1) Game 7, 1970 NBA Finals, NY Knicks 113 vs. L.A. Lakers 99
I was in attendance when Willis Reed made his unannounced entrance at Madison Square Garden on that fateful eighth day in May that turned around the series for the Knicks versus the Lakers. Willis only took two shots, made them both at the start of the game and the rest of his team took it from there. The final score was 113-99 and earned the Knicks their first title, but Reed’s last minute appearance was the highlight of the playoffs.

My appearance at the game was like so many of my life’s adventures – an accident. I was in New York City that day to sign a contract with the Pittsburgh franchise in the still young American Basketball Association. I had resigned as general manager of the Atlanta Hawks a week or so before after spending the previous 17 years with that team. I was having an early dinner at the Pen and Pencil Restaurant in New York along with my attorney, Norman Blass, and an official of Haven Industries, a conglomerate that had picked up the Pittsburgh franchise for little or no money down. I originally had no interest in switching leagues but the owners, supposedly excited with the knowledge of an impending merger of the two leagues, were interested in hiring a “name” to run the club. I guess they figured anyone with my resume would do. I never had used anyone to help me with a contract in the past and never even had a contract until the team was sold from St. Louis to Atlanta. Even then it only took about 10 minutes to come to terms. But this was different. This deal was shaky at best but Blass did his homework.

I was shortly to become an owner.

An old friend, Lindsey Nelson, one of the top radio/television voices of that era, happened to be in the restaurant that night. He came over to our table and before I could even introduce him, he gave me a big hug and said, “You have to stay in basketball,” and other words to that effect. That sealed the deal.

I had even forgotten the Knicks were playing the Lakers that night until one of my new employers mentioned that they had tried to get me a ticket but even scalpers had none. I requested a phone, called the Garden, managed to get someone to contact Red Holzman and not only did he have a ticket for me but said that I would be sitting with Selma (his wife). Red was the coach of the Milwaukee Hawks when I joined the team in 1954 and we kept in touch even after he left the team in St. Louis and joined the Knicks. He, Earl Lloyd, who was the chief scout for Detroit, and I hooked up numerous times during the season to scout college games, especially the NAIA tourney in Kansas City, where we could see 24 games in three days. I rank this playoff game as one of the 10 best I have seen over the past 50 years.

2) Game 3, 1993 NBA Finals, Phoenix Suns 129, Chicago Bulls 121 (3 OT)
I guess we have to include the triple-overtime win by the Phoenix Suns over Chicago, 129-121, on Sunday, June 13, 1993 after the Bulls had won the first two games of the series on the Suns’ home court. Still to come that same Finals was a clinching victory for the Bulls a week later (June 20) back on the Suns home base, 99-98, to take the six-game series. Seldom mentioned is the fact that the Bulls won all three road games in that series while only winning one home game.

3) Game 7, 1957 NBA Finals, Boston Celtics 125, St. Louis Hawks 123 (2 OT)
Two of the greatest playoff games involve the St. Louis Hawks and the Boston Celtics. In 1957, the Hawks qualified for the playoffs by beating both Fort Wayne and Minneapolis in elimination games after those teams tied for the Western Division regular season title with marks of 34-38. Then after the Lakers downed Fort Wayne in two semifinal games, the Hawks swept them in three, opening up what was to be what I consider one of the greatest seven-game playoffs in the history of the NBA. The Hawks won three games by identical margins of two points. Going into the final and deciding game at Boston, the Celtics had outscored the visitors by a total of 34 points. Boston was forced into two overtimes before escaping with a 125-123 victory.

During that final possession, the Hawks had the ball under their own basketball with only a few seconds left in overtime but player-coach Alex Hannum diagrammed a play where he would throw the basketball the length of the court off the backboard, hoping it would bounce back to the free throw line where he had set up a pick for Bob. I remember hearing later that most of the team was very skeptical of the idea since Hannum was seldom very accurate on even his short tosses. The play worked perfectly but Pettit’s shot rolled around the rim several times before it dropped off. There was no television of the playoffs that year and I doubt if any film still exists. Maybe that’s why it never is mentioned as one of the great games of all time.

As an aside to the game, as I walked into Boston Garden that afternoon I was approached by Les Keiter, one of the top play-by-play guys in the country, who asked me if I wanted to earn $25. He explained that he was doing the game on national radio for CBS and needed a color man, that the network had budgeted $25 for the spot, and would I help him out. It’s hard to believe that the general manager of one of the participating teams would now do color on a national radio broadcast of a game, a game that would eventually change the fortunes of the two most successful franchises of that era.

4) Game 6, 1958 NBA Finals, St. Louis Hawks 110 vs. Boston Celtics 109
A year later, the Hawks again won the Western Division by a margin of eight games over Detroit and Cincinnati. They then took care of Detroit in the division finals four games to one, setting the stage for another slugfest with the Celtics. This time the results were different. The Hawks won four games by a total of eight points while Boston won their two games by a total of 35, but the final game was one of the greatest in playoff history. Yet it was seldom remembered. The Hawks won the final encounter, 110-109, with the eventual MVP Bob Pettit scoring 50 points.

It was to be the only Hawks title in the club’s history even though the team would again return to the Finals two years later, losing a seven-game series by dropping the finale in Boston. In 1961, the Hawks were back in the Finals but could manage only one win as the Celts raced to a 4-1 series victory. The Hawks would never again play in a championship series and were sold to an Atlanta group in 1968 where the franchise still resides.

5) Game 7, 1965 Eastern Conference Finals, Boston Celtics 110 vs. Philadelphia Sixers 109
Who could forget Johnny Most’s great call, “Havlickek stole the ball!” which is always ranked among the top 10 playoff triumphs.

