Game Five had everything. Missed timeouts. Attacked refs. Tipped scorer’s tables. Pat Riley not getting on the court. You couldn’t ask for more. The Greatest Game Ever Played.
Even before it began, it had all the elements of a very special game. The fresh, young upstart Suns going up against the heavily-favored legendary Boston Celtics. Paul Westphal facing his former employers. John Havlicek in the twilight of his career. Alvan Adams in the daybreak of his. The smoky, hazy, dreamlike atmosphere of the packed-to-capacity-and-then-some Garden.
The Celtics got out early and were up by 22 at one point, looking set to take a three-two lead back to Phoenix, and hopefully a trophy back to Boston soon after that. But Westphal kept plugging away. The Suns stormed back to take the lead with 20 seconds left, but ol' Johnny hit one of two to send the game into its first overtime.
Late in the first overtime with the game tied, former Celtic and former really crappy coach Paul Silas stole the ball and tried to call a timeout Boston didn’t have. Referee Richie Powers – the same ref who would be attacked by a crazed Celtic fan a mere period later – supposedly saw the mistake but didn’t want the game to end on a technicality. God bless you, Richie Powers; wherever you are (probably buried deep somewhere in the Arizona desert).
Havlicek, running on fumes by the second overtime, hit a jumper with two seconds left to give Boston a one-point lead and – according to the fans in attendance – the win. Fanatical Irishmen stormed the court and hoisted Johnny onto their shoulders. The Celts headed for the locker room as CBS analyst and giant historical asshole Rick Barry yelled at anybody who could hear him (mostly the refs) that there was still time left on the clock. If only our boy Starbury had been around back then to shiv him into silence.
Referees were attacked. Gentlemen were arrested. The game went on.
Article comments
1 - RJ
Best. First. Round. Playoff. Series. Ever.
Game One - OT upset win for the Bulls.
Game Two - Last second three-pointer saves the Celts.
Game Three - Celts retake home court with a blowout.
Game Four - Bulls tie series up with double OT win.
Game Five - Celtics take 3-2 series lead with OT win.
Game Six - Bulls send series to Game Seven with triple OT win at home.
Game Seven - ??? PROFIT!!!
2 - BandwagonbJumpersstink
There is no such thing as a shimmy. It amazes me that you people call yourself life long fans and still call it is a shimmy. It was and will always be the wiggle. It was NEVER called the shimmy.
Just because a team doesn't win a title doesn't mean they get labeled useless. That teams of the Celtics in the late 90's to early 2003's worked their butts off and wanted to win so badly. They deserve a hell of a lot more respect then what so called fans give them.
3 - Ethan
@BWJS: I never said anything about not enjoying those teams. It's just compared to the Celtics teams of yore, recent squads have paled in comparison. Doesn't mean I didn't have fun. Otherwise I would've given up on basketball years ago.
And it's the shimmy. I'll go to my grave on that one.