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Fox Sports
a day ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
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. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience Indiana Pacers Oklahoma City Thunder National Basketball Association recommended Get more from National Basketball Association Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
New York Post
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
‘Inside the NBA' kills off NBA playoff hero Billy Ray Bates — but there's one major problem
Some questions are best left unasked, especially on national television. During 'Inside the NBA' on Sunday, Charles Barkley asked whether former Trail Blazers, Bullets and Lakers guard Billy Ray Bates was still alive. And that's when it all went south fast, with co-analyst Shaquille O'Neal later saying 'he passed away.' Advertisement There's just one problem — Bates is alive. The mayhem started after a graphic aired showing how Ty Jerome's 28 points off the bench in Cleveland's Game 1 ranked fourth in NBA history for reserve players, one point behind Bates' 29 that he scored for Portland in a 1980 game against the Sonics. Advertisement 'Billy Ray Bates, built like a truck,' Kenny Smith said. 'I wonder if he's still alive. It's a fair question,' Barkley then said before waiting a second while his co-hosts digested what he just said. 'It's a fair question.' 4 Billy Ray Bates is a playoff hero for the Trail Blazers from 1980. X, @awfulannouncing Bates is still alive and well at the age of 68, but Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith chided Barkley about it being insensitive to ask if someone was still alive in front of millions of people. Advertisement '(It isn't a fair question) not unless you know the answer,' Johnson said. 'You do not need to ask a question like that.' And that's when O'Neal provided some wrong info. 4 Charles Barkley asks whether Billy Ray Bates is still alive. X, @awfulannouncing 'He passed away,' O'Neal said. Advertisement With none of the hosts seemingly knowing whether O'Neal was right or wrong, the focus shifted back to Johnson and Smith scolding Barkley for asking the question. 'Have you ever heard of asking a question during a commercial break? Possibly?' Johnson said before Smith continued to dig into Barkley. 'Social skills.' 4 Ernie Johnson is forced to issue an apology for saying Billy Ray Bates is not alive. X, @awfulannouncing Barkley then apologized for his remarks and one day later, Johnson did some further apologizing since they killed off a man who is not dead. 'We would like to issue a correction and an apology for something that happened last night on 'Inside the NBA.' We were talking about Billy Ray Bates, who back in 1980, had one of the NBA's best playoff debuts coming off the bench with 29 points,' Johnson said. 'In the course of our discussion, we passed on some bad information that Billy Ray Bates had passed away. While it was inadvertent, it was also inaccurate, and insensitive and inexcusable. In short, we screwed up. And we apologize to Billy Ray Bates and his family.' 4 Ernie Johnson scolds Charles Barkley for asking if Bates is still alive, which O'Neal incorrectly adds that he is not alive. X, @awfulannouncing Bates, 68, is just six years older than Barkley. Bates' big game came in a 120-110 Game 1 loss to the Supersonics. Advertisement Bates averaged 25 points per game off the bench in the series, which Seattle won in three games. He averaged 11.7 points in his short career from 1979-83. 'Inside the NBA' is best known for its brash and unapologetic off-script style of sports talk, but they have gone too far this time. The show is expected to move to ESPN after the 2026 season when Warner Bros. and TNT cease broadcasting basketball.
