Image via Complex Original
There’s something to be said about an athlete training day in and day out, dreaming of hoisting that championship trophy, only for it all to end with a shower of the opponent’s confetti, and a slow saunter back to the locker room. No one ever talks about the losses. Pieces aren’t written in lieu of the defeated. History favors the victorious. The 2014 NBA Playoffs are already underway. Every year, we grab our beer and eat our hot wings in hungry anticipation of seeing our team on the championship podium.
Yet, as that Coors Light you’re drinking goes flat in the fourth quarter, and that pile of buffalo wings turns into a mound of bones, you’re going to see 15 teams go home. Some of these losses are going to be colossal blow outs. Others, convincing defeats. But a select few are going to be heartbreaking barn burners. You’re going to feel it in that moment, and forget about it this time next year.
Here we remember Craig Ehlo, who fell prey to “The Shot”. We recall Larry Bird frozen still, wondering how that last second shot didn't go in during the '87 Finals. We look back on Derek Fisher silencing San Antonio, and several more devastating postseason losses. Check out 10 of the Most Heartbreaking Losses in NBA Playoff History.
Written by Chrstian Banda (@ThatBoyBanda)
"The Shot"
Date: 5/7/1989
Round: Game 5, Eastern Conference Semifinals
Matchup: Bulls vs. Cavs
They call it "The Shot," and that alone. This play is widely regarded as the flint to M.J.'s tinder. It's the play that transformed Michael Jordan from a talented young player, into a force of nature. But Craig Ehlo and the Cleveland Cavaliers are well aware. Jordan charges to the sideline for the inbound pass and rips back towards the hoop with the ball.
Ehlo contests the shot with everything he's got, but Michael seemingly levitates in the air, as if he's waiting for Ehlo's inevitable descent back down to the hardwood floor. Michael lets the ball go at the last possible second, and the rest is history.
Reggie "The Knick-Killer" Miller
Date: 5/7/1995
Game: Game 1, Eastern Conference Semifinals
Matchup: Pacers vs. Knicks
Nothing like what Reggie Miller did in this game had ever been done before. They call him the "Knick-Killer" for a reason. Let us break this down real nice for you. May 5, 1995 was Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The rivalry between the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks had two faces (Spike Lee and Reggie Miller), and many more casualties. Every time these teams faced each other it was war on the Eastern front, and this time it was under even brighter lights.
With 18.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Knicks were up 105-99. Reggie Miller got the ball and drained a three. All good and fine, but the Knicks had the ball now. A weak inbound pass gives Reggie the opportunity for another shot, but what Reggie Miller does next is possibly some of the thuggest shit we've ever seen. Reggie steps back beyond the arc and drains another trey. That's six points in 5.7 seconds, and just like that, the game was knotted up at 105.
New York gets the ball to John Starks, who is immediately fouled and proceeds to miss both his shots. Ewing gets the rebound, and misses his shot too. Who comes up with the ball? None other than Reggie Miller, who gets fouled and is sent to the line for two. With ice in his veins, Reggie makes both of his shots to give Indiana the lead, and the game.
New York would go on to cough up the series in what will go down in history as one of the biggest choke displays in NBA lore.
The Once and Future Kings
Date: 5/31/2002
Game: Game 6, NBA Western Conference Finals
Matchup: Kings vs. Lakers
Some claim that Game 6 of the 2004 Western Conference Finals was suspiciously devoid of any actual officiating. The Sacramento Kings were the superior team, and everybody knew it. Analysts around the country were straight up appalled by what happened during that game. We'll never really know if the refs missed that vicious elbow Kobe dropped Mike Bibby with. Or if all of Sacramento's big men fouling out on seemingly legal plays was mere coincidence. Or if David Stern's gross infatuation with the Lakers was a determining factor in the way that this game plays out.
One thing is for sure, the Kings were in control of this series, and the Lakers were one game away from going home. We all felt for the city of Sacramento on this one. What a damn shame.
Reggie Left Euthanized by "The Block"
Date: 5/24/2004
Game: Game 2, Eastern Conference Finals
Matchup: Pacers vs. Indiana
Should've went for the slam, Reggie. A blocked shot by Jermaine O'Neal landed Reggie Miller with the ball and a clear path to the basket. Reggie's bravado had him under the false assumption that his half-hearted lay-up was going into the net. From the depths of nowhere, Tayshaun Prince races up the court and lays an emphatic "return to sender" stamp on Reggie Miller's attempt. A play that would henceforth be known as "The Block," landed the ball right into the arms of Pistons teammate Rip Hamilton.
Rip was able to hold the ball inbounds until he got fouled. Hamilton got up and iced both shots. He'd been perfect from the line that night. Tayshaun Prince made the play of his career and stunned an Indiana team on their very own home turf.
