It’s a question that’s asked with an infinite amount of variations: if you could have one meal, one drink, listen to one song, talk to one person, read one book, for the rest of your life, what would it be? Today, Hardwood Paroxysm puts an NBA twist on the question and asks: If you could only watch one game for the rest of your life, which would it be?
5. 2013 NBA Finals, Game 7
by Philip Rossman-Reich (@OMagicDaily) — Orlando Magic Daily/Hardwood Paroxysm
If there is one game I think I could watch for the rest of my life it might be Game Seven of the 2013 NBA Finals. The easy answer would be Game Six of that series because it has “the moment” with the Ray Allen shot and the comeback and a thrilling overtime. For me, Game Seven was the true clash of the titans with both teams playing their gameplan and strategy to perfection.
It was simply incredible watching that game. There are so few Game Sevens that live up to their billing (Game Seven in 2010 was an ugly affair that ended up being close). This one did. It was the perfect cap to an amazing series.
To recap what happened, the Spurs were literally seconds away from winning the championship when they lost a five-point lead in regulation. Kawhi Leonard missed a pair of free throws, Tim Duncan was not in to rebound and Ray Allen stepped back just the right amount to drain the game-tying 3-pointer, sending those ushers back into position away from the court.
History might say the series ended that day. Certainly you could understand if the Spurs were downtrodden and did not have the emotion to come back in Game Seven.
They did though. This was a tightly contested game. The Spurs were up to the challenge and worthy of winning the title. They proved that the previous game and continued to prove it throughout Game Seven.
Tim Duncan put in a throwback performance with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Leonard bounced back with 19 points and 16 rebounds.
This game was all about LeBron James. When I think of quintessential LeBron James games through his career, I tend to think about this game more than some of his other great performances (certainly put 2012 Eastern Conference Finals Game Six on my all-time great scoring performances).
Here James was patient. He was trying so hard to keep his teammates involved. He was prodding and trying to break down Boris Diaw, hanging back three feet off him to prevent the drive. Finally James decided to shoot over him, taking those mid-range jumpers the analytics crowd hates.
It was exactly what the Spurs wanted. And James still beat them with it.
James scored 37 points on 12-for-23 shooting and 5-for-10 shooting from beyond the arc. He was so patient and unsure for much of the game. And then just got the confidence and go-ahead to keep shooting. He took what the defense gave him and won the game.
While the score was ultimately a seven-point spread, this was still a close game throughout. Tim Duncan missed a putback to tie the game in the final minute — a play, that was so out of character for the always sure Duncan.
It then set up the Spurs’ incredible run back to the Finals to defeat the Heat the following year.
This was a game that was completely out of the coach’s hands at the end. The players decided Game Seven. That is exactly how it should be.
And Gregg Popovich smiled. In a loss. What could be better?
Next: 4. 1995 NBA Finals, Game 1
4. 1995 NBA Finals, Game 1
by Ian Levy (@HickoryHigh) — Hardwood Paroxysm
This is the first non-Indiana Pacers game I can remember watching from start to finish, and it was a doozy. This was the narrow window of Michael Jordan’s first retirement, when the league suddenly felt wide open. The Houston Rockets, having added Clyde Drexler mid-season, were looking for a repeat of their 1994 Finals win. They had an up-and-down regular season but had blasted through Utah, Phoenix and San Antonio on their way to this matchup. The Conference Finals, in particular, were important because of the way Hakeem Olajuwon had toyed with and finally obliterated David Robinson. Next up was Shaquille O’Neal.
This was the ascension of the Orlando Magic. O’Neal was an athletic force, as was Penny Hardaway. Nick Anderson, Dennis Scott and Horace Grant rounded out one of the best starting fives in the league. The Magic were girded in an air of inevitability, about to place the rest of the league in a dynastic stranglehold. Instead, they ended up getting swept by the Rockets and, for all intents and purposes, the series was decided in Game 1.
