NBA Rankings: 5 More Unreal Numbers Put Up in the NBA Playoffs
Here is the last in a series about the greatest all-around individual performances in the NBA playoffs.
As we saw with Chris Paul's amazing stat fill on Sunday against the Lakers—33 points, 14 assists, seven rebounds and four steals, if you're wondering—an incredible showing can happen during any playoff season.
What makes it on this list, though, is a combination of game level, pressure and performance, which decidedly separates the good from the great in the later rounds.
Anyway, read on and enjoy.
5. Isiah's Game 6 Wonder
1 of 6June 19, 1988.
The Pistons are up 3-2 over the Lakers and Game 6 is in the belly of the beast, the Great Western Forum.
As L.A. performs its vaunted Showtime offense to perfection, shifting the series' momentum in their favor in the third quarter, Detroit's All-Star guard, Isiah "Zeke" Thomas, goes down under the basket in sheer agony.
It's a severely sprained ankle and the 6'1" dynamo seems to be finished for the night.
Not so.
Thomas gets back in and scores a miraculous 25 points in the fourth quarter to go with two assists. Zeke puts them down from all angles, netting soft floaters, deep threes and gutsy layups.
Finishing the game with 43 points, eight assists and two steals, the Lakers simply look on in utter amazement.
Many people think that his performance that night was simply a scoring display, but Thomas played his usual role of facilitator early on with six assists before the injury. Then, when he saw his team needed him to score to keep them in it, he did just that.
On a legendary night, the future Hall of Famer did all he could to help his team.
Alas, the Pistons came up short, losing 103-102, and eventually they would lose the series after an outstanding Game 7 by James Worthy, who is also featured on this list.
Still, Game 6 belonged to Thomas, who is living proof that the NBA's small men have the biggest hearts.
4. Baylor's Finals Moment
2 of 6Elgin Baylor's 61 points and 22 rebounds in a Game 5 victory over the rival Boston Celtics in the 1962 NBA Finals is remarkable to say the least.
One of the NBA's first flyers, Baylor scored 61—still an NBA Finals record—on a plethora of driving moves, jumpers and dunks, yet still crashed the boards hard on every play.
The most fierce rivalry in NBA history was under way, and Baylor tried his best, eventually losing to the Celtics in Game 7 of these finals, to win the only way he knew how: with scoring and rebounding dominance.
The Lakers would go on to lose to the Celtics six times in the 60s, but in the same season Baylor retired, 1972, they would go on to the championship.
3. Michael Is Sick
3 of 6Biting comments, like ex-Utah coach Jerry Sloan's statement in the above video, "He wasn't too sick to play basketball...", lend to speculation of the severity of Michael Jordan's illness.
But with all the critiques about just how sick Jordan was during Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals versus Utah, the one thing that could never be questioned was how badly he wanted to win.
By all accounts, Jordan was a flu-ridden mess, throwing up in the locker room, dehydrated and shivering, it was all he could do to lace up and play, if not, collapse.
You can be sure to this day the Jazz nation wishes he'd stayed in the hotel room as the G.O.A.T. put on a dazzling display scoring 38 points along with seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Being the decisive game of the series, it seemed every Jordan jumper was a dagger, saying, "You're gonna have to kill me first before I let you win this series."
Running the break, pulling down boards and hitting clutch treys, Jordan stood daring the Jazz defenders to perceive any weaknesses, of which, at that point in his career, he had none.
All that can be said is that he was a master of the game on the court and in the head.
Still, there's that one thing that separates the ultimate winners, warriors and conquerors throughout history: If you love something that much, you should be willing to die for it.
2. Larry's 50-1 Capper
4 of 6Already a legend before Game 6 of the 1986 NBA Finals, Larry "Legend" Bird only added to his luster with a instinctive and telling 29 points, 12 boards and 11 assists as part of a series-clinching triple-double.
Bird put the cap on a 50-1 home record with the victory, dazzling the Garden crowd with amazing passes, deep jumpers and some heroic dives to the hardwood.
League and Finals MVP for the third time in his career, Bird saved his best performance for his last title-winning game.
In the moment he hoisted that last step-back three, so fluid and confident in his purpose, Bird proved that perhaps no one deserved the nickname bestowed upon him more.
1. Magic's Game 6 Masterpiece
5 of 6Simply put, rookie Lakers guard Earvin "Magic" Johnson did it all in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals.
With the Finals MVP-in-waiting, Karee Abdul-Jabbar, out with a severely sprained left ankle, Magic took firm hold of the reins and masterfully completed a 42-point, 15-rebound, seven-assist and two-steal performance by hoisting up the Larry O'Brien and NBA Finals MVP trophies up at the end of the contest.
Magic's play truly began the decade of the 80s, which, starting with his revolutionary performance, proved to be the NBA's most successful yet.
Even without Magic's game, the NBA would likely have done just fine, but it's safe to say that without it, the NBA wouldn't have had such a great jump start.
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