The best NBA Finals Game 4 showdowns of the David Stern Era

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If you’re looking for an illustration of why Celtics-Lakers is the best rivalry in the NBA – and perhaps the most enduring of any in the four major pro sports – then read the piece below.

Before each game throughout the NBA Finals, we have been encapsulizing the top five Game 1s, Game 2s, etc.

As the Thunder and Heat steel themselves for what should be a pretty intense Game 4 tonight, we offer you our top five Game 4 showdowns in recent NBA history.

All five games include the Lakers, and all but one of the matchups includes the Celtics.

Keep in mind that our historical cut line is 1984, when David Stern first became commissioner and the playoffs first went to a 16-team format that required all teams to play four postseason rounds. So we are not even including some of the classic Celtics-Lakers matchups of the 1960s, when the teams met a staggering six times in the Finals.

All of those showdowns were won by the Celtics. The rivalry has been much more balanced during Stern’s reign, as you will see below.

And if you’d like, you can also catch up on our picks for best Game 1, Game 2 and Game 3.

5. THE CELTICS STORM BACK: In 2008, the Celtics and Lakers met in the Finals for the first time in 21 years. Neither team broke through on the road through the first three games, and that trend looked like it would continue in Game 4 as the Lakers opened a 35-14 lead after one quarter. The lead grew to 24 points with less than five minutes before halftime and was still 70-50 midway through the third period when the Celtics finally awoke. Boston got a huge boost from bench players Eddie House, James Posey and P.J. Brown while LA was getting nothing from reserves Sasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmar and Ronny Turiaf. The Celtics closed the quarter with a 21-3 run, and when Leon Powe scored to open the final period, the game was tied. “The air went out of the building,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. The Lakers briefly rebuilt a four-point lead before the Celtics took control for good with an 11-2 burst triggered by Posey’s 3-pointer as a swarmed Kobe Bryant went without a shot for three minutes. Posey stuck in the dagger with another 3 for a 92-87 lead at the 1:13 mark, and the Lakers never again had the ball with a chance to tie. Posey scored 18 points, three more than LA’s reserves. The Lakers were limited to 33 second-half points in a crushing 97-91 loss that virtually assured Boston’s 17th championship, which the Celtics secured five days later on their home floor.

4. DJ DRILLS A DAGGER: The 1985 Finals between the Celtics and Lakers featured huge momentum swings. Boston won the first game on its home floor by 34 points, then abruptly lost the next two and found itself fighting for its series life in Game 4 at the Fabulous Forum. In the final minute of a tense fourth quarter, the Celtics forced a miss on a baseline skyhook by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. But Magic Johnson – who had a triple-double with 20 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds – sneaked in for the offensive rebound and putback that tied it, 105-105, with 17 seconds to go. With the luxury of holding for the last shot, the Celtics initiated their set with Dennis Johnson at the top and Larry Bird coming off a right side curl. On the catch, Bird was doubled by Magic. He took one dribble to freeze Magic, then pitched back to Dennis Johnson, who buried an 18-footer at the horn for the win that evened the series. The shot capped a simply spectacular game for Dennis Johnson, a Finals MVP in 1979 with Seattle who had 27 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds while adding to his resume as a clutch performer. The Finals went 12 years before seeing another pure buzzer-beater.

3. KOBE BRYANT COMES OF AGE: Despite Kobe Bryant’s meteoric rise to superstardom over his first four years, the Lakers were still Shaquille O’Neal’s team when they met the Indiana Pacers in the 2000 Finals. O’Neal won MVP honors that season, and Bryant was still the beta dog, intermittently picking his spots in and around O’Neal’s dominance. But in Game 4, he fully emerged from Shaq’s shadow. Bryant badly sprained his ankle in Game 2 and sat out Game 3, which the Pacers won on their home floor to get back in the series. O’Neal was his usual unstoppable self with 36 points and 21 rebounds. But he missed a potential game-winning jumphook at the end of regulation and fouled out with 2:33 left in overtime, handing the reins to Bryant, who wasted no time proving he was up to the challenge. On consecutive possessions, he answered baskets by Rik Smits with jumpers. After the second one, he retreated on defense while pushing his palms downward, as if to tell his team, “Calm down, I got this.” Which he did, putting home a reverse layup off Brian Shaw’s miss with 5.9 seconds to go. The Lakers survived a potential game-winning 3-pointer by Reggie Miller and held on for a 120-118 win, regaining control of the series in one of the more underrated Finals games in NBA history. At practice the following day, I bumped into Bryant as he left his media session and headed down a back corridor for treatment on his ankle. I told him that Game 4 would always be remembered as the day when he emerged from Shaq’s shadow. “Really?” he responded, sincerely pleased. “I hope so.”

