Recalling Other Memorable Playoffs

Some of the best of the 1,658 other NBA playoff games played before this year, according to TV Times’ informal survey.

Game 7, 1970 NBA finals, New York 113, Lakers 99--In a series that included Jerry West’s 63-foot shot (in a game the Lakers ultimately lost in overtime), the Lakers were denied their first championship in Los Angeles, while the Knicks captured the first in that team’s 24-year history. This game will be remembered for Willis Reed’s inspirational return from a painful hip injury that had kept him out of the previous game.

“I was watching Willis practice two hours before the game and get the OK from the doctors to play,” recalled Chick Hearn, who has announced Lakers games since their first Los Angeles season, 1960-61. “I thought there was no way he could play. Just before the tip off, he came hobbling onto the court, literally, dragging a leg behind him.

“The Knicks got the tip, controlled the ball and got the ball down to him down the middle. He took off and made a basket around the free throw line. The (Madison Square) Garden exploded. It was like lighting a cannon, because the Lakers were never able to get into the game after that.”

Game 6, 1980 NBA finals, Lakers 123, Philadelphia 107--The first championship of the 1980s. With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sidelined because of a sprained left ankle, then 20-year old rookie Magic Johnson started at center, scored 42 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed off seven assists.

“We had a team meeting that night,” Johnson recalled, “and we said let’s go out and win this, because nobody thinks we can. Let’s go out and go for it. We did that. We started the game up-tempo because they were so much bigger than we were. I played guard, forward and center, and it worked out for us.”

Hearn’s call at the conclusion of the game: “There can never be a more incredible championship game for the Lakers than this one.”

“Perhaps that was the cement foundation that the Lakers built to becoming the team of the decade,” Hearn said. “After that, success just seemed to roll on. I’ve never thought of it before, but that just might have been the stepping stone that started all of it.”

Game 5, 1976 NBA finals, Boston 128, Phoenix 126 (triple overtime)--The Celtics blew a 22-point second quarter lead, trailed by a point with five seconds left, but regained a one point lead with one second left.

Even though he had no time outs left, Phoenix Coach John MacLeod called time out, so his team could in-bound the ball at midcourt, instead of under the Boston basket. After Jo Jo White hit the technical foul free throw, Garfield Heard, with Don Nelson’s hand in his face, hit a high-arching jump shot from beyond the top of the key as the buzzer sounded.

The Celtics held leads in the first two overtimes, but Phoenix mounted comebacks on both occasions. In the third overtime, Boston went on a 12-4 spurt, and was able to overcome two late baskets by Paul Westphal.

Postscript: Among the players on Phoenix’s roster that evening was Pat Riley, now the Lakers coach. He did not play.