Every NBA team’s greatest playoff moment

New York Knicks: The Willis Reed Game (1970 NBA Finals, Game 7)

Like there would be another moment that would qualify as the New York Knicks’ greatest playoff moment in team history. The Willis Reed Game in the 1970 NBA Finals isn’t just the stuff of legends in the Big Apple, but in the history of the league as a whole. It was the ending to a sports movie come to life and something that will likely never be duplicated again.

Reed already had a historic season under his belt going into the Finals against the vaunted Los Angeles Lakers. He won the All-Star Game MVP at midseason and then capped that off by being named league MVP as well. The Knicks big man would also capture Finals MVP honors (the first to do so at the time), and that was in no small part due to what happened in Game 7.

New York had a 3-2 lead in the series after Game 5, but went into Game 6 without Reed after he suffered a muscle-tear in his thigh. Given the severity of the injury, no one expected him to play in the decisive game of the Finals. But just before tip-off, Reed came jogging out of the tunnel ready to go before a raucous crowd in Madison Square Garden that was put into a frenzy by his return.

What’s often lost in the story of The Willis Reed Game is that the big man was basically a non-factor in terms of his production. Reed added only four points to the cause. However, his intestinal fortitude inspired both his teammates and the crowd to carry the Knicks to the 1970 title.