2. THE JUNIOR, JUNIOR SKYHOOK: In 1987, the Lakers and Celtics met in the Finals for the third time in four years. The Lakers were rested and won the first two games at home rather easily, averaging 133.5 points. The Celtics got back in the series with a home win in Game 3 and appeared positioned to win even the series as they opened a 16-point lead in the third quarter. The Lakers staged a furious rally to tie the game with 5 1/2 minutes to go, then rallied again after Boston rebuilt an eight-point lead two minutes later. An alley-oop dunk from Magic Johnson to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gave the Lakers a 104-103 lead with 29 seconds to go. Larry Bird drilled a 3-pointer to reclaim the lead for Boston, and LA went to Abdul-Jabbar, who was fouled. He made the first shot and missed the second, and the ball was ruled out of bounds off Kevin McHale, allowing the Lakers to retain possession with seven seconds to play. The Lakers called timeout and went to Johnson, who used a hesitation dribble to get into the lane and floated a running hook – which he later called a “junior, junior skyhook” – over the outstretched arms of McHale and Robert Parish with two seconds left, silencing the Boston Garden crowd. Bird was able to get free of James Worthy for a 3-pointer from the left corner that bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded, giving the Lakers a 107-106 win and a 3-1 series lead. In the moments after the game, James Brown of CBS interviewed Johnson in the cramped corridors of Boston Garden. During the interview, shouting could be heard in the background. It was Celtics GM Red Auerbach, reading the referees the riot act.

Go to the 3:45 mark of the video below for Red’s rant.

1. THE CELTICS BULLY THE LAKERS: The 1984 Finals began with the Lakers nearly taking the first two games on the road from the Celtics, who were rescued by a timely steal by Gerald Henderson to win Game 2. Back in Los Angeles, the Lakers pounded the Celtics in Game 3, and Larry Bird called out his team in the media, calling it “a bunch of sissies.” Only he didn’t say “sissies.” He said a word that begins with P and is a synonym for a cat. The Celts decided that they would go down fighting. Bird shoved Michael Cooper in the second quarter and nearly came to blows with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the third period. But the most memorable altercation was Kevin McHale’s clothesline takedown of Kurt Rambis on a fast break that resulted in several scuffles with multiple players coming off both benches. In today’s game, McHale would have been suspended for at least five games, and many others would have been facing bans of at least one game. But incredibly, no one received as much as a technical foul. Despite the rough stuff, the Lakers led by five points with a minute to play but allowed a three-point play on a follow shot by Robert Parish, who later stole a pass by Magic Johnson after Larry Bird sank the tying free throws. In overtime, a three-point play by James Worthy gave the Lakers a 123-121 lead before Bird tied it with two free throws and – after Magic missed a pair from the line – gave the Celts the lead for good with a turnaround jumper with 16 seconds left. Worthy drew a foul, but when he missed the first free throw, Celtics forward Cedric Maxwell walked across the lane and made the “choke” sign. Boston held on for a 129-125 win as Bird had 29 points and 21 rebounds, Parish added 25 and 12 and Dennis Johnson had 22 and 14 assists. Abdul-Jabbar scored 32 points, Worthy had 30 and Magic Johnson had a triple-double with 20 points, 17 assists and 11 rebounds. It is inarguably one of the greatest Finals games of all time.

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Bernucca: Pressure of Game 7 already building for Celtics

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So the Sixers and Celtics will resume hostilities in Game 7 at Boston on Saturday.

