How many great players have had a great Game 7?

[huskerdu]

What about Duncan's Game 7 vs the Mavs in 2006?

[Devilzsidewalk]

Arnie Risen dominated with 24 and 13 in game 7 of the '51 finals as the Royals defeated the hapless Knicks

[tidho]

So great players don't get swept either right? Or lose a playoff series? By that logic there are no great players in the NBA whatsoever...

That's not really what I said. Losing a series to an equal or better team - no shame in that. Being taken to seven by a clearly lesser team - that isn't 'greatness'.

Spurs wasn't a clearly lesser team...

I didn't say anything about the Spurs and, like this thread, my comments were about "great players" in general not about LeBron specifically.

Since you appear to be looking for a LeBron opinion, here is mine. Not dominating the playoffs like Jordan did doesn't keep LeBron from being 'great'. It just keeps him from being Jordan. Its not just the finals either, its the entire playoff run though an injury depleted East.

[BubbaTee]

Arnie Risen dominated with 24 and 13 in game 7 of the '51 finals as the Royals defeated the hapless Knicks

What's funny is back in those days you could be hapless and still make the Finals. I think there was even a Finals teams that was under .500 during the season.

[theFRANCHISE]

Wow you put Kobe's game 7 from 2010 you better watch the game again. If artest and fisher don't make shots in that game people would have called that game a choke for kobe. His shooting was terrible! You should add game 7 of conference finals too I've seen some great performances on that stage as well.

Do you know how to read?? The OP said he played a terrible game.

Yea I do know how to read but why is that even considered by him to be a great game 7? Maybe the OP needs better critical thinking skills.

[yeahi]

That's not really what I said. Losing a series to an equal or better team - no shame in that. Being taken to seven by a clearly lesser team - that isn't 'greatness'.

So you're saying the Spurs suck?

The Spurs seemed pretty good to me, which is why it went to 7 games in the first place.

An epidemic of poor reading comprehension is sweeping through this place.

I'm not saying the Spurs suck. The only way you could reach that conclusion given what I actually said is if you believe the Heat are a 'clearly lesser team'. I don't believe that to be the case.

No, that's not the only way to reach that conclusion. You'd have to believe the Spurs are a 'clearly lesser team', not just that the Heat are a clearly lesser team.

Considering the thread is basically about LeBron, and you just said "Being taken to seven by a clearly lesser team - that isn't greatness", you're saying that by being taken to 7 games by the Spurs (the clearly lesser team), - "LeBron" isn't greatness. The fact that you said the Heat aren't a clearly lesser team means your original statement will only make sense if the Spurs are deemed to be the clearly lesser team (which some would argue means they suck).

If you say the Heat are the 'clearly lesser team' in your statement (which you specifically state is not true), then that means you'd have to be talking about the spurs not being greatness.But since you yourself said that that is not the case, then your statement is just wrong then by your own standards if you do not consider the Spurs to be the clearly lesser team (or in the words of other posters, they suck).

I think you're the on with the reading comprehension issues.

[Lyrix]

Wow you put Kobe's game 7 from 2010 you better watch the game again. If artest and fisher don't make shots in that game people would have called that game a choke for kobe. His shooting was terrible! You should add game 7 of conference finals too I've seen some great performances on that stage as well.

Do you know how to read?? The OP said he played a terrible game.

Yea I do know how to read but why is that even considered by him to be a great game 7? Maybe the OP needs better critical thinking skills.

What are you going on about? He said it was a horrible. Even said he lost respect for him. Are you special or just trying to rant for no reason? I consider it a great effort game but it was sad to watch Kobe that game. I loved the game as a whole by both teams because of the gritty feel to it tho.

