Over the last 48 hours, I have rewatched the highlights of the Knicks' meltdown against the Pacers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at least ten times. Every time I watch it, I see something new. It's like the Basketball Gods hid Easter eggs in them.
If the sight of Reggie Miller pointing at Tyrese Haliburton, who did a premature choking celebration, wasn't worthy enough for the Scorsese "This is Cinema" meme, the game happened on the 20th anniversary of Patrick Ewing's missed buzzer-beating layup in Game 7 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals.
While rewatching those highlights that gave the fathers of many current Knicks fans nightmares, I started thinking about the biggest collapses and choke jobs in Game 7 history. And the first one that comes to mind came courtesy of another New York great.
WORST SHOOTING NIGHT IN FINALS HISTORY (PER KNICKS FANS)
The Worst Choke Job In NBA History | 1994 Game Seven Knicks vs Rockets
PLAYER: JOHN LEVELL STARKS
DATE:
JUNE 22, 1994
STATS:
51 PTS, 13 REB, 6 3PT, 5 AST (60% FG)
On June 22, 1994, John Starks appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the words, "Knicks John Starks is one of four nasty backcourtmen who could drive their teams to the NBA title."
Less than a month later, Starks found himself 48 minutes away from the first NBA title for the Knicks since 1973. Knicks coach
Pat Riley was so confident in his All-Star shooting guard
that he reportedly told Dick Butera before the game, "Well, old buddy: I know at least three people are gonna show up tonight. You, me and John."
Starks, who had a potential game-winner blocked by Hakeem Olajuwon in the final seconds of Game 6, did show up in Houston for the final game of the 1994 NBA Finals, but he left his shot back in New York. He missed five of his six first-half shots for a total of four points. His second half got worse, missing 11 of his next 12 shots. The final stat line was eight points on 11% shooting, a donut from three (0/11), and five fouls in the six-point loss.
The performance haunted him for years. It was his last shot at an NBA Championship (he was traded for Latrell Sprewell a year before the Knicks went to the Finals in 1999) and a conversation favorite to bring up when a team or player chokes in a Playoff game.
"You never get over it." Starks said to
Back In The Day Hoops
in 2023.
"You just kind of put it in a little box in your mind and keep it there. Playoffs come around, it starts to open up a little bit. As a player, you never forget that. I don't care what anybody says. When you have a moment like that, and I know a lot of guys had moments like that, let that destroy their lives and never recover from it. You never forget about it."
As awful as Starks was in Game 7, Patrick Ewing deserves a lot of blame for the series. The All-NBA center scored 17 points on 7-of-17 shooting in that game and 17 points on 30% shooting in the previous, while Hakeem dropped 30 on 52% on him. And in the Game 3 loss, Ewing had just 18 points on 31%.
As bad as those shooting numbers were in his disappearing act in 94, none of those misses comes close to the one in the final seconds of the 1995 Knicks season.
Down by two with five seconds left in regulation, Ewing catches the ball, makes a great spin away from the double team, gets the step on Derrick McKey and Antonio Davis, has a wide-open layup, tries to George Gervin the shot, and the ball bounces off the back of the rim. Game over. The Pacers get to lose to Shaq and Penny in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Pacers broadcast:
"He missed! He missed! Ring the bell, baby! Ding dong, the witch is dead! The Pacers have won it 97-95, and we are going to Disneyworld!"
The New York Times newspaper headline:
"The Knicks' Quest For Glory Bounces Off The Back Of The Rim"
Charles Smith:
“That shot put the lid on the basket for all of our careers moving forward.”
It's worth remembering that Ewing's shot was to force overtime. People seem to remember it as a potential game-winner. Considering four of the seven games were decided by two points or less, it's a coin toss on which team would have come out victorious in the extra session. But since it was in MSG and Reggie Miller was having a decent game (29), I would have had my dollar coin on the man with a 30 FOR 30 documentary called WINNING TIME.
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PANDEMIC P OFF THE SIDE OF THE BACKBOARD
Paul George Full Play | Nuggets vs Clippers 2019-20 West Conf Semifinals Game 7 | Smart Highlights
PLAYER: PAUL CLIFTON ANTHONY GEORGE JR
DATE:
September 16, 2020
STATS:
10 PTS, 5 TO, 2 AST (25% FG, 18% 3PT)
After the slander of two Knicks, it's only fair I talk about a former Pacer choking in the Playoffs.
