vets and even snatched one away in game 3. Being at home the Pistons wasn't just going to let the Lakers run them out of it so they responded with the next 2 wins in game 4 and 5. In game 6 despite badly twisting his ankle midway through the period, Thomas scored a still-NBA Finals record 25 third quarter points, as Detroit fell to the Lakers in a 103-102 lose. In Game 7 Thomas was still hot enough to pump in 10 first half points, as Detroit held a slight lead. However In the 3rd quarter, the Lakers, inspired by Finals MVP James Worthy and Byron Scott exploded as they built a 10-point lead entering the final period. The lead swelled to 15 before Detroit mounted a furious 4th-quarter rally, trimming the lead to 2-points on several occasions. Still several Detroit miscues enabled the Lakers to escape with a 108-105 victory and the Championship.)
1994 Houston Rockets vs New York Knicks (As a Rockets fan I may say this is the best but to be honest I'm being kind of biased. Still this was a good series I felt because with Jordan gone from the NBA the Knicks was the favorite to win the title. The Bulls was the only team that always stood in the Knicks way and when Jordan finally left and the Knicks finally beat the Bulls they lose to a team that very few people expected to make to the Finals. This was a very entertaining series 2 evenly matched teams with 2 of the best Centers at the time Olajuwon and Ewing going at it. Their story is kind of similar to Magic and Bird and the only it wasn't heated Ewing beat Dream in college but in the 1994 Finals Dream would get his revenge. During the series, the Rockets played seven low-scoring, defensive games against the Knicks. After splitting the first two games in Houston, the Knicks won two out of three games at home. In Game 6 it was once again a tight game with Hakeem Olajuwon blocking a last-second shot by John Starks, giving the Rockets an 86-84 victory and forcing a Game 7. The Rockets beat the Knicks in Game 7 in an 90-84 win, giving the city of Houston its first NBA championship.)
2005 San Antonio Spurs vs Detroit Pistons (It was a good series but I wasn't that into this series. I guess for the simple fact that both teams were more defensively-oriented than offensivly, not to say this wasn't a good finals though. The first 2 games were pretty much a blow out with the Spurs dominating the Pistons however Detroit would return the favor by doing the same in games 3 & 4. The highlight of this series was by far game 5 with Robert Horry yet again coming through doing crunch time nailing a game winning shot giving the Spurs a 3-2 lead in the series. Game 6 was a close one with Detroit winning and tieing up the series. Coming in to Game 7 momentum was on Detroit's side, but the Spurs had home-court advantage.
The game, like the previous two games of the series, was closely contested for the first three quarters, but the Spurs, behind clutch plays from Tim Duncan and Manu Ginóbili, took control of the 4th quarter to earn an 81-74 victory.)
2010 Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics (This has to be one of my favorites game 7's and by for one of the best NBA Finals in a while. It was a typical Lakers/Celtics series. With the exception of Games 1 and 6 every game was pretty much close contested and very entertaining. Game 1 was a blow out with the Lakers killing the Celtics, but Boston came back with a vengence in Game 2 with Ray Allen hitting 8 three pointers and tieing up the series. Game 3 the Lakers needed to respond with a win in Boston after the Celtics stole one in L.A. which they did with the help of Derek Fisher. Games 4 & 5 belonged to the Celtics and yet again in close contested games, but the Lakers would respond with a Game 6 blow-out out home beating Boston by 20 plus points. Coming in to game 7 the Lakers had momentum on their side but the Celtics would be the ones to make the quick run. The Celtics led the game by a score of 4034 at halftime and by as many as 13 after halftime, but the Lakers made a charge back in the second half to tie the game up at 64 points in the 4th quarter with just under 6 minutes remaining. The Lakers then proceeded to take their first lead since midway through the second quarter and went on a 60 run to charge ahead of the Celtics 7064. Although Kobe Bryant had a horrible shooting night, the Lakers were able to pull it out since rebounding proved to be a huge problem in this game for the Celtics, partly because of the season-ending right knee injury to Kendrick Perkins in the previous game. Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant together had more total rebounds than all of the Celtics' starters combined and foul trouble was also a big problem for the Celtics. In the end, the Lakers topped the Celtics 8379 giving the Lakers their 16th NBA championship and revenge from the 2008 NBA Finals.)
All of these 7 game series were very good and entertaining, but in everyone's opinion which of these series was the best 7 game series to happen in the past 30 years in NBA history. It could be in the NBA Finals or any NBA Playoff game.
1984 Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers (This has to be one of the most memerable game 7's not only in the Lakers/Celtics rivalry but in NBA history period. It was what alot of people were waiting for a with Magic vs Bird. We all know the story of the heated rivilry between Magic and Bird it goes all the way back to their college days and these series just added more fuel to the fire. After the Lakers won Game 1, a crucial steal in Game 2 led to a tie game and the Celtics were able to win in overtime to tie the series. The Lakers won Game 3 easily and almost won Game 4, but were again thwarted. Now tied 2-2, the Lakers and Celtics each held serve at their home court to send the series to Boston for Game 7. Game 5 was a classic, with Bird coming up with a huge game in one of the hottest games ever in non-air conditioned Boston Garden. Game 7 was close but eventually went to the Celtics. Cedric Maxwell scored 24 points against the Los Angeles Lakers in the decisive Game 7 victory.
