Ranking the 10 best NBA Finals Game 7s, from Willis Reed’s return to LeBron’s block

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The Athletic has live updates from Pacers vs. Thunder Game 7 from the 2025 NBA Finals.

Game 7.

It’s the ultimate contest. Each NBA season is a firehose of 1,230 games. There have been 83 playoff games this year, with the Oklahoma City Thunder taking part in 21 and the Indiana Pacers in 22.

This is it. There is no tomorrow. This one is for all the marb–

OK, we’ll abandon the hoary clichés. We know. You know. From that first practice in the fall to this game after the summer solstice, 30 teams work toward this goal. But now it’s down to two (teams) and one (game) as a Game 7 represents the ultimate test of an eventual champion’s strength, talent, will and grit. It’s hard, real hard, to win one of these things.

Because of that, Game 7s are often tight affairs. Everyone is tense. Everyone is on edge. Everyone knows what’s at stake. It’s not hyperbole to say legends are born and legacies are built in a Game 7.

There was no greater winner in basketball than Boston Celtics legend William Felton Russell, who played in 10 Game 7s in his career, including five in the finals. He never grabbed fewer than 21 rebounds in any one of them. His record? 10-0. Impeccable.

Then there’s Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, Los Angeles Lakers legends who were in four Game 7s … and lost them all. More than four decades later, when talking about the 1970 Game 7 loss to the New York Knicks, West’s voice still shook with emotion when he talked about it.

Sunday’s Game 7 will be the 20th in NBA history with the first in 1951 and the last in 2016. Not every one of them was a classic, but a number of them were. Of those previous 19, we picked 10 of the best.

On Sunday, for the 18,203 fans who will pack the Paycom Center and scream their lungs out, win or lose, they will be witnessing history.

No. 1: Cleveland Cavaliers 93, Golden State Warriors 89 – 2016 

Some could accuse us of recency bias with this selection. And in a way, it’d be fair: Cavs-Warriors in 2016 was the most recent Game 7 in the NBA Finals.

But that’s not why this epic Game 7 tops the list. Not only was it the game itself, filled with exquisite tension and unforgettable moments late in the fourth quarter, but it was also everything that surrounded this game: the Warriors trying to cap a historic season, having won 73 regular-season games and trying to repeat; LeBron James trying to lead the Cavs to their first title and break that interminable Cleveland title drought; the Cavs having been down 3-1 in the series to force a Game 7.

No team had a season like the Warriors. No team had ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in the finals. The result changed the course of NBA history.

Warriors forward Draymond Green had the game of his life with 32 points, 15 boards, nine assists on 11-of-15 shooting. But neither team shot well: the Cavs were 40.2 percent from the field and the Warriors shot 38.2.

Because neither team could shoot or force turnovers (they combined for 21), the tension came from their proximity to each other. Neither team led by more than eight. There were 11 ties and a ridiculous 20 lead changes. The Warriors led by seven at halftime, but only one after three.

In the fourth quarter, the teams exchanged the lead twice and were tied twice, including at 89 with 4:39 to go in the fourth quarter. Then, the scoring stopped. Time ticked away and with each missed shot, the tension grew: Cavs miss, Warriors miss, repeat as each team missed six shots. It was like watching Meadow trying to parallel park in “The Sopranos” series finale.

Finally, when it looked as if the Warriors were about to break the tie with 1:54 to go as Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala got ahead on a fast break, LeBron James made the play of his career: The Block.

Fifty-seven seconds later, after LeBron and Steph exchanged misses, Kyrie Irving hit the biggest shot in Cavs’ history: a 3-pointer from the right wing to break the tie and give Cleveland a lead it would never relinquish. The Cavs had their first title, Cleveland had its first championship since the 1964 Browns, and, in the summer, the Warriors would sign Kevin Durant, whose Thunder fell in seven games to the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. Signing KD continued the superteam trend and helped the Warriors win the next two NBA titles in 2017 and ‘18.

No Game 7 has ever been as seismic as this one.

No. 2: Boston Celtics 110, Los Angeles Lakers 107 (OT) – 1962

If Cavs-Warriors set the standards for modern legacies, Game 7 of the 1962 NBA Finals was a benchmark for the classic NBA. This one turned on an open 10-footer.