[Showtime:Part2]

this is absurd. you applaud lebron for his great game 7 but ignore how he played like @ss the rest of the series. you claim he "stepped up" in this elimination game, but were it not for ray allen in game 6 and the spurs choking, he would have lost. i didn't see him stepping up in game 6 like he should have (42% shooting and don't gimme the triple double nonsense, his ast/to ratio was not something to brag about). the whole series he is missing wide open jumpers and he hits for one game, whoop de doo. even if you're a cr@p shooter at some point you're gonna start hitting. say you're a 30% mid range jump shooter, the odds of going 5/100 are not very high. it doesn't support his "legacy" any further. if you still want to compare inidividual games, i'll take some of jordan's elimination game 6s instead all day everyday

[yeahi]

this is absurd. you applaud lebron for his great game 7 but ignore how he played like @ss the rest of the series. you claim he "stepped up" in this elimination game, but were it not for ray allen in game 6 and the spurs choking, he would have lost. i didn't see him stepping up in game 6 like he should have (42% shooting and don't gimme the triple double nonsense, his ast/to ratio was not something to brag about). the whole series he is missing wide open jumpers and he hits for one game, whoop de doo. even if you're a cr@p shooter at some point you're gonna start hitting. say you're a 30% mid range jump shooter, the odds of going 5/100 are not very high. it doesn't support his "legacy" any further. if you want to compare inidividual games, i'll take some of jordan's elimination game 6s instead.

Sorry, pretty sure if it were not for his domination in the 4th quarter in game 6, except for say the last two possessions where he had turnovers off of bad passes trying to feed teammates, they wouldn't have even been in the position for Ray Allen to tie it (oh yea, forgot LeBron hit the 3 right before that).

Put your Koby glasses away, he's never been great in the finals. Shaq carried him, then he had to be bailed out by Artest and Fisher.

[Showtime:Part2]

this is absurd. you applaud lebron for his great game 7 but ignore how he played like @ss the rest of the series. you claim he "stepped up" in this elimination game, but were it not for ray allen in game 6 and the spurs choking, he would have lost. i didn't see him stepping up in game 6 like he should have (42% shooting and don't gimme the triple double nonsense, his ast/to ratio was not something to brag about). the whole series he is missing wide open jumpers and he hits for one game, whoop de doo. even if you're a cr@p shooter at some point you're gonna start hitting. say you're a 30% mid range jump shooter, the odds of going 5/100 are not very high. it doesn't support his "legacy" any further. if you want to compare inidividual games, i'll take some of jordan's elimination game 6s instead.

Sorry, pretty sure if it were not for his domination in the 4th quarter in game 6, except for say the last two possessions where he had turnovers off of bad passes trying to feed teammates, they wouldn't have even been in the position for Ray Allen to tie it (oh yea, forgot LeBron hit the 3 right before that).

Put your Koby glasses away, he's never been great in the finals. Shaq carried him, then he had to be bailed out by Artest and Fisher.

right... bc kobe was garbage in game 6 in 2010, which was an elimination game for the lakers. why is that any less weighted than game 7? the pressure is basically the same. and i never once mentioned kobe. i mentioned mj. also, yes, he had two CRITICAL turnovers. do you really deny that were it not for ray allen's shot and spurs missing tons of fts, heat would have lost? how was james heroic in game 6? i don't see it. he was just as good as any other superstar in that list, not better.

and while, we're on the topic of shaq, where are his game 7 stats? i bet they'd trounce lebron's.

[Lyrix]

this is absurd. you applaud lebron for his great game 7 but ignore how he played like @ss the rest of the series. you claim he "stepped up" in this elimination game, but were it not for ray allen in game 6 and the spurs choking, he would have lost. i didn't see him stepping up in game 6 like he should have (42% shooting and don't gimme the triple double nonsense, his ast/to ratio was not something to brag about). the whole series he is missing wide open jumpers and he hits for one game, whoop de doo. even if you're a cr@p shooter at some point you're gonna start hitting. say you're a 30% mid range jump shooter, the odds of going 5/100 are not very high. it doesn't support his "legacy" any further. if you want to compare inidividual games, i'll take some of jordan's elimination game 6s instead.

Sorry, pretty sure if it were not for his domination in the 4th quarter in game 6, except for say the last two possessions where he had turnovers off of bad passes trying to feed teammates, they wouldn't have even been in the position for Ray Allen to tie it (oh yea, forgot LeBron hit the 3 right before that).

Put your Koby glasses away, he's never been great in the finals. Shaq carried him, then he had to be bailed out by Artest and Fisher.

