On May 12, 2019, Kawhi Leonard hits the first Game 7 buzzer-beater in NBA history, sending the Raptors to the Eastern Conference finals.
Below is a day-by-day look at landmark moments, games, performances and more from this week in NBA lore.
May 12
May 12, 1974
The Boston Celtics won their 12th NBA Championship, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks 102-87 in Game 7 at Milwaukee.
May 12, 1985
New York won the first-ever NBA Draft Lottery, enabling the Knicks to select Georgetown center Patrick Ewing with the first pick in the 1985 NBA Draft.
May 12, 1992
USA Basketball named Christian Laettner and Clyde Drexler to the remaining spots on the “Dream Team” for the 1992 Olympics.
May 12, 1996
Houston’s two-year reign as NBA Champions ends as Seattle, led by Shawn Kemp’s 32 points and 15 rebounds, tops the Rockets 114-107 in overtime in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals, completing a series sweep.
May 12, 2019
Kawhi Leonard hit a shot from the corner over Joel Embiid at the buzzer that bounced off the rim four times before falling to give the Toronto Raptors a 92-90 victory over the 76ers on Sunday night in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series. It was the first winning buzzer-beater in a Game 7 in NBA history.
On May 12, 2019, Kawhi Leonard hits the first Game 7 buzzer-beater in NBA history, sending the Raptors to the Eastern Conference finals.
May 13
May 13, 1976
The New York Nets defeated the Denver Nuggets 112-106 to win what became the last ABA championship, four games to two. The next month, four former ABA teams–San Antonio, Denver, New York and Indiana were admitted into the NBA.
May 13, 1977
Maurice Lucas scored 26 points to help the Trail Blazers defeat the Lakers 105-101, for a sweep of the Western Conference Finals. Portland went on to capture its only NBA title, defeating Philadelphia 4-2 in the NBA Finals.
May 13, 1991
Former NBA Commissioner Larry O’Brien, National Basketball Players Association founder Larry Fleisher and NBA legends Nate Archibald, Dave Cowens and Harry Gallatin were inducted into the Hall of Fame.
May 13, 1999
The San Antonio Spurs defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 85-71 in Game 3 of their first round Western Conference playoff series. The win was the first of what would become a record 12 straight playoff game victories in one playoffs for the Spurs. San Antonio would lose only once more in the 1999 playoffs en route to capturing its first NBA championship.
May 13, 1999
Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson recorded an NBA playoff-record 10 steals in a 97-85 win over the Orlando Magic.
May 14
May 14, 1980
Magic Johnson committed an NBA Finals-record 10 turnovers in Game 5 against Philadelphia, but the Lakers won anyway, 108-103 at Los Angeles.
May 14, 1981
Larry Bird scored 27 points and Cedric Maxwell added 19 to lead Boston to a 102-91 victory over Houston in Game 6 of the Finals, giving the Celtics their 14th NBA Championship.
May 14, 1996
The legendary Earvin “Magic” Johnson of the LA Lakers, who returned to the NBA after a four-year retirement to play 32 regular season and four playoff games, announced his retirement from the NBA.
May 14, 2003
Hall of Fame NBA player, NBA coach, and ABA Commissioner Dave DeBusschere passes away in New York, aged 62.
May 15
May 15, 1982
The Los Angeles Lakers moved into the NBA Finals by beating San Antonio 128-123 in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. It was the Lakers’ eighth straight victory, making them the first team in NBA Playoff history to sweep back-to- back best-of-7 series.
May 15, 1984
Magic Johnson notched a playoff record 24 assists as the Lakers beat Phoenix 118-102 in Game 2 of the West Finals. John Stockton of the Utah Jazz tied the record with 24 assists against the Lakers on May 17, 1988.
May 15, 1990
Former NBA stars Dave Bing, Elvin Hayes, Neil Johnston and Earl “The Pearl” Monroe were inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
May 15, 1995
Former NBA stars Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Vern Mikkelsen, former NBA coach John Kundla and former NBA referee Earl Strom were among seven individuals inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
May 15, 2001
Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers was named the recipient of the Maurice Podoloff Trophy as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for the 2000-01 season, at 6-foot and 165 pounds becoming the shortest and lightest MVP in league history.