The Celtics have a badly needed extra day of rest. They have the advantage of playing on their home floor. They have plenty of postseason experience. And they also have better players, which always helps.

The Sixers were supposed to have started their offseason two weeks ago. They nudged their way into the playoffs as an eighth seed that had been playing poorly for six weeks. They were expected to bow out meekly to the top- seeded Chicago Bulls, even after Derrick Rose went down in the opener.

They were dismissed as a mere speed bump in the path of the Celtics, who were going to take advantage of a gaping bracket to return to the NBA Finals. And they have now come to the expected end of an unexpected postseason run.

Or have they?

Because in addition to extra rest, home-court advantage, big-game experience and a locker room full of All Stars, do you know what else the Celtics have?

All of the pressure.

All of the pressure of meeting expectations. All of the pressure of winning at home. All of the pressure of their championship pedigree. All of the pressure of averting a loss that could only be categorized as unacceptable.

And if you look at their recent history, it is not a situation the Celtics have handled well.

“It’s nice to have it at home, but you have to still go get it,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “At the end of the day you have to go play.”

Let’s start with Rivers, who is 3-4 all-time in Game 7. One of those came during his days in Orlando, when Tracy McGrady opened his big mouth and said he was “finally out of the first round” after the Magic grabbed a 3-1 lead.  But the other six have been with the Celtics.

The first of those came in 2005, when Rivers and the Celtics capped an absolutely awful series with their third home loss. After winning in overtime at Indiana in Game 6, Boston was run off its home floor in the second half of a 97-70 loss that was as bad as the score suggests.

Celtics Nation will quickly point out that loss came before the formation of the current core, which was put together in 2008 – and hasn’t exactly been sparkling in Game 7, either.

In their 2008 championship season, the Celtics won 66 games but somehow were pushed to a seventh game by both 37- win Atlanta and 45-win Cleveland in the first two rounds.

Against the overmatched Hawks, the Celtics snapped out of it and raced to a 99-65 win. Against the one-man Cavs, Paul Pierce scored 41 points to offset 45 by LeBron James and got just enough help from P.J. Brown, who scored 10 points off the bench to cover for Ray Allen (4 points) and Rajon Rondo (8).

The Celtics had two more Game 7 affairs in 2009, when they were without the injured Kevin Garnett.

In the first round, they again were pushed to the limit by the seventh-seeded Chicago Bulls and hotshot rookie Derrick Rose before being rescued by Eddie House, who scored eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter of a 109-99 win.

In the conference semifinals, the Celtics squandered a 3-2 lead over the Orlando Magic, ultimately losing Game 7 at home in a no-show. They led for all of 36 seconds, spent most of the game trying to cut into a double-digit deficit and collapsed in the fourth quarter, allowing the first 11 points.

Pierce, who carried the Celtics in the same spot a year earlier, made just 4-of-10 shots. The bench managed just 12 points, led by four from Stephon Marbury. Worst of all, the Celtics let the Magic to develop a comfort level, even while Dwight Howard managed just 12 points.

Boston’s most recent Game 7 was its most excruciating loss, an 83-79 road setback to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2010 Finals. The Celtics were without Kendrick Perkins but nevertheless opened a 13-point lead in the third quarter. But Pierce and Allen shot a combined 8-of-29 and the bench managed just six points, all by Glen Davis.

Yes, the personnel has changed from year to year. But the “Core Four” has been in place for Boston’s last five Game 7′s, and some trends are worth watching.

When the Celtics have been relatively healthy, they have reached the NBA Finals. When they have been missing a key player, their playoff run ended prematurely.

Right now, Boston is without Avery Bradley, who provides overall quickness, strong defense, spot-up shooting and the luxury of bringing the clearly hobbled Allen off the bench. Without Bradley, the Celtics have struggled to keep the quicker Sixers out of the paint and to score with their studs off the floor.

When the Celtics have won Game 7, the reserves made a contribution. When they have lost, the bench was invisible. In Game 6 vs. Philadelphia, they had five bench points – all from Mickael Pietrus – while Pierce, Rondo and Garnett all played 40-plus minutes. Someone on the bench is going to have to step up Saturday and fill the role previously played by Brown, House, Davis and James Posey.