Paul George is a 9 x All-Star, 6 x All-NBA member, and 4 x 1st or 2nd All-Defensive team member. That resume is enough to get you into the Hall of Fame nowadays. But what might keep him out of the Hall is his reputation for not stepping up in the Playoffs.
Game 7 of the 2020 Bubble WCSF against the Nuggets is the not-stepping-up game that gets brought up the most. It was during George's first season running with Kawhi and the Clippers. They had the second-best regular season record in the West and were the favorites to beat the Nuggets. They even had a 3-1 lead in the series.
What happened?
The Nuggets' two biggest stars stepped up, and the Clippers's two biggest stars didn't. Jamal Murry had 40 points on 15-of-26 shooting, while Jokic had a triple-double with 16 points, 13 assists, and 22 rebounds. For the Clippers, Kawhi missed 16 of his 22 shots for 14 points and Paul George missed 12 of his 16 for 10 points. He also had five turnovers and missed 9 of his 11 attempts from three, including a 4th quarter attempt that hit the side of the backboard.
The Clippers only managed 33 second-half points and lost 104-89.
George was destroyed on social media and given the nickname "Pandemic P."
"It hurts. But we move on," George said. "Year 1 together, first run together, of course we wanted to win this. But we've been very optimistic about us being together and building something going down the road."
George played three more seasons with the Clippers before signing with the Sixers, where he is now known as Podcast P.
Reminder:
The Clippers' package for George included Shai Gilgeoius-Alexander and the first-round picks that became Jalen Williams, Tre Mann, and Jaime Jaquez Jr.
THE BEARD'S (TAKE YOUR PICK)
James Harden 3 of 11 fgs 5 tos vs Celtics 2023 PO G7
The next guy on this list is Paul George's former Clipper teammate, James Harden, who has the dubious honor of being the first player in NBA history to lose a Game 7 with four different teams.
The most recent of the four happened in the Clippers' 19-point loss (they were down by as many as 35) to the Nuggets in the first round of this year's Playoffs. Harden only attempted eight shots and finished with seven points and 13 assists. He then declined to speak with the media afterward.
The performance caused Kendrick Perkins to say, "James Harden is allergic to Game 7s. He breaks out in rashes. He folds like clean sheets."
On a recent episode of
The Big Podcast with Shaq, O'Neal said Harden struggles in big games because he cares too much about what people say about him:
"When you care, I can see it in your eyes," O'Neal said. "We had a couple of Game 7s, and people didn't step up... I already knew they wasn't going to step up because it's the topic of conversation. If you have the I don't care attitude, you're going to take 30 shots, not f***** eight, James Harden."
Harden did take a few more shots in Game 7 of the 2023 ECSF against the Celtics but only finished with a single extra bucket. He made 3-of-11 field goals for nine points, which was the least amount by any of the Sixers' starters (including PJ Tucker). He did dish out a game-high seven assists but had five turnovers in the 24-point blowout loss, which also turned out to be his final game with the Sixers.
This game is also known for Jayson Tatum scoring an NBA Game 7 record 51 points, while MVP Joel Embiid put up just 15.
If you want to read a great deep dive into Harden's Game 7 performances, then I highly suggest this article by Tom Haberstroh called 'The Mystery of James Harden's Game 7s." The piece reminded me that a league executive once texted Chris Haynes, "Has an NBA player ever been investigated for point shaving?" after one of Harden's other Game 7s.
THE MAILMAN DOESN'T DELIVER ON SUNDAYS
Jazz @ Sonics 1996 WCF Deciding Game 7 (NBA On NBC)
I have three favorite stories about Karl Malone being a no-show. And him not being a parent to the child he had with a 13-year-old girl is not one of them.
The first great no-show was when he threatened to boycott the 1990 NBA All-Star game because fans voted AC Green to the starting lineup. He eventually showed up but didn't play because of an "injury" the league considered investigating. How injured was he? He had 40 points in 48 minutes just 48 hours after the game.