In 2001, Allen Iverson accepted the NBA's Most Valuable Player award from Commissioner David Stern.
May 16
May 16, 1980
Rookie guard Magic Johnson filled in at center for the injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and came up with 42 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists as the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA title by beating Philadelphia 123-107 in Game 6 of the Finals. Johnson sank all 14 of his free throw attempts to set a Finals record and he was named the Finals MVP. Johnson’s 42 points were the most scored by a rookie in an NBA Finals game.
In Game 6 of the 1980 Finals, Magic Johnson recorded 42 points and 15 rebounds playing the center position to win the NBA title.
May 16, 1999
The New York Knicks became only the second eighth-seeded team in NBA playoff history to defeat a number one seed in the playoffs when they defeated the Miami Heat in five games. Seattle was the other eighth-seeded team to advance when they ousted Seattle in 1994.
New York's Allan Houston stuns No. 1-seeded Miami with a runner as the clock expired in Game 5 to clinch a series win.
May 16, 2000
Utah’s Jeff Hornacek walked off the court for the final time after the Jazz are eliminated from the postseason by the Portland Trail Blazers. Hornacek, who entered the league as a point guard and ended up one of the game’s best pure shooters, concluded his career after 1,077 career games. He averaged 14.5 points and 4.9 assists per game, with shooting percentages of 49.6% from the field, 40.3% from three-point range and 87.7% from the free throw line.
May 16, 2001
Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers scored 52 points against the Toronto Raptors in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series. Iverson joined Michael Jordan as the only two players ever to score 50 or more points in two games of the same playoff series. Iverson scored 54 points against Toronto in Game 2 of the series.
May 17
May 17, 1979
Jack Sikma of Seattle scored 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the SuperSonics to a 114-110 victory over Phoenix in Game 7 of their Western Conference Finals series, before a crowd of 37,552 at the Kingdome. The Sonics went on to win their only NBA championship, defeating Washington in five games in the Finals.
May 17, 1988
John Stockton of Utah tied Magic Johnson’s NBA Playoff assist record with 24 in a losing effort (111-109) against Los Angeles in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals.
May 17, 1993
New York’s Pat Riley was named IBM NBA Coach of the Year, beating out Houston’s Rudy Tomjanovich by a single vote in the closest balloting ever, becoming only the fifth NBA coach to win the award twice. Riley, who led the Knicks to a 60-win season for only the second time in the 47-year history of the franchise, also won the Coach of the Year award with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1990.
May 17, 1993
Michael Jordan knocks down a contested fadeaway at the buzzer in Game 4 over Gerald Wilkins to defeat the Cavs 103-101 in the Eastern Conference finals. With the win, the Bulls clinch their third straight NBA Finals berth.
May 17, 1995
Jason Kidd of Dallas and Grant Hill of Detroit were named co-winners of the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, marking the first time since 1971–when Boston’s Dave Cowens and Portland’s Geoff Petrie were named co-winners–that two players shared the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy.
May 18
May 18, 1975
Rick Barry hit a jumper with 38 seconds remaining to put Game 1 of the NBA Finals out of reach as Golden State defeated Washington 101-95. Barry, the series MVP, continued with dominating performances as the Warriors swept the Bullets 4-0 to take the title.
May 18, 1998
Michael Jordan is named the 1998 NBA Most Valuable Player, earning his fifth MVP honor, tied for the second-most league MVP awards with the legendary Bill Russell. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was named NBA MVP a record six times.
May 18, 2021
The Indiana Pacers defeat the Charlotte Hornets 144-117 and the Boston Celtics defeat the Washington Wizards 118-100 in the inaugural games of the State Farm NBA Play-In Tournament in the Eastern Conference. The Wizards clinch the No. 7 seed with their win, while the Pacers move on to play the Celtics in another Play-In game with the No. 8 seed on the line.