By 1962, the Celtics had established their dynasty, winning four of five titles, including the last three. The first of those three consecutive titles came in a sweep, the finals’ first, at the expense of Elgin Baylor and the Minneapolis Lakers in 1959.

In ‘62, the Lakers returned to the NBA’s ultimate stage for the first time since that sweep and the first time representing Los Angeles. The Celtics’ dominance over the NBA had been established, but their hold over the Lakers had not.

L.A. had a 3-2 series lead, winning Games 2 and 5 in Boston Garden. But the Celtics humbled the Lakers by 14 in Game 6 in Los Angeles, sending the series back to Boston for Game 7.

At the end of three quarters, the game was tied at 75. With the score tied at 100 and fewer than seven seconds left, the Lakers’ Frank Selvy, who had hit two buckets to tie the game at 100, had an open shot on the baseline to give the Lakers the lead and potentially the title. Selvy’s shot with three seconds to go looked good out of his hand, but it hit short and bounced off, sending the game into overtime.

There, the Celtics took control and won their fourth consecutive NBA title. It was the first of three Game 7 losses for Baylor, who had 41 points, and West, who had 35, to the Celtics. Russell had 30 points and a finals record 40 rebounds.

No. 3: Celtics 125, St. Louis Hawks 123 (2 OT) – 1957

The only double-overtime Game 7 in finals history, this game was the beginning of the Celtics dynasty and a rivalry with the St. Louis Hawks, who faced the Celtics in four out of five NBA Finals. (We could get into how Red Auerbach fleeced the Hawks 11 ½ months earlier by trading for Bill Russell, adding another layer to the rivalry, but that’s a whole ‘nother article.)

Boston’s first NBA title didn’t come easily. The Celtics took a 3-2 series lead before the Hawks won Game 6 96-94, their third two-point victory of the series.

The series returned to Boston for the Celtics’ first Game 7 in franchise history. The Celtics took a six-point lead into the fourth quarter, but it took some late Russell heroics — a bucket and a block — to send the game to the first OT tied at 103. The game entered a second OT tied at 113. According to the Boston Globe, by the end of the game, there would be 38 lead changes and 20 ties.

In the second OT, the Celtics clung to a two-point lead with one second left. Alex Hannum, the Hawks coach who had to put himself into the game because of his team’s foul trouble, drew up a wild play in a desperate attempt to force a third OT.

Taking the ball out under the Celtics’ hoop, Hannum launched a 94-foot pass off the backboard into the hands of Bob Pettit, who had 39 points and 19 rebounds. The stunned Celtics watched as Pettit corralled the carom and put up a shot as time expired. The ball bounced off the rim and the C’s were champions for the first time.

Rookie Tommy Heinsohn led the Celtics with 37 points and 23 rebounds before fouling out in the second overtime.

Boston Celtics Bill Russell shoots over Los Angeles Lakers Wilt Chamberlain in the 1969 NBA Finals. (Photo by George Long/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

No. 4: Celtics 108, Lakers 106 – 1969

If the internet/social media had existed during this game, it would have broken into a million pieces. This game had a little bit of everything.

By 1968, the Lakers had lost six times, once in Minneapolis and five times in Los Angeles, to the Celtics in the finals, and twice in seven games (1962 and 1966). The Lakers had enough.

In July 1968, Los Angeles acquired the game’s greatest force — Wilt Chamberlain, who led the league in rebounds and assists the previous season — and combined him with Baylor and West: the NBA’s first superteam.

After dispatching the Hawks and Warriors, the Lakers were in the finals again against an aging Celtics dynasty that had finished fourth in the Eastern Division.

By this time, Russell was in his second season as player-coach, and in 1968, his first season at the helm, Russell’s Celtics beat the Lakers in the finals in six games.

But with Wilt, the result would be different, right? The Lakers thought so. For the first time, Los Angeles would have home court in Game 7. Through six games, each team had held serve at home. Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke was so sure his team would prevail, he had balloons in the rafters to drop after the win.

The gesture angered Lakers (West) and Celtics (Russell) alike. But the Celtics used it as fuel, leading by as many as 17 and taking a 15-point lead into the fourth quarter.

The Lakers, however, showed grit despite losing Chamberlain to a knee injury, and got within 103-102 with a little more than three minutes remaining. Chamberlain said he asked back into the game at one point, but Lakers coach Butch Van Breda Kolff said according to The Los Angeles Times: “We’re doing well enough without you.”

