That Warriors-Thunder game 6 was lit. It had everything that goes into a classic game. It had elimination game stakes. It also had a meaning that goes beyond the micro level of this season (possible best team ever). It had a number of the NBA’s most high profile players, in a legacy-defining situation. Plus, it was in the 24-hour sports cycle and social media age, adding to the game’s profile.
Game 6’s when the series favorite is facing elimination on the road provides the stage of some of the NBA’s greatest games, and that one lived up to it. That got me to thinking of the NBA Hardwood Classics that I’ve witnessed. As someone who was born in 1991, the year 2000 serves as a nice, round year to start the exercise of ranking them. Here’s what I came up with.
1. 2013 NBA Finals Game 6 – Spurs vs. Heat: The best game that I’ve seen. The stakes were high, Lebron and the Heat looking for back-to-back titles,. At the time, it also looked like the last chance for the Spurs to add on to their championship run up 3-2 in the series. Any title-level game with Lebron seems to feel like a grand event. And Ray Allen turned out to be the star. Lebron lost his headband, but not the game. Spurs controlled a lot of the game, and most of the 4th. Heat trailed by 5 with 30 seconds left. Lebron’s three and Allen’s brought them back. Game 7 wasn’t too bad either.
2. 2000 Western Conf Finals Game 7 – Blazers vs Lakers: This crazy comeback started the Lakers title run. Los Angeles led the series 3-1, but were about to blow it. Portland led by 16 points in the 2nd half, but back came the highest profile team in the league. The monster 4th quarter run was highlighted by the Kobe alley-oop to Shaq that was the signature play of their time together.
3. 2002 Western Conf Finals Game 7 – Lakers vs Kings: This series was nuts, to the point where an overtime game 7 might not be the most memorable game. Game 4 of this series was saved for the Lakers by Robert Horry hitting a game-winning buzzer beater three from the top of the arc to tie the series. Four of the games went down to the last seconds, including the game 6 where Kings fans thought the refs stole it. With all of that as a backdrop, game 7 was wild. It featured 16 ties, 19 lead changes, and overtime. Lakers won in overtime on the road.
4. 2010 NBA Finals Game 7 – Celtics vs Lakers: There’s only been three NBA Finals game 7’s since 2000. We already mentioned Heat-Spurs, and no one remembers that Spurs-Pistons went 7 games in 2005. The other one was the latest Celtics-Lakers NBA Finals meeting. The Celtics had a chance to win the series in game 6, but lost the game and lost starting center Kendrick Perkins. Perk was a missing piece in game 7, as the Lakers crushed the Celtics on the boards. Kobe shot poorly, and it was a low scoring game. Ron Artest and Derek Fisher connected on big 4th quarter threes to allow the Lakers to pull through.
5. 2007 Eastern Conf Finals Game 5 – Cavs vs Pistons: This game was the “Lebron has arrived” game. The Cavs clearly had a lesser roster than the Pistons. The series was tied 2-2, and the talk about Lebron not being a clutch player was beginning. Against one of the best defensive teams of the era, Lebron put up 48 points, 29 of the Cavs final 30 points to steal a double-overtime win from the Pistons. Cleveland won game 6 to reach the NBA Finals
Honorable Mention: 2008 NBA Finals Game 4 (Celtics-Lakers), 2012 ECF Game 6 (Heat-Celtics), 2006 NBA Finals Game 5 (Mavs-Heat), 2011 NBA Finals Game 5 (Mavs-Heat)
Do you agree with the rankings? Did I leave one out?