He didn't have the greatest fg% in 09. But he was pretty Damn amazing in that finals. He still shot 36% from 3 and had 7.5 assists while scoring over 32 points a game. Pretty great finals in my opinion, but lets just forget about it. I could always say Kobe never disappointed in the finals like LeBron in '11. Lets just sweep that under the rug tho. That being said LeBron has had two of the most amazing playoff run I've these last 2 years. You see you can not like someone and still give them credit. crazy right.

[yeahi]

this is absurd. you applaud lebron for his great game 7 but ignore how he played like @ss the rest of the series. you claim he "stepped up" in this elimination game, but were it not for ray allen in game 6 and the spurs choking, he would have lost. i didn't see him stepping up in game 6 like he should have (42% shooting and don't gimme the triple double nonsense, his ast/to ratio was not something to brag about). the whole series he is missing wide open jumpers and he hits for one game, whoop de doo. even if you're a cr@p shooter at some point you're gonna start hitting. say you're a 30% mid range jump shooter, the odds of going 5/100 are not very high. it doesn't support his "legacy" any further. if you want to compare inidividual games, i'll take some of jordan's elimination game 6s instead.

Sorry, pretty sure if it were not for his domination in the 4th quarter in game 6, except for say the last two possessions where he had turnovers off of bad passes trying to feed teammates, they wouldn't have even been in the position for Ray Allen to tie it (oh yea, forgot LeBron hit the 3 right before that).

Put your Koby glasses away, he's never been great in the finals. Shaq carried him, then he had to be bailed out by Artest and Fisher.

right... bc kobe was garbage in game 6 in 2010, which was an elimination game for the lakers. why is that any less weighted than game 7? the pressure is basically the same. and i never once mentioned kobe. i mentioned mj. also, yes, he had two CRITICAL turnovers. do you really deny that were it not for ray allen's shot and spurs missing tons of fts, heat would have lost? how was james heroic in game 6? i don't see it. he was just as good as any other superstar in that list, not better.

and while, we're on the topic of shaq, where are his game 7 stats? i bet they'd trounce lebron's.

Kobe Bryant, 40 minutes 9-19 (fg) 1-4 (3pt) 7-7 (fts) 11 (rbs)

I mean Kobe had an okay game? I don't see what's so special? Unless you're looking at the fact that he didn't take more than 25 shots.

Spurs missed 2 free throws, not a ton. If they didn't keep making miracle shots, do you think they would have even gotten that far? He basically brought them back into that game, scored or assisted on almost all their points in the 4th.

[lorak]

Every player who played in NBA finals game 7 since three point line. Sorted by game score (pretty good metric to capture contribution in one game):

