Jordan drove inside the three-point line, executed a quick crossover—possibly pushing off Russell, but the officials did not call a foul—and made a 20-foot jumper to give the Chicago Bulls an 87–86 lead with 5.2 seconds left.
During an inbound made by Hal Greer to Chet Walker, John Havlicek poked the ball away toward Sam Jones, who took possession as time expired.
(The three-point line was not implemented until the 1979–80 season, so West's shot was worth only two points instead of three, which would have enabled the Lakers to win in regulation.
[11] During the 1957 NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics defeated the St. Louis Hawks in seven games as Bob Pettit missed a scoring attempt.
[12] Michael Jordan missed most of the Chicago Bulls' regular-season games after breaking a bone in his left foot, but returned in time for the playoffs.
[13] Ralph Sampson caught a pass from teammate Rodney McCray in mid-air, turned around and launched the ball toward the basket.
In the end, the Boston Celtics won 110–107, thanks to Bill Russell's 30 points and 40 rebounds as well as Bob Cousy's time-consuming dribbling around the court.
Oscar Robertson passed the ball to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who hit his signature sky hook over his defender Henry Finkel.
[14] In the fourth quarter, John Stockton scored 15 points including a buzzer-beating three-pointer off of a screen by Karl Malone to dispatch the Houston Rockets and send the Utah Jazz into the NBA Finals.
[14] Catching an inbound pass, Michael Jordan dribbled across the court and hit a game winner over the Cleveland Cavaliers's Craig Ehlo.
[15] After defeating the Celtics in Boston 125–123, the St. Louis Hawks went on to lose the following in double overtime with Bob Pettit missing the final shot.
Rookies Tom Heinsohn and Bill Russell were instrumental in leading to a Celtics victory as they combined to have 56 points and 55 rebounds.
[16] Near the final seconds of the game, Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon blocked a potential championship-winning three-pointer by John Starks, allowing the Rockets to defeat the New York Knicks.
But his performance was not enough to bring Detroit the win as New York Knicks star Bernard King scored 44 points and notched 12 rebounds, despite having both the flu and dislocated fingers.
[16] In the game, Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal almost notched a quadruple-double with 28 points, 20 rebounds, nine assists and a record-tying eight block shots.
Magic Johnson committed a bad pass, and allowed Bird to hit a late fade-away while defending him, and the Celtics forced overtime.
The game was also notable for the altercation occurred when Kevin McHale hit Kurt Rambis during a layup attempt and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar fouling out.
[16] The Golden State Warriors rallied to overcome a 102–88 deficit and avoided a series sweep in the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers, thanks to Sleepy Floyd, who scored 29 points in the fourth quarter (he had 39 in the second half and 51 in the entire game).
[16] Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to a series-tying win against the Los Angeles Lakers with a layup shot in the closing minutes.
His double-double (24 points and 29 rebounds) propelled the Lakers to their first title in L.A.[17] Sam Jones led the Boston Celtics to victory with a miraculous game-winning shot.
[17] Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs had an MVP performance in this game, helping his team to overcome a nine-point deficit in the final quarter.
[17] On the verge of losing the game and the Western Conference Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers turned the series around with a 29–9 game-closing run in the fourth quarter.
[17] The Golden State Warriors completed the ultimate upset in the NBA Finals by winning all four games by a margin of 16 points against the heavily favored Washington Bullets, the team that had home court advantage.
[17] Allan Houston's short jumper in the final seconds allowed the New York Knicks to win the series over the Miami Heat.
[17] After hitting a free throw to put the Syracuse Nationals up by one, George King made a steal off of Fort Wayne Pistons's Andy Phillip to secure the win and the championship.
[18] On Memorial Day, Sean Elliott of the San Antonio Spurs made a memorable play near the end of the game.
After getting a pass from his teammate, Elliott was forced to the sideline when Portland Trail Blazers’ Stacey Augmon rushed toward him in an attempt to poke the ball away.
[18] After trailing 0–2 in the series, the Denver Nuggets won the next three games to defeat the Seattle SuperSonics in one of the biggest upsets in playoffs history.
[18] With 1:26 remaining in a game against the Chicago Bulls, John Starks made a decisive play to lead the New York Knicks to victory.
With the help of Patrick Ewing's screen, Starks drove baseline and dunked the ball over both Horace Grant and Michael Jordan.