And for the Celtics, they had one last bit of magic. Clinging to that 103-102 lead, John Havlicek had his dribble poked away. The ball went straight to Don Nelson, who grabbed it and flung it at the hoop. His shot hit the back of the rim, popped up and dropped in to give the Celtics a 105-102 lead.

From there, the Celtics would go to win 108-106, with Wilt still on the bench and the balloons still in the rafters. Russell had his 11th NBA title in 13 years.

No. 5: Lakers 108, Detroit Pistons 105 – 1988

Lakers coach Pat Riley set this scenario in motion a year earlier.

Yes, that’s Riley at the 1987 Lakers championship parade guaranteeing that his team would be back celebrating another title one year later.

But six games into the 1988 Finals, that prediction was in peril. With the upstart Pistons leading the series 3-2, Game 6 at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. was no picnic for the Lakers. Thanks to an epic performance from Isiah Thomas, who scored 25 points in the period — most of it on a sprained ankle — the Pistons held a two-point lead going into the fourth quarter.

With the Lakers down one, Bill Laimbeer fouled Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 14 seconds left in the fourth. The Captain sank both free throws, the Pistons missed a shot, Byron Scott missed two free throws and the Pistons, who had no timeouts, couldn’t get a shot off and it was onto Game 7.

That’s where the legend of “Big Game James” Worthy was solidified. Worthy did what Magic Johnson usually did, notching a triple-double with 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in the Lakers’ victory, earning Finals MVP honors along the way.

But the Pistons didn’t make it easy. Trailing by as many as 15 with 7:27 to go in the fourth, the Pistons whittled the Lakers’ lead to two late.

“This is stunning,” CBS’ Dick Stockton said as Dennis Rodman hit a hanging one-hander with a little less than three minutes to go in the game. The Pistons were able to keep it close, trailing by three. After a Lakers’ turnover and down three, Rodman rushed an ill-advised runner with 40 seconds that missed.

After the Lakers pushed the lead to 106-102, the Pistons still wouldn’t go away. Laimbeer swished a 3-pointer with six seconds to go to cut the lead to 106-105. An A.C. Green layup cemented the final margin. The game was also the last time any team has surpassed 100 points in Game 7.

Also, watch the final two seconds. Pure chaos. This is probably one of the reasons why the NBA now surrounds the court with rope in the final moments of a clinching game.

No. 6: Rochester Royals 79, New York Knicks 75 – 1951

This may be the most improbable Game 7 in NBA history. And it almost became the greatest comeback in league annals.

The Rochester Royals raced out to a 3-0 series lead, winning the first three games by an average of 16 points. The Knicks came roaring back, winning Games 4, 5 and 6 to tie the series. To this day, no other team in finals history has gone down 3-0 to force a Game 7.

And that first Game 7 in finals history, in the parlance of the day, was a humdinger. You may not know that by looking at The New York Times’ front page the day after.

After tying the series down 3-0, the Knicks fought back in Game 7 from down 14 to take a 74-72 lead with two minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The Knicks’ miracle comeback was almost complete.

Almost. The Royals, now the Sacramento Kings, and Knicks were tied at 75 before two free throws and a late layup gave them the NBA title. To this date, it’s still the only championship in franchise history.

No. 7: Syracuse Nationals 92, Ft. Wayne Pistons 91 – 1955

Before John Havlicek stole the ball, “Handsome” George King did. A 6-foot wisp of a point guard, King played six NBA seasons, five with the Royals.

In a 2-3-2 format, the Nationals won the first two, the Pistons won the next three. As the series returned to Syracuse, the Nationals (now the Philadelphia 76ers) took Game 6 on April 9 by five points. On April 10, the teams played the closest Game 7 in NBA Finals history.

The Pistons took a huge early lead, going up 17 points a little more than three minutes into the second quarter. The year before, that may have meant death for the Nationals. But thanks to the new 24-second shot clock, which Syracuse brass famously suggested for the league, the Pistons couldn’t stall.

