1985 Playoffs. It arguably caused us to lose the final game of the 1st round v Utah. We lost 2-3.. Some claimed it inspired a comeback. Eaton went out early and Paultz came in to play Akeem. Got to give it to the Big Whopper, he had a funny line after the game. "It just shows what emotion and intensity can do," Paultz said. "We played with great emotion down the stretch and it took them out of their pattern. "Either Akeem can't punch or I can really take a punch. It wasn't much."
And here is the Akeem v Kupchak fight in Game 5 1986, that many of us Rockets fans feel was the intention of Riley (down 3 games to 1 will little hope of stopping Akeem) putting Kupchak in to guard Akeem rather than Jabbar ... the intention was to get Akeem into a fight. Notice the commentators mention how Riley has been trying to throw everyone at Akeem to stop him. This is the series I always mention when people say Akeem was raw or not polished. They are doing again with Embiid. Akeem was a very polished offensive player from the get go, and this series in his 2nd year prove it. The only reason ppl even forget how great he was at the beginning of his career is because he reached GOAT center status later. He went from being unstoppable if you don't double him to unstoppable no matter what you did. Embiid is not more polished vs '86 Akeem.
I hate NBATV games. I pay for league pass but can't watch tonight because I won't pay for a worthless sports package that includes that channel. These are the only games I can't watch.
Biggest game of the year for the doubters coming up! They want us to play bad so they can gloat! #NeverForget