We are already in the end of March and the playoffs are just around the corner, so today's Out of Bounce will name the top seven NBA playoff moments since 2010.
7. Lebron Chokes, Mavs Win
In 2010, one of the NBA's greatest super teams was formed. Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and Prime-Lebron James all joined the same team - the Miami Heat.
As expected in 2011, they got to the finals, facing a Dirk Nowitzki-led Mavericks. Everyone thought the series was over before it even began. To everyone's surprise, the finals was five games in, and the Mavericks were leading 3-2. Then came game six, the game was pretty close going into the fourth quarter, but with team effort, the Mavs were able to close out the Heat. That's how Dirk became a Dallas hero.
6. Dame Waves The Thunder Goodbye
On April 24th 2019 the Portland Trail Blazers were facing The Oklahoma City Thunder for game five in the first round of the playoffs Portland was down by six with 2:15, after tying the game at 113- 113 Paul George made the shot to give OKC a two-point lead. Damian Lillard made a lay-up to tie the game again. OKC missed their next shot and Dame got the ball with 17 seconds left. He got to the logo and just stood there, dribbling, before you knew it he was sidestepping with Paul George's hand in his face and drilled it, celebrating with a cold wave goodbye.
5. Another Dame Shot...
On May 2nd 2014 the Portland Trail blazers were facing the Houston Rockets for game six (3-2 for Portland) of the Western Conference first round. Portland was down by two with only 0.9 seconds left in the game, and yet again, Dame was there to save the day.
You could see before the inbound that Houston was a bit confused (later, a Houston player said in an interview that there were problems during the time-out). Anyway, Portland inbounded the ball to Damian Lillard who was sprinting on the perimeter, he fades for the shot and drills it. This shot got the Blazers their first playoff series win in 14 years. Dame Dolla, legend.
4. Giannis Scores 50 In Game Six
It was the 2021 NBA finals the Milwaukee Bucks were playing the Phoenix Suns. While Phoenix got the first two wins the Bucks were able to come back and win the next three games to go up 3-2.
In this game Giannis decided to go nuclear: he dropped 50 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks, to close out the Suns. He was doing all of that while battling a knee injury that he got in the conference finals against the Atlanta hawks
3. "Is This The Dagger?"
If you've read Out of Bounce before, you probably know that I am a Sixers fan, so # 3 will be very hard for me.
It was May 13th 2019 Toronto were hosting the 76ers for game seven of the eastern conference second round. Both sides were locked in going into that final game, and the game did not disappoint. With four seconds left in the game and the score tied 90-90, Toronto had the ball. By the words of the commentator: "It's off to Leonard, defended by Simmons. IS THIS THE DAGGER?." The ball bounced on the rim and the entire arena went silent, it bounced four more times and rolled inside. The entire place was on fire, everyone were cheering. Kawhi ended the game with 41 points and short after that, he led the Raptors to their first ever championship.
2. Greatest Shot In NBA History?
It was game six of the 2013 NBA finals, the series was 3-2 for San Antonio.
Miami was down by three with 11 seconds left in the game, Lebron took a three-pointer, missed it, Chris Bosh grabbed the rebound, passed it to Ray Allen in the corner, BANG! He made the shot to tie the game with five seconds remaining in the game.
This shot sent the game to over-time and in the end Miami not only won the game, they won the series. And this is how old Ray Allen got Lebron his second ring.
1."Blocked By James" and Cavs Comeback
On June 10, 2016 the Golden State Warriors were up 3-1 in the NBA finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Golden State that year already broke the season wins record with 73 wins and only nine losses and they were about to submit themselves as the greatest team of all time.
There was only one problem, and his name was Lebron James. Lebron was playing the basketball of his life; together with Kyrie Irving, they were unstoppable. The Cavs went on to win the next two games. It was all down to game seven.
With two minutes left in the game and a tied score, Lebron missed a lay-up. That, sent Iguodala to a fast break lay-up, but Lebron somehow recovered from the miss and was able to block the shot. Later, with one minute left, Kyrie got a switch on Curry that got him a side step three. These two plays are some of the most iconic in the century, and more importantly they got the Cavs the biggest comeback in NBA finals history.
Now it's time for play of the week, I'm not going to say anything, Just watch:
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