Code: Select all

TRB AST  STL BLK TOV  PTS  TS%   GmSc   Player            Date
16   10   2   0   5   36   0,682   35   James Worthy    1988-06-21
12   4   2   0   2   37   0,698   32,5   LeBron James    2013-06-20
8   8   2   1   2   24   0,686   26,9   Cedric Maxwell    1984-06-12
5   14   2   0   4   19   0,759   22   Magic Johnson    1988-06-21
12   2   4   1   3   24   0,558   21,3   Tim Duncan    2013-06-20
6   4   0   2   2   29   0,568   20,8   Kareem Abdul-Jabbar    1984-06-12
18   4   0   2   1   19   0,437   19,2   Pau Gasol    2010-06-17
5   4   1   0   3   23   0,757   18,2   Manu Ginobili    2005-06-23
10   1   1   1   1   17   0,704   17,9   John Salley    1988-06-21
4   1   1   0   0   18   1,125   17,7   Shane Battier    2013-06-20
10   7   1   3   2   25   0,445   17,7   Hakeem Olajuwon    1994-06-22
1   4   0   0   0   21   0,723   17,6   Vernon Maxwell    1994-06-22
5   4   1   0   3   25   0,606   17,1   Joe Dumars    1988-06-21
12   3   2   1   2   20   0,465   17   Larry Bird    1984-06-12
0   5   2   0   2   23   0,617   16,5   Derek Harper    1994-06-22
3   0   1   0   0   21   0,717   16,5   Byron Scott    1988-06-21
5   15   4   2   7   16   0,468   16,2   Magic Johnson    1984-06-12
3   6   1   3   0   16   0,581   15,4   Michael Cooper    1984-06-12
8   10   1   0   3   14   0,504   15,1   Rajon Rondo    2010-06-17
16   0   1   1   2   19   0,506   14,8   Kawhi Leonard    2013-06-20
10   1   1   2   4   23   0,526   14,8   Dwyane Wade    2013-06-20
5   1   1   1   1   15   0,778   14,6   Robert Horry    2005-06-23
9   2   3   1   0   11   0,611   14,5   Bill Laimbeer    1988-06-21
4   2   0   1   2   21   0,631   14,1   James Worthy    1984-06-12
6   2   2   0   5   22   0,602   13,9   Dennis Johnson    1984-06-12
4   8   1   0   1   13   0,564   13,8   Chauncey Billups    2005-06-23
5   1   5   0   4   20   0,495   13   Metta World Peace    2010-06-17
11   1   2   2   0   12   0,551   12,8   Ben Wallace    2005-06-23
11   3   0   2   5   25   0,422   12,7   Tim Duncan    2005-06-23
3   2   0   4   2   17   0,632   12,2   Kevin Garnett    2010-06-17
1   2   2   0   2   13   0,838   11,7   Sam Cassell    1994-06-22
10   2   1   1   3   18   0,510   11,4   Paul Pierce    2010-06-17
5   0   2   0   0   15   0,605   11,3   Dennis Rodman    1988-06-21
16   2   1   1   2   14   0,351   11,1   Robert Parish    1984-06-12
5   1   2   0   3   16   0,551   11,1   Adrian Dantley    1988-06-21
3   5   0   0   4   18   0,654   10,8   Manu Ginobili    2013-06-20
15   2   1   0   4   23   0,376   9,9   Kobe Bryant    2010-06-17
7   2   0   2   2   10   0,714   9,6   Antonio McDyess    2005-06-23
5   3   3   1   0   8   0,500   9,3   Robert Horry    1994-06-22
8   2   0   2   0   11   0,500   8,9   Rasheed Wallace    2010-06-17
1   2   1   0   0   10   0,833   8,9   Derek Fisher    2010-06-17
5   1   0   1   0   10   0,571   8,8   Charles Smith    1994-06-22
0   7   4   0   3   10   0,388   8,3   Isiah Thomas    1988-06-21
10   1   1   2   5   17   0,433   8,2   Patrick Ewing    1994-06-22
1   2   1   0   1   11   0,698   8,2   Kenny Smith    1994-06-22
14   3   0   0   3   10   0,506   8,2   Charles Oakley    1994-06-22
0   3   2   0   0   7   0,595   8   Greg Anthony    1994-06-22
9   2   0   0   1   6   0,750   7,9   Anthony Mason    1994-06-22
4   1   0   0   1   12   0,575   7,5   Mychal Thompson    1988-06-21
1   1   2   1   1   11   0,550   6,7   Rasheed Wallace    2005-06-23
7   2   0   1   1   7   0,394   6,6   Lamar Odom    2010-06-17
8   1   0   1   1   15   0,380   6,4   Richard Hamilton    2005-06-23
4   0   1   0   2   10   0,683   6,4   Kevin McHale    1984-06-12
0   4   3   0   2   10   0,363   6,2   Tony Parker    2013-06-20