6) Game 5, 2005 NBA Finals, San Antonio Spurs 96 vs. Detroit Pistons 95 (OT)
Both clubs won their regular season divisional crowns with the Pistons sneaking by Miami in seven games for the Eastern Conference crown and the Spurs easily downing Denver (4-1), Seattle (4-2) and Phoenix (4-1).

San Antonio won the NBA title by downing Detroit four games to three with the key game, a 96-95 overtime win by the eventual champs in Game 5 in Detroit. Detroit actually outscored the Spurs 607 to 594 (86.7 ppg to 84.9 ppg), with each team winning one game on its opponent’s home court until the final where the Spurs outlasted the Pistons 81-74.

Game 5 featured the heroics of Robert Horry -- Big Shot Rob -- who added to his list of clutch playoff baskets.

Five core members from each team in this year’s playoffs remain, which could bode well for another Finals outing for each team.

7) Game 7, 1955 NBA Finals, Syracuse National 92 vs. Fort Wayne Pistons 91
Syracuse won the crown in seven games in one of the closest battles in history. This was my first year in the NBA and I started to scout league teams on my own hoping to eventually get some vets.

Syracuse had a great array of vets – Dolph Schayes, Paul Seymour, Red Kerr, Red Rocha, Early Lloyd, George King, Billy Kenville and Connie Simmons. The Pistons were loaded with George Yardley, Larry Foust (whom I managed to eventually get for the Hawks), Mel Hutchins, Max Zaslofsky, Frankie Brian, Andy Phillip (who would later coach the Hawks for seven games in 1958), Dick Rosenthal, Bob Houbregs, Don Meineke and Paul Walther. Seymour was later signed in mid-season by Hawks owner Ben Kerner to replace Ed Macauley in 1960 but no one knew anything about it until the season was over with. Paul, who was best man at my wedding in January of 1961, was replaced a year later by Fuzzy Levane.

Actually the Pistons outscored the Nationals by four points 640-636 and four of the games were decided by four points or less. Note that very few rookies even got a cursory look during playoff time in the early days of the NBA.

8) Game 4, 1952 NBA Finals, New York Knicks 90 Minneapolis Lakers 89 (OT)
Although the Lakers lost this thriller 90-89 to the Knicks in overtime, this series was exciting for the caliber of play by each team on their opponent’s home court. The Lakers, forced to play at St. Paul for three of their four home games, beat the Knicks 83-79 in overtime in Game 1. Then the Knicks evened matters with an 80-72 win in Game 2 to send the series back to New York tied at one each.

An all veteran crew suited up for the Knicks including future Hall of Famers Harry Gallatin (who later coached the Hawks in St. Louis), Dick McGuire, Al McGuire and Max Zaslofsky, as well as Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton (who played first base for me with the Wilkes-Barre Barons when we won the Class A Eastern League crown and was the best baseball prospect I ever saw), Connie Simmons, Ernie Vandeweghe (Kiki’s dad), Ray Lumpp, Vince Boryla (who later was head man at both Utah and Denver) and George Kaftan. The Lakers had four Hall of Famers – Slater Martin (who led the Hawks to the NBA crown in 1958), George Mikan, Jim Ballard and Vern Mikkelsen. Mikan, Mikkelsen and Pollard were considered to be three of the greatest front-court players of all-time.

Back in New York, the Lakers won Game 3 by five, 82-77, and fell to the Knicks by a single point, 90-89, in overtime in Game 4 – my signature game of all-time. The two teams returned to St. Paul where the Lakers won Game 5 and the Knicks evened matters on their home court three days later, 76-68, in Game 6. On their original court for the first time in the Finals for Game 7, the Big Three dominated the game with the Lakers winning 82-65, but the win by New York on April 18 on their home court will be remembered as one of the top playoff games in league history.

9) Game 7, 1962 NBA Finals, Boston Celtics 110 vs. Los Angeles Lakers 107 (OT)
In 1962, with St. Louis out of the playoff picture for the first time since 1954-55, the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers met in a slugfest which was to trigger one of the greatest rivalries of all-time. Boston had a 60-20 mark to lead the Eastern Division and the Lakers too the West with a 54-26 mark. The Lakers lost the opening game at Boston 122-108 and then came back to even matters at 129-122. The scene moved to L.A. where the teams again split the two games. The Lakers took a 3-2 lead with a 126-121 win in Boston and Boston evened matters (3-3) with a resounding spanking of the home team 102-1940.

The finale, which I felt was one of the closest ever, saw the Celtics win another crown, 110-107 in overtime. It marked the first time in playoff history that both teams scored over 100 points-per-game with the Lakers featuring the scoring Hall of Fame duo of Jerry West (30.8 ppg) and Elgin Baylor (38.3 ppg). Boston averaged a playoff-high of 117.7 ppg and had its lowest point total in the final game (110 points), while the Lakers chipped in with a 113.6 mark (with a low game of 103).

Boston’s legendary roster included Tom Heinsohn, Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Sam Jones, Frank Ramsey, Tom Sanders, K.C. Jones and Jim Loscutoff – a core lineup that had won three of the last four titles. A year later they resumed their Finals encounters with the Lakers, winning four games to two. But the most exciting game was the finale as two great teams battled down to the wire.

10) Game 6, 1980 NBA Finals, Los Angeles Lakers 123 vs. Philadelphia Sixers 107
Of course we all remember the game in which Magic Johnson, playing the center spot and every other position, led the Lakers to a Finals upset at Philadelphia. Magic had actually played center in high school and at Michigan State, but few remember that.