The Lakers are considered one of the two best teams in the NBA with it being a virtual given that they will face the other top team coming out of the East in the Finals. The Lakers are led by a future all time NBA great and a coach with an impressive resume and multiple championships. The Lakers have mowed down their competition so far in the playoffs. All the experts are predicting another team to fall on their inevitable march to a showdown in the NBA finals. Standing in their way are the Houston Rockets. A team led by a great big man from a foreign country tasting playoff success for the first time. Coached by a wily veteran coach. The Rockets are considered a good team but no match for all but annointed Western Conference champion Lakers. Most predictions have LA in 6. Things go as planned in game 1 with the Lakers having a relatively easy victory in front of star studded crowd in LA but then... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYW6TdOSF4I The year is 1986 and the Houston Rockets in 4 classic games culminating in an epic game 5 at the Fabulous Forum shock the basketball world by knocking off the defending champion Lakers. A team with four all stars and three eventual hall of famers on their starting lineup. Even their 6th man Michael Cooper was a NBA Defensive player of the year. The Rockets after being rolled over in game 1 came out and surprised the Lakers in game 2 to take one in LA. Then two very hard fought games at the Summit to take a 3-1 lead. Finally game 5 back in LA with the Lakers coming out very hard from the get go. Akeem gets tossed halfway in the 4th quarter after getting mugged by Mitch Kupchak but Sampson comes up big with probably the single greatest shot in Rockets history to put away the Lakers in a stunning 5 game series. The Rockets did it before we can do it again!
I just remembered that the Moses Malone Rockets in 1981 also upset a heavily favored Laker team in round one of the playoffs. The Lakers were the number one seed we were number eight. Lets do it again Rox!
Yup the 1986 game was the one that solidified my fanhood to the Rockets. I was 7 years old and our house was rocking!
Rockets vs. Lakers Playoff History: 1981 - Win, underdogs 1986 - Win, underdogs 1990 - Lose, underdogs 1991 - Lose - underdogs 1996 - Win 1999 - Lose - underdogs 2004 - Lose - underdogs It's time for the Rockets to beat them again and make history repeat itself. The only won series was in 1996 which was a fluke, since the Lakers were not that good. This was also the only year we finished ahead of LA so we have won twice and lost 4 (as underdogs) and now it's time to win this year and maybe next year to complete the cycle.
Great post! Mirrors my own feelings very well. Kudos. We will do it again! (wow... didn't know sending some salad your way would bump you into the BBS upper crust! )
Yeah I remeber that night. I left a good party early to check out the game at a friends house. I got to see the fourth quarter and the shot by Ralph was awesome. I can't believe that was 23 years ago.
I remember staying up late to watch game 5 and it was after midnight Houston time and I had school the next day but I didn't care. For the next two weeks my friends and I kept on trying to recreate that shot on friend's driveway hoop. I was trying to find a pic of that shot but this pic captures the Rockets' 1986 performance. Notice the guys around Sampson. AC Green (All Star), James Worthy (All NBA 50th Anniversary Team), Kareem Abdul Jabbar (NBA Legend holder of a ton of records), Magic Johnson (NBA Legend holder of a ton of records) The current Lakers are a great team but it is scary to think just how good that Lakers team was.
They showed that entire game on ESPN Classic a few weeks ago. I DVR’ed it and educated my wife. I remember being upstairs in my room and screaming so loud when Ralph hit that shot that my parents thought there was an ax murderer in my room! It was after midnight Houston time. They came running up so see what was the matter. I mentioned this in the SI prediction thread, but SI ran an article after the lakers blew us out in Game 1 that was basically saying the series was over and we didn’t stand a chance against them. We went on to win the next 4 games in a row… nice foresight, SI….
Here's the video of the last half minute of the game. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LF740MqYbOs&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LF740MqYbOs&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
That was such a great game. It had everything. Drama, with Dream getting suckered by Kupchak (by design, IMO! damn Riley) and tossed, amazing play throughout. The HUGE three by Reid, usually forgotten and what made the ending possible. A HUGE rebound by the smallest guy on the floor, Allen Leavell, that gave us possession. The PERFECT inbound pass by McCray, which gave Ralph his chance, and, of course, THE SHOT. And the team we beat were the defending champs, an incredible array of talent, which you pointed out so well. What a great time to be a Rockets fan. The future seemed limitless.
There's a reason nobody wanted to post up on AC Green back in the day. Possibly the best post defender in our generation...