Who is that player? Pietrus seems like the most likely candidate. But if he’s launching bricks, can Keyon Dooling or Ryan Hollins or Marquis Daniels or Greg Stiemsma contribute something other than fouls? It seems unlikely.

And when the Celtics lost Game 7 to the Magic, their normally stout defense disappeared. At home against the Sixers, they made a stand late in Game 1 and in the second half of Game 5. But for the most part, Philadelphia has not had trouble using its quickness, getting its drive-and-kick game going and taking advantage of Boston’s lack of a shot-blocker.

After losing Game 6, Rivers said, “I do like that we have an extra day. I think that helps us a little bit.” And the Celtics are 2-0 this postseason with the additional off day.

But that alone is not going to get it done. Neither is the home court, which the Sixers have solved already. And the experience will help only if the Celtics can call upon it; at times it has been fleeting, as it was Wednesday night.

The Celtics need to play more through Garnett, who cannot shoot 3-of-12 as he did in Game 4. They need the 22 points Pierce has averaged in the last four games, not the 21 combined he had in Games 1 and 2 at home. They need Rondo to be both a scorer and playmaker, not one or the other. They need Allen to provide timely shooting and something more than matador defense. And they need someone – anyone – on the bench to do more than resemble a statue.

And the Celtics have to do this against the Sixers, who already know they can win in TD Garden, currently own the momentum, are playing much closer to their potential and have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain.

No pressure, guys.

Chris Bernucca is a regular contributor to SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear Wednesday and Sunday. You can follow him on Twitter.

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Odds and ends on slow day in NBA (unless D.Howard gets traded tonight)

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Samuel Dalembert should have been signed by now. A shot-blocking and rebounding specialist, the 7-footer would figure to be in his demand simply because capable 7-footers are always seemingly in high demand.

Dalembert had been in negotiations with the Houston Rockets, who have been trying to dig out of the rubble caused when commissioner David Stern dynamited their trade with the Hornets and Lakers, ruining their plans to field a front line of Pau Gasol and Nene.

But now that the news is out that the Kings have voided the contract of free agent signee Chuck Hayes because of a heart abnormality, it makes all that much more sense for Dalembert to re-sign with the Kings, whose owners vowed to keep him at the conclusion of last season.

Yet Dalembert remains idle, as is Kris Humphries, who averaged a double-double for New Jersey last season before marrying and then breaking up with Kim Kardashian.

Both are represented by agent Marc Cornstein, as is free agent Boki Nochbar, who told me back in September when I was covering EuroBasket2011 in Lithuania that he was willing to play for the New Jersey Nets, Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors. But since then, he held a workout for the New York Knicks.

News came today that Baron Davis had signed with the Knicks for the veteran’s minimum instead of the $2.5 million “room exception” that New York still has not spent, meaning they have some decent money to throw around to add the final piece to their puzzle.

I was doing an informal Twitter poll that James Posey was leading over Bostjan Nachbar and Steve Novak while I awaited tipoff of Clippers-Lakers on NBA-TV when  Novak suddenly tweeted: “Next stop: NY!!!!” Within an hour or so, Novak removed the tweet.

 

But Novak is not a $2.5 million room exception guy, is he?

That means the Knicks could still go after Posey or Nachbar, who could replace exactly what Shawne Williams brought to the team a year ago – a stretch 3-4 with the ability to knock down 3-point shots from the corner. And then there is Reggie Evans, who I listed among the top 5 underrated free agents. Click the link to check out his rebounding efficiency numbers.

Nick Young has signed his qualifying offer with the Washington Wizards. According to Michael Lee of the Washington Post, Young appears to be making good on his vow to never wear Jordan Brand sneakers again, showing up at practice Monday wearing Kobe kicks.

In Memphis, the Grizzlies got a piece of bad news Monday when they learned that backup forward Darrell Arthur will be out for the season with  torn Achilles tendon.

There was one minor trade made, with Oklahoma City sending seldom-used center B.J. Mullens to Charlotte for a second-round draft pick and cash.

Meanwhile, things were quiet on the Dwight Howard trade front, but not completely mum.

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