Practically a decade handed between NBA Finals that went the gap.
Sunday night time’s Recreation 7 between the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder and Indiana Pacers marked the primary Finals to go seven video games since 2016, when the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers completed off their historic sequence comeback towards the Golden State Warriors.
Regardless of that drought, there’s a lengthy historical past of Recreation 7s within the NBA Finals.
This 12 months’s Finals was the twentieth to require seven video games, a stretch that dates again to the early Fifties, when the Knicks misplaced back-to-back Recreation 7s in 1951 and 1952.
Which means there isn’t a scarcity of iconic Recreation 7 performances.
Listed here are a number of the greatest within the historical past of the NBA Finals.
Invoice Russell
There are many choices to select from with Russell, who famously went 5-0 with the Boston Celtics in Recreation 7s within the Finals (and 10-0 in Recreation 7s general).
However no statline was extra gaudy than Russell’s 30-point, 40-rebound eruption in 1962, when his Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, 110-107, in additional time.
The 40 rebounds stay a Finals Recreation 7 document.
Russell additionally had 22 factors and 35 rebounds in Recreation 7 in 1960, and 25 factors and 32 rebounds in Recreation 7 in 1966.
Jerry West
Arguably the best Recreation 7 efficiency in NBA Finals historical past got here in a shedding effort.
West had 42 factors, 13 rebounds and 12 assists in 1969, however his Lakers misplaced that grand finale, 108-106, to the Celtics.
It was the primary triple-double in Finals Recreation 7 historical past, and it stays the highest-scoring efficiency in a Finals Recreation 7.
Walt Frazier
It’s often called the Willis Reed sport, however Recreation 7 of the 1970 Finals went down as Frazier’s best second.
Frazier scored 36 factors on 12-of-17 capturing with seven rebounds and 19 assists to guide the Knicks to a 113-99 win over the Lakers — and the primary championship in franchise historical past.
The 19 assists stay a Finals Recreation 7 document.
James Worthy
The second triple-double in Finals Recreation 7 historical past additionally got here courtesy of a Laker, with Worthy exploding for 36 factors, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in a 108-105 win over the Detroit Pistons in 1988.
Magic Johnson had 19 factors and 14 assists, whereas a 40-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 4 factors and three rebounds.
Worthy was named Finals MVP after his efficiency backed up coach Pat Riley’s championship assure and made the Lakers the primary crew to repeat in practically twenty years.
Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest and Pau Gasol
Recreation 7 of the 2010 Finals wasn’t the prettiest efficiency by Bryant, who shot simply 6-of-24 from the sector.
However his co-stars stepped up in that 83-79 win over the Celtics, with Artest scoring 20 factors in 46 minutes, together with a dagger 3-pointer with 1:01 remaining off of a move from Bryant.
Gasol added 19 factors and 18 rebounds in 42 minutes.
And regardless of his capturing struggles, Bryant discovered a approach to have an effect on the sport. Along with his well timed help to Artest, Bryant made 11 free throws, completed with a game-high 23 factors and corralled 15 rebounds in 44 minutes.
LeBron James
The 2013 Finals are greatest remembered for Ray Allen’s game-tying 3-pointer within the waning seconds of Recreation 6, which finally helped drive a Recreation 7.
But it surely was James’ Recreation 7 heroics that clinched the Miami Warmth’s second consecutive championship.
James scored 37 factors with 12 rebounds and 4 assists in a 95-88 win over the San Antonio Spurs to assert a title that largely validated his Warmth superteam as an all-time nice.
James and Kyrie Irving
And James would have extra Recreation 7 magic in retailer.
James’ chase-down block on a fast-breaking Andre Iguodala saved the rating tied with underneath two minutes left in his Cavaliers’ eventual 93-89 win over the Warriors in 2016.
That set the stage for Irving’s game-winning stepback 3-pointer over Stephen Curry with 53.0 seconds remaining.
James completed with 27 factors, 11 rebound and 11 assists — the third triple-double in a Finals Recreation 7 — whereas Irving scored 26 factors as Cleveland turned the primary crew to return again from a 3-1 deficit within the Finals.
Initially Printed: June 22, 2025 at 12:36 PM EDT