Silence In San Antonio
Date: 5/13/2004
Game: Game 5, Western Conference Semifinals
Matchup: Lakers vs. Spurs
Of course we had to include this one. Tim Duncan had just drained an 18-footer over Shaquille O'Neil to put the Spurs up by one with 0.4 seconds left. An incredible shot. An incredible shot that no one ever talked about again. The Lakers use their timeout to inbound at the other end of the floor, but there's less than half a second left in the game. "Let's just call it quits and ice up for Game 6, everybody. I'm exhausted from whooping ass," Tim Duncan probably says.
The San Antonio crowd is losing its mind as Gary Payton inbounds the ball to Derek Fisher. With 0.4 seconds left in the game, Fish catches, shoots, and makes the winning basket. The final score is 74-73, Lakers. Silence.
It Didn't Go In
Date: 6/9/1987
Round: Game 4, NBA Finals
Matchup: Lakers vs. Celtics
"I would have bet anything that the shot was ripping through the net. I would have bet my baseball card collection. I would have bet my Intellivision. I would have bet my virginity. I would have bet my life. Even the Lakers probably thought it was going in." Through the eyes of his teenage self, Bill Simmons perfectly encapsulates the horror of seeing Larry Bird miss that game winning three. Larry had been superhuman during his 1987 campaign, and had carried an injury-plagued roster to the NBA Finals.
Larry Legend could do no wrong. So when Bird broke free and launched a shot that seemed to hang in the air forever, Boston rose to its feet in jubilant certainty. One can imagine the devastation when Larry's ball finally made it to the basket, only to brick off the back of the rim. It didn't go in.
For Simmons, the most haunting memory was Larry Bird after the shot: "As the shot bounced away, he froze for a split second and stared at the basket in disbelief even as the Lakers celebrated behind him. Just like us, he couldn't believe it."
"Havlicek Stole The Ball!"
Date: 4/15/1965
Round: Game 7, Eastern Conference Finals
Matchup: Warriors vs. Celtics
A 76ers team, led by none other than Wilt Chamberlain, had withered the Game 7 Celtics lead to a mere point. The score was 110-109, with five seconds left in the fourth quarter. With momentum on their side, all Philly needed was a swift inbound pass and a shot for the lead. They had fought so hard for this. They never saw him coming. A rainbow pass from Philadelphia's Hal Greer was tracked down by Boston's very own John Havlicek.
Hondo tipped the ball towards Sam Jones as announcer Johnny Most exclaimed, "Havlicek stole the ball! It's all over!" Wilt saw green in his nightmares for the rest of his career.
The Rise and Demise of Utah's Franichise
Date: 6/14/1998
Round: Game 6, NBA Finals
Matchup: Jazz vs. Bulls
In 1998, Michael Jordan delivered a blow that arguably brought a whole franchise to its knees. The Utah Jazz never recovered from M.J.'s last shot as a Bull. Salt Lake City's going to insist that Michael pushed off Byron Russell, they're going to claim that this warranted a foul, and they're going to defend the declaration that Chicago's victory was built on a lie. If you take a look at the Jazz organization right now, could you really blame them? The rest of us saw the tape. We all saw one of the greatest shots of all time. As for the Jazz? They haven't seen an NBA Finals game since.
Spurs Get a Taste of Sweet Baby Ray
Date: 6/18/2013
Round: Game 6, NBA Finals
Matchup: San Antonio vs. Miami Heat
It was a done deal. We knew it. You knew it. Heat fans quietly shuffling out of the stadium knew it. With 19.4 seconds left in the fourth, up by three points, the San Antonio Spurs were moments away from a fifth championship trophy. The Spurs have every right to curse Ray Allen's name 'til Jesus comes back. They really do. But the presence of mind it took for Chris Bosh to go up for the rebound (drowning in a sea of grey and black jerseys) and find Ray in all but three seconds will probably be overlooked for quite some time.
Regardless, this dagger was undoubtedly one of the sharpest the NBA has ever seen. It's arguably one of the greatest plays in NBA history, and neither us nor San Antonio is ever going to forget it.
Isiah's Motor Sputters
Date: 5/26/1987
Round: Game 5, Eastern Conference Finals
Matchup: Pistons vs. Celtics
Within the embers of this once storied rivalry, burns the memory of Isiah's failed inbound pass. When it came to the 'Bad Boy' Detroit Pistons, Isiah Thomas was the engine of Motor City. Yet with five seconds left in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the whole world watched Thomas sputter. All Isiah Thomas had to do was inbound the ball to Bill Laimbeer—pass he'd undoubtedly practiced thousands of times. Laimbeer would get fouled, and victory would be milliseconds away. What left Isiah's hands was a lazy egg toss in Laimbeer's general direction.
All the man could do was watch Larry Legend pick off the ball, dish it to Dennis Johnson for the game winning lay-up, and scrape his own jaw up off the Garden floor. In about 5 seconds, Isiah Thomas watched the road to the Finals crumble away at his very hand.