This Sunday, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers will face off in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
This is it. One game for all the marbles. 48 minutes of basketball and a title that will go down in history.
It’s the type of drama that sports fans dream of; one of the reasons games like this are so special is because they are so rare. Sunday’s contest will be just the 20th Game 7 in the history of the NBA Finals, and just the fifth in the last 30 years.
Take a look below at every NBA Finals Game 7 ever below:
Year
Winning Team
Losing Team
Score
Finals MVP
1951
Rochester Royals
New York Knicks
79–75
N/A
1952
Minneapolis Lakers
New York Knicks
82–65
N/A
1954
Minneapolis Lakers
Syracuse Nationals
87–80
N/A
1955
Syracuse Nationals
Fort Wayne Pistons
92–91
N/A
1957
Boston Celtics
St. Louis Hawks
125–123 (2OT)
N/A
1960
Boston Celtics
St. Louis Hawks
122–103
N/A
1962
Boston Celtics
Los Angeles Lakers
110–107 (OT)
N/A
1966
Boston Celtics
Los Angeles Lakers
95–93
N/A
1969
Boston Celtics
Los Angeles Lakers
108–106
Jerry West
1970
New York Knicks
Los Angeles Lakers
113–99
Willis Reed
1974
Boston Celtics
Milwaukee Bucks
102–87
John Havlicek
1978
Washington Bullets
Seattle SuperSonics
105–99
Wes Unseld
1984
Boston Celtics
Los Angeles Lakers
111–102
Larry Bird
1988
Los Angeles Lakers
Detroit Pistons
108–105
James Worthy
1994
Houston Rockets
New York Knicks
90–84
Hakeem Olajuwon
2005
San Antonio Spurs
Detroit Pistons
81–74
Tim Duncan
2010
Los Angeles Lakers
Boston Celtics
83–79
Kobe Bryant
2013
Miami Heat
San Antonio Spurs
95–88
LeBron James
2016
Cleveland Cavaliers
Golden State Warriors
93–89
LeBron James
Some fun things about this list jump out when viewed together.
First, man, these games are close. The past eight times the NBA Finals have gone to Game 7, the contest was decided by single digits. In 10 of the 19, it was five points or less.
Also, if you thought today’s Celtics fans were annoying, just imagine how brutal it must have been for everyone back in the 1960s, when Boston was edging out its fiercest rival (Los Angeles) time and time again in the biggest game imaginable.
One last note—the Finals MVP award was first given out in 1969, when Jerry West of the Lakers took the honors despite losing to the Celtics in seven games. To this day, he’s the only player to have won NBA Finals MVP despite losing the NBA Finals. Surely not the most fun piece of history to hold, but a piece of history nonetheless.
The last time we got a Game 7 in the NBA Finals, LeBron James produced the greatest highlight of his unmatched NBA career. What legends will be made this Sunday?
Game 7 between the Thunder and Pacers tips off at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday night in Oklahoma City.
