Who will emerge victorious as the Celtics and the Lakers face off in the NBA finals? The NBA could use a rerun of that historic rivalry. While we’re waiting for the conference championships to end, here’s a look at some of the game’s most exciting moments.
1979 NCAA Playoffs
Michigan State won the national title with a 75-64 victory in the final game over Indiana State. Magic Johnson was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
To this day, it remains the highest-rated game in the history of televised college basketball. Both Magic and Larry Bird would enter the NBA in the fall of 1979, and the rivalry between them and their teams–the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics respectively–was a major factor in the league’s renaissance in the 1980s
Game 4 1984 NBA Finals
The Lakers lead series 2-1 after beating the Celtics by 33 in Game 3. Then Larry Bird buries a jump shot over Magic Johnson near the end of overtime to tie the series 2-2.
Magic wins Game 4 of 1987 NBA Finals
The clock is down to three seconds as Magic dribbles toward the middle of the lane, about 12 feet from the basket. Johnson is about to take a jumper, then he goes to the middle and steals a page from teammate Kareen Abdul-Jabbar’s book and makes a graceful hook, a shot he would later refer to, laughingly, as “my junior, junior sky hook,” the little brother of Abdul-Jabbar’s famous sky hook.
Larry Bird v. the Human Highlight Film
In the 1988 Eastern Conference semifinals, the Celtics and Hawks played a game that will be forever remembered for the fourth quarter shootout between Larry Bird and Dominique Wilkins. Bird entered the fourth quarter with 14 points. He then scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 34 points in a 118-116 Celtics win.
Elgin Baylor scores 61 points NBA Finals, 1962
Though the Celtics won the 1961-62 Championship, this match up will be remembered for Elgin Baylor’s best performance: he scored 61 points and grabbed 22 rebounds in a 126-121 Laker victory in Game 5 of the series. It’s a record that is still waiting to be broken. Only one player in history has scored more in a playoff game. and that was Michael Jordan, who needed two overtimes to get his 63 points.
Dr. J 1980s Finals
The Lakers won the series, but Julius Erving kept the tournament alive in Game 4 with his signature baseline move in the 4th quarter. The move stunned his opponents.
“Here I was, trying to win a championship, and my mouth just dropped open,” said Lakers guard Magic Johnson, then a rookie. “He actually did that! I thought, ‘What should we do? Should we take the ball out, or should we ask him to do it again?’ It’s still the greatest move I’ve ever seen in a basketball game, the all-time greatest.”
Michael Jordan’s “Move,” 1991 Finals
It came in Game 2 against the Lakers. Jordan got the ball out high and started to drive down the lane with the ball in his right hand. As he took to the air, Lakers forward A.C. Green moved to block his path. While in mid-air, Jordan switched the ball from his right hand to his left, twisted his body to avoid contact and scooped it in past Green.
Hakeem Olajuwon’s Dream Shake, 1995 Western Conference Playoffs
Olajuwon says his signature move, a set of fakes and spins, is a byproduct of his days playing soccer. He used it to great effect in Game 5 of the 1995 Western Conference Playoffs, when Olajuwon’s Rockets took on the San Antonio Spurs.
With rival David Robinson guarding him, Olajuwon crossed over from his right hand to his left, drove to the basket, and faked a layup. Robinson didn’t fall for the fake, and remained planted. Olajuwon then spun counterclockwise and faked another layup and Robinson jumped to block the shot. With Robinson caught in the air, Olajuwon performed an up-and-under move, scoring an easy basket.
Isiah Thomas, 1990 Finals
In a series remembered for its physical play, the Pistons, Detroit’s Bad Boys, won in just five games to clinch back-to-back championship victories. Sports Illustrated correspondent Jack McCallum credited the strong Detroit showing to Thomas.
Thomas kept the tempo at a controlled, even pace, which disrupted the fast-breaking. . .Trail Blazers. And when he wasn’t doing that, he was creating something from nothing, with long-distance jump shots, body-twisting drives and steals in the open floor. … By the time the Pistons had beaten the Blazers. . . to clinch their second straight championship. . . there was only one great guard still playing basketball–Isiah Lord Thomas III.
Michael Jordan’s last shot
Trailing Utah 86-83 with 41.9 seconds left, Chicago was in danger of facing a Game 7 on the road when Michael Jordan delivered. First, he hit a driving layup to cut the lead to one. Then he stripped Karl Malone from behind in the post, and dribbled upcourt. After a stutter-step and a crossover dribble, Jordan launched a championship-winning 20-foot jumper over a fallen Bryon Russell.
Bill Russell’s final championship
How clutch was Bill Russell? He was 21-0 in loser-goes-home games in his college, Olympic and NBA career. He was 10-0 in Game 7s in the NBA, with seven of those wins by four points or less. He was the ultimate “winner,” and his final game wasn’t going to be any different, especially after the Lakers suspended thousands of balloons from the Forum rafters in anticipation of victory. Russell grabbed 21 rebounds, held Wilt Chamberlain to 18 points, and the Celtics held off the Lakers, 108-106.
– David Schoenfield
Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game
On March 2, 1962, Wilt Chamberlain set the NBA single-game scoring record by tallying 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a 169-147 victory over the New York Knicks. Chamberlain broke his own previous NBA scoring record of 78 points set less than three months earlier, Chamberlain shot 36-for-63 from the field and 28-for-32 from the foul line.
Reggie Miller knocks out the Knicks
Miller shot back-to-back three-pointers in the 1995 playoffs.
