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Worst Game 7 Performances in NBA History

In 2016, LeBron James had the defining moment of his career, slaying the 73-9 Golden State Warriors in game seven on their home floor. James had a triple-double that game and added perhaps the most iconic blocked shot in league history. However, that game was an offensive struggle for both teams, with James shooting 9 for 24 from the field.

NBA history is littered with uneven shooting performances when the stakes are highest, even among the game’s greatest players. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson combined to shoot 11 for 32 in Game 7 of the 1984 NBA Finals. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen combined to shoot 15 for 43 in Game 7 of the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals against Indiana. Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan shot 6 for 24 and 10 for 27, respectively, in Game 7 of the 2010 and 2005 NBA Finals, and still brought home MVP honors for those series (as did Bird in 1984 and James in 2016).

There are some Game 7 performances that particularly stand out for the wrong reasons. What happened to the players during these games? Was the moment too big, or did the defense figure them out after a six-game sample? Did they simply have a bad shooting day at an inopportune time? Every circumstance is different, as you’ll see below.

This post highlights 10 of the worst Game 7 performances in NBA history. This list is skewed toward offensive performances, since defensive tracking is difficult for games, especially in the pre-merger era. I’m also focusing on the very highest stakes games – only semifinals and finals games are included.

Dishonorable Mention: The first three quarters of Kobe’s performance in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals were shockingly awful, but he had a spirited fourth quarter and wound up with 23 points and 15 rebounds in spite of his 6 for 24 shooting performance. In the same game, Ray Allen shot 3 for 14, capping a series where he shot just 36.7% overall…In Game 7 of the 1979 Eastern Conference Finals, Tom Henderson put up 0 points on 0 for 9 shooting in 30 minutes. Despite his effort, tbe Bullets beat the Spurs and went to their second straight NBA Finals…Bob Love shot 6 for 26 from the field in a four-point Chicago loss to Golden State in the 1975 Western Conference Finals. Chicago only scored 79 points that game, and Love shot 10 more times than any other teammate…The Boston Celtics shot 32.7% from the field as a team in Game 7 of the 1962 NBA Finals and still found a way to beat the Lakers by the three…In the previous round, the Celtics won another Game 7, this time against the Philadelphia Warriors, and won on a last second Sam Jones shot. Paul Arizin shot 4 for 22 for Philadelphia. Curiously, Wilt Chamberlain, who averaged 50.4 PPG in the regular season, took only 15 shots. He scored 22 points and grabbed 22 rebounds, and was clutch down the stretch, but this was the rare example of the Warriors version of Wilt being too unselfish.

10. Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart, and Jaylen Brown, 2018 Eastern Conference Finals, Game 7 (combined 8 for 42 from the field, 21 total points): In 2018, an overachieving Celtics team without Kyrie Irving (and Gordon Hayward, who missed virtually the entire season after a gruesome opening-night injury) advanced to the brink of the NBA Finals in a weak Eastern Conference. LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers stood in their way, but they were not the juggernaut of year’s past. Kevin Love, Cleveland’s second leading scorer, did not play in this game due to a concussion. Boston also had homecourt, since Cleveland only won 50 games that season. However, the moment seemed too big for a young Celtics team. Brown, who played like a future star throughout their unlikely playoff run, shot 5 for 18 from the field, and 3 for 12 from 3. Marcus Smart, a notoriously inconsistent shooter, made only one of his 10 shots. Finally, the clock struck midnight on Terry Rozier, who impressively filled Irving’s shoes throughout the playoffs. Rozier shot 2 for 14 from the field, and 0 for 10 from three, part of an embarrassing 7 for 39 team performance from long distance. While Boston would have had no chance against the Golden State Warriors in the Finals, this game may have represented their best shot at the Finals in this era, considering the rise of the Toronto Raptors the next season and the dominance of Giannis Antetokounmpo in the following years.

9. Chris Bosh, 2013 NBA Finals, Game 7 (0 for 5 from the field, 0 points): The Heat won the 2013 Finals, and Bosh’s rebound in Game 6, and subsequent pass to Ray Allen, will live in history. However, it’s odd for a future Hall-of-Famer who averaged 16.6 points per game in the regular season to score zero points and shoot only five times in the season’s biggest game. Bosh was an all-around player, and wound up +1 for the game, but this performance would have been (rightfully) vilified if Miami lost. It should be noted that Ray Allen also had 0 points in this game, but he was more of a role player than Bosh in the Heat’s scheme, and was fresh off of perhaps the greatest shot in NBA history in Game 6.