4   2   2   1   2   5   0,833   6,2   Brent Barry    2005-06-23
3   1   0   0   0   5   1,250   6   Boris Diaw    2013-06-20
3   1   0   0   0   9   0,507   5,4   Gerald Henderson    1984-06-12
2   1   1   0   0   10   0,417   5,1   Danny Ainge    1984-06-12
2   5   0   0   1   10   0,357   4,9   Vinnie Johnson    1988-06-21
9   3   1   0   2   6   0,381   4,9   Otis Thorpe    1994-06-22
5   3   0   0   3   12   0,432   4,7   Michael Cooper    1988-06-21
9   0   1   0   2   6   0,615   4,5   Glen Davis    2010-06-17
2   2   3   0   4   13   0,391   3,8   Ray Allen    2010-06-17
2   1   2   0   1   9   0,346   3,8   Tayshaun Prince    2005-06-23
4   0   0   1   1   3   0,798   3,6   Chris Andersen    2013-06-20
3   0   0   0   0   5   0,512   3,5   Mitch Kupchak    1984-06-12
9   0   1   0   2   7   0,415   3,5   Kurt Rambis    1984-06-12
2   2   0   0   0   2   0,500   3   Larry Wright    1978-06-07
0   2   2   0   4   14   0,418   2,9   Mario Chalmers    2013-06-20
4   1   0   1   1   5   0,625   2,6   Bruce Bowen    2005-06-23
0   0   2   0   0   2   0,500   2,6   Tiago Splitter    2013-06-20
2   0   1   0   1   4   0,500   1,8   A.C. Green    1988-06-21
5   0   0   0   2   6   0,500   1,7   Carl Herrera    1994-06-22
0   0   0   0   0   3   0,750   1,6   Hubert Davis    1994-06-22
6   0   0   0   0   2   0,200   1,5   Andrew Bynum    2010-06-17
4   1   0   0   1   5   0,357   1,4   Gary Neal    2013-06-20
0   0   0   0   0   2   1,000   1,3   Quinn Buckner    1984-06-12
2   3   0   0   1   8   0,337   1,2   Tony Parker    2005-06-23
1   2   1   0   0   4   0,250   1,1   Lindsey Hunter    2005-06-23
2   1   3   0   2   4   0,286   1   Byron Scott    1984-06-12
3   2   0   0   0   1   0,174   0,7   James Edwards    1988-06-21
0   1   0   0   0   0   #DZIEL/0!   0,7   Elden Campbell    2005-06-23
7   0   0   2   0   0   0,000   0,6   Nazr Mohammed    2005-06-23
1   0   0   0   1   4   0,667   0,4   Jamaal Wilkes    1984-06-12
1   1   1   0   0   0   0,000   0,2   M.L. Carr    1984-06-12
1   0   0   0   0   2   0,347   0,1   Sasha Vujacic    2010-06-17
0   0   0   0   0   0   #DZIEL/0!   0   Cory Joseph    2013-06-20
0   0   0   0   0   0   #DZIEL/0!   0   Josh Powell    2010-06-17
0   0   0   0   0   0   #DZIEL/0!   0   Brian Scalabrine    2010-06-17
0   0   0   0   0   0   #DZIEL/0!   0   Devin Brown    2005-06-23
0   0   0   0   0   0   #DZIEL/0!   0   Ronald Dupree    2005-06-23
0   0   0   0   0   0   #DZIEL/0!   0   Darvin Ham    2005-06-23
0   0   0   0   0   0   #DZIEL/0!   0   Chris Jent    1994-06-22
0   0   0   0   0   0   #DZIEL/0!   0   Earl Cureton    1994-06-22
0   0   0   0   0   0   #DZIEL/0!   0   Carlos Clark    1984-06-12
0   0   0   0   0   0   #DZIEL/0!   -0,4   Tony Allen    2010-06-17
3   0   0   0   1   0   #DZIEL/0!   -0,5   Kurt Rambis    1988-06-21
0   0   0   0   0   0   0,000   -0,7   Nate Robinson    2010-06-17
1   1   0   1   0   0   0,000   -0,8   Mario Elie    1994-06-22
0   0   0   0   0   0   #DZIEL/0!   -0,8   Udonis Haslem    2013-06-20
0   0   0   0   0   0   0,000   -1,1   Shannon Brown    2010-06-17
0   0   0   0   0   0   0,000   -1,4   Rick Mahorn    1988-06-21
0   0   0   0   1   0   #DZIEL/0!   -1,4   Swen Nater    1984-06-12
5   0   2   1   2   5   0,194   -1,6   Danny Green    2013-06-20
2   0   2   0   0   0   0,000   -1,7   Mike Miller    2013-06-20
3   2   0   1   3   4   0,286   -1,7   Kareem Abdul-Jabbar    1988-06-21
7   2   0   1   2   0   0,000   -2,1   Chris Bosh    2013-06-20
4   4   0   0   3   0   0,000   -2,6   Ray Allen    2013-06-20
2   2   0   0   0   8   0,202   -3,4   John Starks    1994-06-22
0   0   0   0   1   0   0,000   -3,9   Jordan Farmar    2010-06-17