The Nationals chipped away, cutting the lead to six at halftime and tying the game at 74 to enter the fourth quarter. With the game tied at 91 with six seconds remaining, King hit a free throw to put Syracuse up one. Two seconds later, King stole the ball from Ft. Wayne’s “Handy” Andy Phillip, a five-time All-Star and eventual Hall of Famer, to seal the championship for the Nats.

“A Hollywood writer couldn’t have dreamed a better script than this one,” Jack Andrews wrote in the Syracuse Post-Standard.

No. 8: Knicks 113, Lakers 99 – 1970

This one isn’t here because the game was great. Well, it was for Walt “Clyde” Frazier and the Knicks. This one is here because what Willis Reed did before it has entered pop culture and remains 55 years later.

Reed injured his thigh in the first quarter of Game 5. Without him, the Knicks rallied to win the game and take a 3-2 series lead. Two nights later in Los Angeles, the Lakers pounded the Knicks, who were without Reed, by 22 to tie the series.

Before Game 7, no one knew if Reed would play. The New York Times reported the chances of Reed playing were 50-50.

As the teams were warming up, a murmur started among the crowd. ABC’s Jack Twyman caught a glimpse of a figure in the tunnel.

Reed, torn thigh and all, started the game, hit his first two shots and the rout, physically and psychologically, was on. The Knicks led by 14 after one and by 27 at halftime. Frazier put the pedal to the metal with 36 points, 19 assists, seven boards and five steals. The Knicks had their first NBA title.

But it was Reed emerging from that tunnel at Madison Square Garden that has come to epitomize the grit and determination it takes to win a championship.

No. 9: Spurs 81, Pistons 74 – 2005

For the first four games, this series was, let’s be honest, gross. The Spurs won the first two, the Pistons won the next two and the losing scores were: 69, 76, 79, 71. Oof.

Then came the Robert Horry game in Game 5 at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Spurs reserve took over late in the fourth and hit the game-winning 3 in overtime as 22,000 Pistons fans held their collective breath as Horry had a wide-open look to ice the contest.

So, with Game 6 in San Antonio, it was a foregone conclusion that the Spurs would lock up their third title, right? Wrong. The defending champion Pistons stunned the Spurs and the basketball world with a 95-86 win to force a Game 7.

In the first Game 7 in 11 years (and it was the lowest-scoring Game 7 since 1952), the teams were tied 16 times and exchanged the lead 10 times. Tim Duncan was his usual solid self with 25 points (on 27 shots) and 11 rebounds.

The game, however, belonged to Manu Ginobili, who had 23 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter. He was 3 of 4 from the field, assisted on two of the other Spurs hoops and grabbed three boards in the process.

“We went into that Game 7 scared s–tless,” Ginobili recalled, many years later. “Pop (Spurs coach Gregg Popovich) called it appropriate fear. And it’s true. It’s not that you’re paralyzed by fear. But we have to play every single possession. We’ve got to be physical.

“I remember things about the fourth quarter, when everything opened up for me. I remember starting pretty well, but thinking in the fourth quarter, it’s my game. I know they won’t have an answer, that I’m in the zone, I’m feeling it. I’ve got that feeling in my head, saying that this is my moment.”

Kobe Bryant drives against Ray Allen in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

No. 10: Lakers 83, Celtics 79 – 2010

While people may wonder why we don’t have the 1984 Game 7 in this spot is this: That series was iconic, but Game 7 was more of the same in Celtics-Lakers history with the Celtics dominating and winning.

This Game 7 was somewhat like the Cavs-Warriors’: the absence of offensive fireworks ratcheted up the tension because it felt as if the next made hoop could be the last. Every point was at a premium.

The Celtics jumped to a nine-point lead after one, but the Lakers kept chipping away at Boston’s lead. By the fourth quarter, the Celtics held a four-point lead. Then, the Lakers rallied behind Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and … Metta World Peace (now Metta Sandiford-Artest). World Peace scored six of his 20 points (second only to Bryant’s 23) in the fourth, including a crucial 3-pointer with one minute left to give the Lakers a 79-73 lead.

Two Celtics’ 3s sandwiched around two Bryant freebies cut the lead to two with 16 seconds to go, but two free throws by Sasha “The Machine” Vujacic sealed the win and the Lakers’ 16th title. It was Bryant’s fifth title, and he was named Finals MVP for the second straight year.

(Photo of LeBron James and Andre Iguodala: Garrett Ellwood / NBAE via Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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