Members of our #NBArank panel are recounting the greatest NBA Finals games. First, we asked five NBA writers to share their favorites. Now, Kevin Pelton is ranking his top 25 Finals games of all time. We'll unveil five per day. (Click here for 21-25 and 16-20.)
To rank the top 25 Finals games since 1980, Pelton used four criteria: the importance of the game, the quality of play in the game, the significance of the individual performances and additional factors, such as an exciting finish, a memorable play or a great shot.
On to the countdown ...
1994 Finals, Game 6: Rockets dodge Starks' bullet
Score: Houston 86, New York 84
Result: Rockets tie series 3-3
A shot in the air with the title hanging in the balance. Though it was Game 6 and not Game 7, that was the situation in 1994.
By winning Game 5 at home in New York (played opposite the O.J. Simpson chase), the Knicks had moved within a victory of their third NBA championship as the series returned to Houston for the final two games.
As throughout a series where both teams averaged fewer than 87 points per game, neither could get much going offensively. The Rockets took a seven-point lead on a Kenny Smith 3 with 3:18 remaining, only to see New York rally. The Knicks took possession down two with 5.5 seconds left, and John Starks -- who had scored 16 points in the fourth quarter -- rose for a 3-pointer that would have won the series. Hakeem Olajuwon, who had switched on Starks, got a piece of the ball and the shot came up well short as the buzzer sounded.
1997 Finals, Game 1: Mailman doesn't deliver on Sundays
Score: Chicago 84, Utah 82
Result: Bulls take 1-0 series lead
Making their first trip to the NBA Finals, the Jazz saw an opportunity to steal Game 1 Sunday evening at the United Center in Chicago. As he would so many times against Utah the next two years, Michael Jordan snatched it away.
First, the Jazz squandered an opportunity to take the lead in the closing seconds. With Utah MVP Karl Malone headed to the free throw line, Bulls forward Scottie Pippen famously joked about Malone's nickname, "Just remember, the mailman doesn't deliver on Sundays, Karl."
Malone missed both free throws, giving Chicago the final shot. Naturally, Jordan took it, making a pull-up jumper over defender Bryon Russell just inside the 3-point line as the buzzer sounded. Jordan celebrated with a fist pump as the Bulls took a 1-0 lead on their way to their fifth title in the 1990s.
1980 Finals, Game 6: Magic jumps center
Score: L.A. Lakers 123, Philadelphia 107
Result: Lakers win series 4-2
A game away from their second championship since moving to L.A., the Lakers headed to Philadelphia without MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Abdul-Jabbar had sprained his ankle during Game 5, and while he was able to return to help see out the win at the Forum, the subsequent swelling was too severe for Abdul-Jabbar to travel with the team.
Enter Magic Johnson. Head coach Paul Westhead hatched the idea of having the 6-foot-9 Johnson, a point guard by trade, jump center in place of Abdul-Jabbar. Despite Johnson's heroics, the Sixers were down just two with 5:12 remaining and eying a return to L.A. for Game 7, but the Lakers outscored them 22-6 the rest of the way to secure the title.
Backup Jim Chones relieved Johnson of center duties and contributed a double-double, and Johnson did a little of everything en route to MVP honors, finishing with 42 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists.
"The greatest single-game effort ever," Westhead told Jeff Pearlman. "Ever."
1984 Finals, Game 4: The Rambis clothesline
Score: Boston 129, L.A. Lakers 125 (OT)
Result: Celtics tie series 2-2
Entering Game 4 at the Forum, the Lakers appeared in control of their first Finals matchup with the Celtics since 1969. After splitting in Boston, they'd won Game 3 by 33 points, handing the Celtics their worst playoff loss in franchise history. But the series turned in Game 4, and one play came to symbolize the change.
With the Lakers up six during the third quarter, as Lakers forward Kurt Rambis went up for a layup, Boston's Kevin McHale took him down with a vicious clothesline. The Celtics rallied to tie the game, and for a second time in the series the Lakers failed to get off a shot before the buzzer when Robert Parish stole Magic Johnson's pass to James Worthy.
In overtime, Johnson missed two free throws with the score tied in the final minute and Larry Bird gave Boston the lead with a turnaround jumper. The Lakers had a chance to tie when McHale fouled Worthy with 10 seconds left, but he split the two free throws, leading Celtics forward Cedric Maxwell to gesture that Worthy had choked.
Having reclaimed home-court advantage, Boston went on to win the series in seven games with a pair of victories at the Boston Garden.
2006 Finals, Game 5: The Bennett Salvatore game
Score: Miami 101, Dallas 100 (OT)
Result: Heat take 3-2 series lead
In Miami, it's the "Dwyane Wade game." In Dallas, it's the "Bennett Salvatore game." Veteran Salvatore was one of three officials who sent Wade to the free throw line 25 times --as many as the Mavericks shot as a team. He made 21 of them, accounting for nearly half of his 43 points. Wade scored 21 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, including the game-tying basket late in regulation, to carry the Heat.
Wade's biggest free throws were his last, with 1.9 seconds remaining in OT. Dallas led by one after a Dirk Nowitzki jumper before Nowitzki was called for fouling Wade in the act of shooting. The Miami guard made both attempts, and a costly mistake by Josh Howard -- who misunderstood Avery Johnson's instruction to call a timeout after the second free throw and did so between free throws -- prevented the Mavericks from advancing the ball.
Devin Harris missed a desperation attempt from beyond half court and the Heat moved within one game of rallying from a 2-0 deficit to win the series, which they did in Game 6.
Coming Monday: #NBArank Best Finals Games 6-10
If you want to get involved in the discussion or just follow along, #NBArank is the Twitter hashtag to use. You can also follow along with @ESPNNBA as we count down the greatest Finals games ever.