[semi-sentient]

I think it would be more interesting if you only looked at games which were competitive in the 4th quarter (within 10 points, for example). Many of the games listed were complete blowouts heading into the 4th quarter so that can skew things if we're trying to determine who played well or who played poorly in a tight deciding game.

[whitehops]

i'm not going to get involved in any of the redundant arguments going on, i'm just going to say games 6&7 were two of the best games I've watched.

in terms of game 7, I still can't believe the heat had (basically) only four players score and still win. on top of that, LeBron absolutely shut down parker. parker had been having a pretty huge impact offensively for the majority of the series and was completely neutralized in games 6 and especially 7

[Showtime:Part2]

Sorry, pretty sure if it were not for his domination in the 4th quarter in game 6, except for say the last two possessions where he had turnovers off of bad passes trying to feed teammates, they wouldn't have even been in the position for Ray Allen to tie it (oh yea, forgot LeBron hit the 3 right before that).


Put your Koby glasses away, he's never been great in the finals. Shaq carried him, then he had to be bailed out by Artest and Fisher.

right... bc kobe was garbage in game 6 in 2010, which was an elimination game for the lakers. why is that any less weighted than game 7? the pressure is basically the same. and i never once mentioned kobe. i mentioned mj. also, yes, he had two CRITICAL turnovers. do you really deny that were it not for ray allen's shot and spurs missing tons of fts, heat would have lost? how was james heroic in game 6? i don't see it. he was just as good as any other superstar in that list, not better.

and while, we're on the topic of shaq, where are his game 7 stats? i bet they'd trounce lebron's.

Kobe Bryant, 40 minutes 9-19 (fg) 1-4 (3pt) 7-7 (fts) 11 (rbs)

I mean Kobe had an okay game? I don't see what's so special? Unless you're looking at the fact that he didn't take more than 25 shots.

Spurs missed 2 free throws, not a ton. If they didn't keep making miracle shots, do you think they would have even gotten that far? He basically brought them back into that game, scored or assisted on almost all their points in the 4th.

so he shot more efficiently than lebron, actually played defense (wasn't getting owned by kwahi leonard) by shutting down rondo, grabbed just as many boards, but wasn't as good in the ast/to ratio but then again his team didn't run a ball dominant offense like lebron. all in all, i'd say kobe's game 6 was equivalent to lebron's game 7 (dwade showing up and playing like a HOFer didn't hurt bron either), and if you take a look on the series as a whole and consider how much better the celtics where defensively, i'd say kobe in 2010 had the slightly better series. lebron in the finals: 25/11/7, 52.9% ts, 113 ortg, 105 drtg. kobe in the 2010 finals vs a superior defense: 29/8/4, 52.8% TS, 108 ortg, 99 drtg. how can you really say lebron's performance in the finals this year is better than kobe's was in 2010. it looks roughly even if you ask me.

[bwgood77]

Since you appear to be looking for a LeBron opinion, here is mine. Not dominating the playoffs like Jordan did doesn't keep LeBron from being 'great'. It just keeps him from being Jordan. Its not just the finals either, its the entire playoff run though an injury depleted East.

What do you mean? LeBron has dominated plenty in the playoffs. And he won his first championship at a younger age than Jordan did. He won the eastern conference twice before the age of 27, which was something that Jordan couldn't do.

[Uncle Mxy]

Duncan's Game 7 vs. the Pistons was much, much better than his stats show. He dominated from the mid-3rd quarter and on.

He dominated the moment Larry Brown thought it was a good idea to go small and have Tayshaun Prince defend him.

[shawngoat23]

Walt Frazier

[Mamba Venom]

In 2000 Kobe lead the Lakers in points, rebs, blocks & assists in the WCFs to start a 3-peat. That was the real NBA Finals. There was no way the East would beat either the Lakers or Blazers.

In 2002 Kobe had 30, 10, 7 & 2 against the Kings. Again this was the real NBA Finals. There is no way the Nets would beat either the Kings or Lakers.

So Kobe has had great game 7s.

Cant defend his O in the 2010 FInals game 7 aka the game where everyone was completely gassed, but in the series he averaged 29/8/4/2. Bill Simmons wanted to give Kobe the Finals MVP if the Celtics won. But at least guard Kobe out rebounded both Celtics bigs combined. Warrior.