1970 NBA Finals Game 5 Part 1/2

1970 NBA Finals Game 5

Classic NBA Game between the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers

In Game 5 at the Garden, the Knicks' worst fear came true: eight minutes into the game, Willis Reed fell down hard while trying to make a shot. Reed eventually got up on his own, but a leg injury forced him to leave the game. Late in the game, the Lakers led by as many as 16 points, but a scrambling defense and sheer determination to "win one for the captain" helped New York stage a remarkable comeback. Bill Bradley's clutch shot tied the game at 87 with 7:40 left to play, then 19 Laker turnovers in the second half aided the Knicks for the rest of the game en route to a 107-100 victory.

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Sports

[giles422]

@streglia terrific stuff! what a night, eh?

[TheTzdope]

@giles422 i bet it's this game 5 coaches film!!

[giles422]

@TheTzdope I never knew it did! We'll see what's what I guess-

[TheTzdope]

@giles422 nba tv is listing game 1 of this series to air monday as part of their "old school" series.

do you know if that tape exists?

[tuzwol]

the Lakers were winning by 15 before Willis Reed got hurt,the Knicks went on the run after Willis Reed got hurt, had he not gotten hurt,they probably wouldve lost this game

[streglia]

jfrank -- thanks for the trip down memory lane. For those of us around at the time, those were very precious years. Jim Gordon, Bill Chatwick, Marv (before the kinky sex stories). And Clyde was always an excellent rebounder for a guard.

[jfrankparnell]

@streglia You could see it was a complete team effort. Even Clyde was hitting the boards hard. Brilliant of Red to go small instead of forcing Bowman in there.

Thanks to the uploader - never saw the video of this. That's Jim Gordon doing the TV play by play (interspersed with highlights of Marv on WHN). Gordon was the radio pbp guy for the Giants and the TV pbp guy for Rangers (with the Big Whistle)

[streglia]

@giles422 that would be GREAT! as difficult as this might be to believe in today's cable/satellite world, but back then you couldn't see home games. EVER. even the nba finals! even game 7 they tape delayed on abc until midnight in the ny metropolitan area. so we all knew the result of the game before we watched it.

[giles422]

@streglia this is only part of it. I've got more of this same tape, beginning in the first quarter, before Willy went down, all the way to the end. If I can get it transferred to DVD, it'll be the first thing I upload on YouTube- promise.

[streglia]

what the knicks had over every other team of the time is that they had 7 unbelievable outside shooters. a ferocious defense, and they are one of the smartest teams of all time. bradley and frazier back doored EVERYONE. frazier looked so cooled and detached and yet he made the right play almost every time. offense & defense. and debusschere was so underated. an ultimate team player.