1988 Los Angeles Lakers vs Detroit Pistons (I have to say that I think this has to be one of the most underrated Finals. It has alot to due Isiah Thomas' career-defining performances came in Game 6. In Game 1 the Pistons pretty much just ran an already tired Lakers out shocking the on their home floor. However with the Lakers facing the possibility of going down 2-0 with three games to play in Detroit, the Lakers found a way to even the score with their vets and even snatched one away in game 3. Being at home the Pistons wasn't just going to let the Lakers run them out of it so they responded with the next 2 wins in game 4 and 5. In game 6 despite badly twisting his ankle midway through the period, Thomas scored a still-NBA Finals record 25 third quarter points, as Detroit fell to the Lakers in a 103-102 lose. In Game 7 Thomas was still hot enough to pump in 10 first half points, as Detroit held a slight lead. However In the 3rd quarter, the Lakers, inspired by Finals MVP James Worthy and Byron Scott exploded as they built a 10-point lead entering the final period. The lead swelled to 15 before Detroit mounted a furious 4th-quarter rally, trimming the lead to 2-points on several occasions. Still several Detroit miscues enabled the Lakers to escape with a 108-105 victory and the Championship.)
1994 Houston Rockets vs New York Knicks (As a Rockets fan I may say this is the best but to be honest I'm being kind of biased. Still this was a good series I felt because with Jordan gone from the NBA the Knicks was the favorite to win the title. The Bulls was the only team that always stood in the Knicks way and when Jordan finally left and the Knicks finally beat the Bulls they lose to a team that very few people expected to make to the Finals. This was a very entertaining series 2 evenly matched teams with 2 of the best Centers at the time Olajuwon and Ewing going at it. Their story is kind of similar to Magic and Bird and the only it wasn't heated Ewing beat Dream in college but in the 1994 Finals Dream would get his revenge. During the series, the Rockets played seven low-scoring, defensive games against the Knicks. After splitting the first two games in Houston, the Knicks won two out of three games at home. In Game 6 it was once again a tight game with Hakeem Olajuwon blocking a last-second shot by John Starks, giving the Rockets an 86-84 victory and forcing a Game 7. The Rockets beat the Knicks in Game 7 in an 90-84 win, giving the city of Houston its first NBA championship.)
2005 San Antonio Spurs vs Detroit Pistons (It was a good series but I wasn't that into this series. I guess for the simple fact that both teams were more defensively-oriented than offensivly, not to say this wasn't a good finals though. The first 2 games were pretty much a blow out with the Spurs dominating the Pistons however Detroit would return the favor by doing the same in games 3 & 4. The highlight of this series was by far game 5 with Robert Horry yet again coming through doing crunch time nailing a game winning shot giving the Spurs a 3-2 lead in the series. Game 6 was a close one with Detroit winning and tieing up the series. Coming in to Game 7 momentum was on Detroit's side, but the Spurs had home-court advantage.
The game, like the previous two games of the series, was closely contested for the first three quarters, but the Spurs, behind clutch plays from Tim Duncan and Manu Ginóbili, took control of the 4th quarter to earn an 81-74 victory.)
2010 Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics (This has to be one of my favorites game 7's and by for one of the best NBA Finals in a while. It was a typical Lakers/Celtics series. With the exception of Games 1 and 6 every game was pretty much close contested and very entertaining. Game 1 was a blow out with the Lakers killing the Celtics, but Boston came back with a vengence in Game 2 with Ray Allen hitting 8 three pointers and tieing up the series. Game 3 the Lakers needed to respond with a win in Boston after the Celtics stole one in L.A. which they did with the help of Derek Fisher. Games 4 & 5 belonged to the Celtics and yet again in close contested games, but the Lakers would respond with a Game 6 blow-out out home beating Boston by 20 plus points. Coming in to game 7 the Lakers had momentum on their side but the Celtics would be the ones to make the quick run. The Celtics led the game by a score of 4034 at halftime and by as many as 13 after halftime, but the Lakers made a charge back in the second half to tie the game up at 64 points in the 4th quarter with just under 6 minutes remaining. The Lakers then proceeded to take their first lead since midway through the second quarter and went on a 60 run to charge ahead of the Celtics 7064. Although Kobe Bryant had a horrible shooting night, the Lakers were able to pull it out since rebounding proved to be a huge problem in this game for the Celtics, partly because of the season-ending right knee injury to Kendrick Perkins in the previous game. Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant together had more total rebounds than all of the Celtics' starters combined and foul trouble was also a big problem for the Celtics. In the end, the Lakers topped the Celtics 8379 giving the Lakers their 16th NBA championship and revenge from the 2008 NBA Finals.)
All of these 7 game series were very good and entertaining, but in everyone's opinion which of these series was the best 7 game series to happen in the past 30 years in NBA history. It could be in the NBA Finals or any NBA Playoff game.