Houston eked out a 120-118 overtime win. After losing this game, you could just see the air go out of Orlando and they never regained their footing. It’s fascinating how many alternate histories could be traced back to the closing minutes of this game. After the Magic secured two consecutive offensive rebounds, the Rockets were forced to foul Nick Anderson and send him to the line with just 10 seconds left in regulation. With a three-point lead, making either free throw should have been enough to seal the game for the Magic. Anderson missed both but, amazingly, got his own offensive rebound on the second miss and was fouled, earning two more opportunities to put the game away. He missed both, again, the Rockets grabbed the rebound and Kenny Smith tied the game with his seventh three-pointer–a Finals record at that point.
The back-and-forth continued through overtime and the Rockets ultimately won on an Olajuwon tip-in of a missed layup by Drexler. The incredible flow of the game was only emphasized by the incredible individual performances–31 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 blocks, 2 steals for Olajuwon; 23 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists for Drexler; 26 points, 16 rebounds, 9 assists for O’Neal.
This game sticks out for me, because of that memory of watching it live, falling out of my seat with each new twist. But it stands the test of time–two incredible teams, filled with incredible players, working at the height of their powers. I could live with that as the only basketball to watch for the rest of my life.
Next: 3. 2012 NBA Finals, Game 5
3. 2012 NBA Finals, Game 5
by David Ramil (@dramil13) — Hardwood Paroxysm
It had been a long, strange trip for the Miami Heat.
For two years, the team was largely viewed – outside of South Florida – as a collection of mercenaries, braggarts and traitors. The vitriol of July 2010 had just slightly dissipated, but only because Miami’s superstar trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were so damn good that, all loyalties aside, they were immensely enjoyable to watch.
Still, many cheered in 2011 when they got their alleged comeuppance in a Finals loss to the Dallas Mavericks. With the bad taste of that defeat still fresh for Miami’s players and fans, the ’11-’12 season – delayed by a player lockout that some theorize was in direct response to the Heat’s assemblage – began with renewed purpose. Although the 66-game season was a scheduling nightmare, Miami found themselves back in the Finals, facing a young, talented OKC Thunder team that some predicted might upset the Heat once again.
A Game 1 victory for Oklahoma City certainly fanned the flames of doubt.
But Miami bounced back admirably, winning the next four games behind some incredible performances from their superstar trio and their supporting cast, from Mike Miller to Shane Battier and even the much-maligned Mario Chalmers.
As the final seconds ticked away in Game 5, cameras picked up James, just months from having his jersey burned in effigy and having his image urinated on, hopping madly on the sidelines, a child-like smile spread wide across his face. He embraced teammates with unrestrained joy, finally justified in his Decision to join the Heat.
With the game over and the celebration in full-swing, the look on James’ face as he was handed the Larry O’Brien championship trophy is one I’ll never forget. For all the flak James and the Heat caught over the previous two years, this moment made it all worth it. It was, at least for me, the pinnacle of Miami’s short-lived “Big 3” era, perhaps the last truly happy moment this team shared together.
That’s hard to believe considering the success they continued to enjoy but, following Game 5, things were never the same. The team would go on to win 27-straight games and a franchise-best 66 regular-season wins, not to mention one of the most dramatic Finals in NBA history. But there was just a little less joy, a hint of just how much work it truly was to carry the team to such great heights, that diminished what they accomplished.
And when LeBron received his second-straight championship trophy, he did it with arms akimbo and a look that was not one of pure joy but rather a sense of entitlement. After winning his fourth MVP trophy and being at the peak of his powers, the smile was replaced by a smirk that seemed to say, Of course, I won this.
The following season, as many of the players later admitted, was nothing but a chore. Wade’s injuries caused friction in the locker room, as did the waiving of Miller’s onerous contract. Things seemed to fall apart when a midseason trade of Joel Anthony (the day after celebrating the previous title at the White House) was followed up by a vicious smack down by the Wizards.
James would carry the team to a fourth-straight Finals but it felt perfunctory…matter-of-fact, even. And, of course, he’d rejoin the Cavaliers just a few weeks later.
