4 Teams Have Won an NBA Finals Game 7 on The Road. Will the Pacers be the 5th?
On Sunday night in Oklahoma, the Indiana Pacers have a chance to accomplish a feat that only four other teams in the history of the NBA have done: Win an NBA Finals Game 7 on the road.
After winning Game 6 to force a Game 7 in Oklahoma City, the Pacers kept their championship hopes alive. If they go on to win it, not only would they win the first NBA Finals in Indiana Pacers' history, but they join a short list of teams that snatched the trophy out of the hands of an opponent playing in front of their crowd, in the security of their arena. Which four teams have won an NBA Finals Game 7 on the road?
Cleveland Cavaliers (2016)
One of the greatest comebacks in NBA history was capped with a Game 7 win on the road. The Cavaliers trailed the Golden State Warriors three games to one, but were able to pull out victories in Game 5 in The Bay and a Game 6 at home. That set up a winner-take-all showdown in Oracle Arena. Not only had the Warriors achieved the best overall regular-season record, 73-9, but they were 39-2 at home, making it improbable that the Cavaliers would take two in a row from them in front of their crowd. But, the Cavaliers defied the odds and, behind Kyrie Irving's clutch jump shot and LeBron James' chase-down block, beat the Warriors to win Game 7 of the NBA Finals on the road, and celebrated Cleveland's first NBA Championship in front of the fans wearing yellow and royal blue.
Washington Bullets (1978)
The 38-year gap between teams winning Game 7 of the NBA Finals on the road shows just how difficult of a task it is to complete. Home teams went 7-0 between the Bullets and the Cavaliers' victories and, in that time, the Bullets changed their name to the Washington Wizards (officially in 1997) and their opponent in the 1978 Finals went from the Seattle Supersonics to the Oklahoma City Thunder. But, back to '78. The Bullets dominated the Supersonics 117-82, giving them momentum for a Game 7 in Seattle. But that final game was a dogfight, in which Wes Unseld scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Bob Dandrige scored 19 points and Charles Johnson came off the bench to complement an entire team effort with 19 points of his own. The Bullets would win the game and the series, 105-99.
Boston Celtics (1974)
The Celtics actually had a chance to close out the Milwuakee Bucks in the Boston Garden in Game 6, but couldn't get it done. John Havlicek hit a jumper to send the game into overtime, and put-back his own miss in the first overtime to force a second OT. The lead changed 11 times in the second OT, but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had the final say with his patented sky-hook, which gave the Bucks a 102-101 win and set up a Game 7 in Milwaukee. In that deciding game, Havlicek struggled but Bostons' other star, Dave Cowens, stepped up with a 28-point, 14-rebound performance to lead the Celtics to an NBA Finals Game 7 win on the road.
Boston Celtics (1969)
One of the classic championships in NBA history between two of the premier franchises was decided with a Game 7 on the road. For the first six games of the series, it went as planned with the Los Angeles Lakers winning Games 1, 2 and 5 in The Forum, and the Celtics winning Games 3, 4, and 6 in the Garden. But, in Game 7, the Celtics eked out an improbable road victory. Not even a 42-point performance from Lakers' guard Jerry West was enough to stop the Celtics from spoiling the Hollywood ending. Could the Pacers become the fifth team to win Game 7 of the NBA Finals on the road?
A theme for each of these four road shockers is that they were close games. While the Pacers blew out the Thunder in Game 6, it would be surprising if they did that again at the PayCom Center, in front of Oklahoma City's feverish crowd. Indiana doesn't need to win in blowout fashion, though, and they've shown they can win in a variety of ways — improbable comebacks, buzzer-beaters, defensive rockfights, offensive shootouts. All of the above would suffice.
To win, Indiana needs to take care of the ball and not let Oklahoma City's defense dictate the pace. If they can establish their fast-paced, ball-movement style without turning the ball over, they'll have every chance to beat the Thunder and become the fifth team in NBA history to hoist the trophy following a Game 7 victory in their opponent's arena.
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