This Sunday, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers will face off in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
This is it. One game for all the marbles. 48 minutes of basketball and a title that will go down in history.
It’s the type of drama that sports fans dream of; one of the reasons games like this are so special is because they are so rare. Sunday’s contest will be just the 20th Game 7 in the history of the NBA Finals, and just the fifth in the last 30 years.
Take a look below at every NBA Finals Game 7 ever below:
Year Winning Team Losing Team Score Finals MVP
1951 Rochester Royals New York Knicks 79–75 N/A
1952 Minneapolis Lakers New York Knicks 82–65 N/A
1954 Minneapolis Lakers Syracuse Nationals 87–80 N/A
1955 Syracuse Nationals Fort Wayne Pistons 92–91 N/A
1957 Boston Celtics St. Louis Hawks 125–123 (2OT) N/A
1960 Boston Celtics St. Louis Hawks 122–103 N/A
1962 Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers 110–107 (OT) N/A
1966 Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers 95–93 N/A
1969 Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers 108–106 Jerry West
1970 New York Knicks Los Angeles Lakers 113–99 Willis Reed
1974 Boston Celtics Milwaukee Bucks 102–87 John Havlicek
1978 Washington Bullets Seattle SuperSonics 105–99 Wes Unseld
1984 Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers 111–102 Larry Bird
1988 Los Angeles Lakers Detroit Pistons 108–105 James Worthy
1994 Houston Rockets New York Knicks 90–84 Hakeem Olajuwon
2005 San Antonio Spurs Detroit Pistons 81–74 Tim Duncan
2010 Los Angeles Lakers Boston Celtics 83–79 Kobe Bryant
2013 Miami Heat San Antonio Spurs 95–88 LeBron James
2016 Cleveland Cavaliers Golden State Warriors 93–89 LeBron James
Some fun things about this list jump out when viewed together.
First, man, these games are close. The past eight times the NBA Finals have gone to Game 7, the contest was decided by single digits. In 10 of the 19, it was five points or less.
Also, if you thought today’s Celtics fans were annoying, just imagine how brutal it must have been for everyone back in the 1960s, when Boston was edging out its fiercest rival (Los Angeles) time and time again in the biggest game imaginable.
One last note—the Finals MVP award was first given out in 1969, when Jerry West of the Lakers took the honors despite losing to the Celtics in seven games. To this day, he’s the only player to have won NBA Finals MVP despite losing the NBA Finals. Surely not the most fun piece of history to hold, but a piece of history nonetheless.
The last time we got a Game 7 in the NBA Finals, LeBron James produced the greatest highlight of his unmatched NBA career. What legends will be made this Sunday?
Game 7 between the Thunder and Pacers tips off at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday night in Oklahoma City.
More NBA Finals on Sports Illustrated