James is tough person to read; he plays it close to the vest, and you get the sense that every move he makes is a calculated one. But that was all stripped aside at the end of Game 5, perhaps as real and honest a feeling as one can possibly expect to see on a basketball court.
Next: 2. 1993 NBA Finals, Game 4
2. 1993 NBA Finals, Game 4
by Tyler Parker (@tkparker) – Hardwood Paroxysm
One of my favorite talk show moments ever happened when Louis CK went on David Letterman to promote Blue Jasmine. Andrew Dice Clay was in that movie with CK, and they had been doing press together. CK played two voicemails for Letterman. One from one of his daughters saying that she loved it. The other from ADC, who insults him. CK says that he keeps those two because that’s how he always wants to feel about himself, good and bad, the full spectrum on display.
***
I like watching old Barkley clips because no one today looks like him. It’s like if there were videos of actual mastodons we could go find on YouTube. My favorite game to think about, and to go back and watch on YouTube, is Game 4 of the 1993 NBA Finals. Bulls vs. Suns. I like it for many reasons – the fight Ainge and Jordan get into, getting excited when Oliver Miller makes an appearance, Horace going for 17 and 16 – but the main one is getting to see Barkley in all his purple glory, regal as ever and shining. He shows off his full range, and he does all he can. Puts up one of the best lines in NBA Finals history. Goes for 34, 12 and 10 in forty-six minutes. Shoots 52% from the field and 80% from the line. This was Barkley at his absolute best, and it wasn’t enough. Jordan went for a murderous/double siren/sound every alarm 55. He was an earthquake, and he beat him.
Barkley has said before, going into that season, after the Dream Team, he felt he was the best player in the world. He held that belief through the playoffs, and into the Finals. Then Jordan showed up. Barkley’s told stories on podcasts about how he never thought he’d played against anybody better than him, until then. It was the one time he questioned it when he was at his peak.
I like thinking about all that, because it’s always provided me a nice reminder that there is always somebody better. A person could be doing greater than they’ve ever done, on a stage bigger than any other, and it still might not be enough. I suppose that should be scary, but there is something calming about it. Losing is possible, even for the greats, so when it happens, just chill out. It’s nickelstore advice, but good advice nonetheless: Just because you’re great at something does not mean you’re owed the world.
I’ve mentioned this game to my parents before, and showed my Dad old clips from it on YouTube one Christmas when I was showing him what all YouTube was capable of; because that’s a conversation you have to have with your parents. He had funny things to say about the game. I watched it with him when I was 5 in a rent house we were staying in at the time. That’s the only house I ever lived in with a fence. I wore a Jordan shirt, because if you lived in a state without a team, in those days you adopted the Bulls (that’s not a new observation). My Dad said I hated Barkley then. He said I thought he was villain. That he was bad. And when he scored I would get upset. Isn’t that weird?
Next: 1. 2013 NBA Finals, Game 6
1. 2013 NBA Finals, Game 6
by Matt Cianfrone Harwood Paroxysm and Friendly Bounce
I know that this is the easy choice.
For an entire generation of basketball fans this is the best game that they have watched, thanks to incredible level of play, the stakes and the players involved. Add in the shot by Ray Allen and the countless big shots from LeBron James and there is a perfect mix of end-of-game drama with the actual great play through the first three quarters. For me though this game gets the spot for me because of what it meant to me as a fan of Ray Allen.
Allen was the player that helped me fall in love with the game as a youngster as some of my earliest basketball memories involve the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals, when Allen and his Bucks dueled with Allen Iverson and the 76ers. Immediately I fell in love with Ray as he did all he could to get the Bucks into the NBA Finals with his combination of lights out shooting and athleticism.
Ever since that moment I have proudly proclaimed Ray Allen as my favorite player and rooted hard for him to win NBA titles at every opportunity. So when Allen hit that shot I lost it. That is why when picking a game to watch for the rest of my life, the decision becomes so simple.
I’ll watch my favorite player hit the biggest shot in NBA history forever and ever and get to watch basketball played at it;s highest level leading up to that shot. Not much more I could ask for.