The second is when Scottie Pippen said, "The Mailman doesn't deliver on Sundays" during Game 1 of the 1997 NBA Finals, and then Karl Malone missed two clutch free throws on that glorious Sunday.
The third is when he got outplayed by Shawn Kemp and missed a pair of clutch free throws in the final seconds of Game 7 of the 1996 WCF against the Sonics.
Mailman:
22 PTS, 5 REB (36% FG, 50% FT)
Reign Man:
26 PTS, 14 REB (67% FG, 90% FG)
The cherry on top was watching Malone tell Ahmad Rashad in a postgame interview that he didn't play well and missed some easy shots. Oh yeah, the game was on a Sunday.
DJ'S DONUT WAS THE WORST SHOOTING GM7 EVER
1978 NBA Finals Game 7 Washington Bullets vs. Seattle Super Sonics
PLAYER: Dennis Wayne Johnson
DATE:
June 7, 1978
STATS:
4 PTS, 2 AST, 3 BLK (0% FG, 67% FT)
The casual basketball fan probably doesn't know who the late, great Dennis Johnson is. The ones that do probably only know him for his defense and time in Boston, where he made one All-Star team in seven seasons.
Before he joined the Celtics, DJ was an All-NBA and All-Defensive 1st teamer, averaging 20 points with the Phoenix Suns.
Before he joined the Suns, DJ was an MVP candidate, NBA Champion, and Finals MVP winner with the Seattle SuperSonics. During his time in Seattle, he also had the worst shooting night of his career.
The Sonics went into Game 6 of the 1978 NBA Finals against the Washington Bullets with a 3-2 lead. DJ struggled, missing 12 of his 16 shots and finishing with nine points in a 35-point blowout loss. The Sonics returned to Seattle for Game 7, and DJ was looking for redemption. He missed all 14 of his shots and finished with a Playoff-low four points in 38 minutes of the six-point loss.
"It was an embarrassing experience to play so poorly, especially in a situation of that magnitude,"
Johnson said. "I choked. I'd never played on a stage that big, not with 15,000 people in an arena. But it motivated me and made me stronger."
He wasn't kidding. DJ made his first All-Star team the following year and ended the season with a gentlemen's sweep of those Bullets in the following NBA Finals. DJ was named Finals MVP after averaging 23 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 2.2 blocks and 1.8 steals and leading the Seattle franchise to their one and only championship.
"He had one of the most fascinating Finals ever in 1979," Bob Ryan said during a
2025 Podcast appearance. "He blocked 14 shots in five games from the guard position; even Derrick White can't do that… He's the most destructive defensive guard we have ever seen."
TRIVIA:
DJ also had the first game-winning three in NBA Playoff history
THE BIG O'S FINAL NBA GAME
1974 NBA Finals: Boston Celtics vs Milwaukee Bucks Game 7
PLAYER: Oscar Palmer Robertson
DATE:
May 12, 1974
STATS:
6 PTS, 11 AST, 3 REB (15% FG, 100% FT)
When Michael Jordan shoved Bryon Russell and hit the game-winner to complete the Bulls second Three-Peat, I remember thinking there was no way an NBA great could finish their career on a better note. The flip side might be how the great Oscar Robertson ended his career.
The Big O's final NBA game was Game 7 of the 1974 NBA Finals. His Bucks had the best record in the league and were taking on the team with the second-best record: the Boston Celtics. It was the perfect stage and situation for the original triple-double king. But the results couldn't be worse for him. He missed 11 of his 13 shots before taking a seat on the bench to watch the final minute of the 15-point loss.
He announced his retirement a few months later. And to show how valuable the former MVP was, the Bucks had the worst record in their division the following year despite still having Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
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HONORABLE MENTIONS FOR THE NON ALL-STARS
Here are a few other people who deserve a shout-out for their Game 7 records and/or performances.
Coach Doc Rivers:
NBA record 10 losses
Danny Green:
1/12 FG (1/6 3PT) in the 2013 NBA Finals. Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, and Mike Miller failed to make a shot in this game, but they got the W (thanks to LeBron and his clutch 37).
Trevor Ariza:
He missed all 12 shots, including nine from downtown, during the infamous 2018 WCF Game 7 vs the Warriors. The entire Rockets team missed 27 consecutive threes.
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