I was just wondering... can anyone think of two greater chokes than Nick Anderson's four missed free throws against Houston in '95, and Jordan's stumble against the Pacers in '98? I sure can't. There probably are some other really bad ones. Any of you guys remember other monumental chokes?
Isaih Thomas against the Celtics. They had the Celtics beat. "They forgot about Larry Bird" said Danny Ainge.
Pippen's choke in the '99 playoffs for us. We were up with less than 10 seconds left and all we had to do was hold on to the ball. We didn't even have to cross mid court but Pippen tried to bring it up and get around I think it was Ron Harper or someone from the Lakers who were coming to foul him and he lost he ball. The lakers got the layup and won by that one point margin.
"The Mailman doesn't deliver on Sunday" comes to mind, but Nick the Brick's got this award on lockdown.
I don't remember the exact scenario, but Patrick Ewing, a future Hall of Famer, missed a wide open layup againt the Pacers in a Pacers-Knicks playoff game that I think would of either won it for them or tied it.
i'll agree. isiah thomas' pass was one for the ages but the blazers' collapse has to be THE biggest one. i mean, they had their ticket for a trip to the finals with like a 15 pt lead after 3rd quarter....
Good one. How about Oilers choking up a 35 pt lead in the second half? I mean that is absolutely unbelievabl!
Paul Pierce at the free throw line in the Eastern Conference Finals. Also the Sacremento Kings in Game 7 against the Lakers.
82 NCAA Finals, North Carolina vs. Georgetown. Fred Brown of Georgetown dribbles the ball across half court, in a one point game, with time running out, and turns and throws the ball right to James Worthy of NC, who takes it the other way for the game winner. Jackie Smith of the Cowboys tarnishes a brilliant career by dropping a touchdown pass, that hits him in the chest, during the NFC championship game- and the Cowboys lose. Bill Buckner??
I'll vote for the Blazers in both game seven of 2000, and game three of the first round this year. Game three really stands out to me because the only way they could have lost (in regulation) is to do virtually everything wrong, and that they did. They were up 5, 38 seconds. Immediately, they give Fox a wide open layup, thinking LA would go for three. They then make only one of two free throws. Four point game. Then, instead of daring LA to shoot a two with time running down, they give Kobe a wide open three. Nails it. Quitten goes to the line and makes one of two. Two point game. Eight seconds left. The worst that can happen is OT, right? Not quite. Kobe drives, is about to take a 8-10 foot contested fadeaway, when Pippen comes out of nowhere for an unnecessary double team. Because of that, he leaves Robert Horry, one of the top five clutch players in the last decade, wide open for the series ending shot. Sweep... That game won't be remembered by a lot of people, but it was amazing to me that Portland had to do virtually everything wrong to lose that game, but Quitten still found a way to come through.
