Is Lebron's Game 6 vs. Boston (2012) a top 5 NBA playoff moment?

So you think every one of those games you listed was better than LeBron's game 6 in 2012? Really? The 45/1/1 push-off-game, for real? A game Isiaih LOST? A game by Shaq against a Pacers team the Lakers were supposed to sweep.. and a game ONE no doubt?

Try to take this seriously. Find some games where the player actually had some pressure to perform or they would go home and have to try again next year.

 

Maybe, but some people are victim to Nostalgia. Which is proven that people who look back fondly on things remember them better than they actually were.

 

I saw every game on your list except for the first two, and nostalgia or statistics be damned, none of them were as impressive as what LeBron did in game 6 last year. It's not that he played the greatest game of all time, but that he played one of the greatest games under the pressure of the whole basketball world expecting him to choke. That ramped up the intensity to a level it's very rarely at, and I can't think of any comparable cases where the pressure has been so high and the player has come through. The only time I can remember MJ being in that situation was game 5 against Cleveland in '89 (I think) when he hit a great shot over Ehlo, but even then it's not like he would have been crucified if he missed since people expected the Cavs to win that series anyway.

 

Well, the circumstances going into that game were that LeBron was:

1) Perceived as a loser since he couldn't win with the Cavs despite them being the #1 seed a number of years.

2) "Quit" against the Celtics in 2010.

3) Ran away to team up with the superfriends.

4) "Choked" against the Mavs in 2011.

5) "Choked" against the Celtics earlier in the series ending on that "good job, good effort" game.

The idea was that it was supposed to be easy and he'd win multiple titles with the Heat, had blown the first opportunity and was on the cusp of blowing the second. That's a lot of pressure!

And then he comes through with perhaps not the greatest playoff game in history, but statistically one of the greatest (19/26 shooting on almost all jumpers along with a great all-around line). Even some of the regular haters here were giving him props. I just don't see five better games on your list. Even just going by the stats, I don't see five better.

 

If you have to consider context, then any game not in the NBA Finals is automatically eliminated....hence this one too. Probably any game not an elimination game in the Finals, if you get down to it.

 

Ahhh, I see. You first create the 'moment' by sucking every other time, and then compound it by utterring ridiculous marketing statements, and THAT is what is the criteria for a most memorable playoff moment? So all the others suggested are ruled out because they weren't preceding by a bunch of 'chokes'? ??? ???????

 

Well, that's fair, but there just aren't very many notable elimination game Finals performances, so this is the next best thing.

 

No, because that was all perception. Aside from 2011, LeBron didn't choke at all-- the fans just wanted to paint it that way. As was shown when he left Cleveland, his supporting cast was just godawful and to go as far as he did was a freaking miracle. In Miami, played great in the playoffs in every series outside of the Dallas one, but it looked like he was going to lose again. Ergo, the pressure was extremely high-- as much as any player had ever faced, outside of maybe West/Baylor against the Celtics in the 70s. So that's what made the performance memorable.

 

Here's the issue, I think. Everything that has been listed as making his performance in that game has to do with LeBron. But that doesn't make it an important moment in the NBA. To be one of the all time greatest moments in NBA history, individual issues and context are pretty much irrelevant. Context does matter, but NBA context, not individual issues/perceptions outside of the game. In short, all of the individual perceptions etc that LeBron may have had going into that game are/should be irrelevant when determining how important that moment was. It may have been one of the top five moments in LeBron's life, but what NBA significance does it have?

Actual physical issues would count---if he done all that on a broken leg, more props to him, and I'd say one of the greatest moments. But perception? That doesn't add much to NBA signficance.

If you factor in perception, you might have 30 games on the list just of Wilt playing the Celtics (perceived as a choker even though he generally had dominating games, but his team didn't win).

 

I know. Apparently finally showing up in a series you were supposed to cruise in but barely survived makes it a top 5 moment, even though it wasn't on the biggest stage.

 

LeBron had 4 30+ pt games before that one. to say he "finally showed up" shows you exactly the kind of expectations people have for him vs other players.

Even without all of the pressure and circumstance of that game, it was one of the statistically greatest playoff games ever played, rivaling anything Jordan did and probably the best in any elimination game. It wasn't in the Finals, I'll grant that, so only the second-biggest stage.

 

The other problem with ranking this performance was that the game wasn't close. You win by 20, your performance doesn't get remembered. You put up the same stats in a game that is wire to wire the whole way, and you win by 1....and your performance is one for the ages. The game itself isn't that memorable, hence the performances in it aren't either.

 

So which performances are you ranking above then? There are very few great games that are under such pressure (elimination in important situation), involve an amazing statistical performance, AND come down to the last shot. All I said was that this was a top-five individual performance out of the many games I've seen, which include almost all of OP's list. I don't think Jordan had a better playoff game statistically ever, and certainly not under the same circumstances, although he did have a few that had more memorable final moments (namely the '89 game and the '98 game). Reggie Miller had tons of big shots but very few big-number games. Bird had a few very good games but I don't remember one where he put up big numbers and it came down to a big shot. I know Bernard King had an epic game against the Pistons that isn't mentioned here, but I don't think the stage was the same (earlier round). There are lots of games but LeBron's really stands out to me.

 

Thank you. Frankly, I don't understand why this thread was posted now, after last night's great game. Bizarre, if you ask me.

 

Here are some candidates:

Barkley 1993 WCFs game 7 vs. Seattle: 44 pts, 24 reb

James Worthy 88 finals game 7: 36, 16 and 10

Magic's rookie closeout game: 42, 15, and 7

Frazier's game 7: 36, 7 and 19 (without Willis for almost the whole game)

Russell 62 finals game 7: 30 pts and 40 rebs, in an overtime game.

Russell and Heinsohn 57 finals game 7: double overtime game. Both Russell and Heinsohn were rookies. Russell put up 19 pts and 32 boards. Heinsohn had 37 pts and 23 boards. Not too shabby for a couple of rookies in a double overtime game.

Jordan's Flu game. And the game 6 clincher against the Jazz where he stole the ball from Malone, threw Russell out of the way and nailed the game winner (I still cringe every time I see that shot). 45 points in that game, and as clutch as it gets, as much as I hated it then, and now.

Under less crucial circumstances, there's also Thomas's game on a sprained ankle, Bob Pettit's closeout game for his only championship, where he scored 19 of the teams last 21 points, and Chamberlain playing against the Knicks under medication and with a bandaged, broken hand

And I know no-one here will want to admit it, but Stockton's 87 game 6 performance against the Rockets, scoring 15 in the fourth and beating us with a three is up there as well.