8. Oscar Robertson, 1974 NBA Finals Game 7 (2 for 13 from the field, 6 points, 11 assists): The storybook ending to one of the greatest careers ever did not come to fruition. Game 6 was one of the best games in NBA history, with the Bucks staving off elimination with a double-overtime victory in Boston. However, the Bucks could not muster the same spirit back home in Game 7, and the Celtics won by 15. Did playing 58 minutes in the previous game affect the aging Robertson? He was well past his prime at this point, only averaging 12.7 points per game during the regular season, and 14.0 PPG in the postseason. He could not get on track during this game, and the greatest era in Bucks history ended with a whimper. This was Robertson’s last game in the NBA, and after a disappointing 38-44 record the next year, Milwaukee shipped off Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers and have not been back to the Finals since.

7. Stephen Curry, 2016 NBA Finals Game 7 (6 for 19 from the field, 4 of 14 from 3): Chalk this one up to the burden of high expectations. Curry’s 17-point performance wasn’t the seventh worst in history, but it certainly was one of the most disappointing. The unanimous MVP had one of the greatest seasons ever, and his team’s 73 regular season wins may never be surpassed. It’s still hard to pinpoint what happened in the last three games of this series. Certainly, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving deserve credit, but Golden State’s performance, and especially Curry’s, will live in infamy.

6. The Jordannaires, 1990 Eastern Conference Finals Game 7 (Horace Grant, Scottie Pippen, B.J. Armstrong, Craig Hodges, and Bill Cartwright – combined 11 for 57 from the field, 28 points): A back-and-forth series ended with a blowout as the Bulls failed to step up to the challenge. Scottie Pippen had a migraine, which helps explain his 1 for 10 performance, but what about the others? Horace Grant was 3 for 17, though he did contribute 14 rebounds. Craig Hodges was 3 for 13, and 2 for 12 from three, which was a shockingly high number at the time. Armstrong was 1 for 8, and Cartwright was 3 for 9. The team scored 74 points total, with Michael Jordan contributing 31 of those. It was fair to wonder whether Jordan’s supporting cast would ever step up in crunch time after this game, but luckily for Chicago fans, they answered all questions the following year in a dominant 15-2 postseason run.

Worst Game 7 Performances in NBA History - Chicago Bulls, 1990 Eastern Conference Finals

5. Trevor Ariza, 2018 Western Conference Finals, Game 7 (0 for 12 from the field, 0 for 9 from three, 0 points): Ariza, a tested veteran and NBA champion, simply could not hit a shot during this deciding game. The Rockets shooting performance is infamous, as the team missed 27 three pointers in a row at one point, and shot 7 for 44 from three for the game. Yes, they were missing their point guard (Chris Paul), and no, Ariza wasn’t alone in his futility. However, 0 points and -15 in 41:50 of playing time represents a historic meltdown on the league’s second biggest stage.

4. Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman, 1957 NBA Finals Game 7 (combined 5 for 40 from the field, 21 total points): This is a candidate for the single greatest game in NBA history. A double-overtime classic in Game 7 of the Finals. Bill Russell, in his first year in the league, facing third-year stud Bob Pettit. The NBA regular season and all-star game MVP Bob Cousy looking for his first ring. Cousy capped his historic season with a shockingly poor game 7, finishing 2 for 20 from the field in 58 minutes. His backcourt mate, Hall-of-Famer Bill Sharman, was 3 for 20 in 48 minutes. Boston’s two leading scorers in the regular season came up empty, but their rookie frontcourt mates carried the load, as Tom Heinsohn and Bill Russell led them to victory. The Hawks would get their revenge the following year, but Boston would defeat St. Louis two more times in the finals on their way to eight championships in a row between 1959 and 1966, a record that’s likely never going to be broken.

3. Danny Green, 2013 NBA Finals Game 7 (1 for 12 from the field, 1 for 6 from 3, 5 points): Through five games in this series, Danny Green looked like he was heading toward the most unlikely Finals MVP campaign in league history. During that stretch, he averaged 18 PPG on 56.6% shooting from the field and an unimaginable 65.8% from 3, with five made three pointers per game. Unfortunately, he lost his hot hand at the worst possible time. In games 6 and 7, he scored 4 PPG on 10.5% shooting and 18.2% from downtown. Game 7 was particularly tough, as Green could only make 1 of his 12 field goal attempts as the series slipped from San Antonio’s hands. This series was Green’s breakout performance on a national stage, but just as his hot shooting brought the Spurs to the brink of an unlikely championship, his cold spell was a big reason they were unable to bring the championship home.

2. John Starks, 1994 NBA Finals Game 7 (2 for 18 from the field, 0 for 11 from 3, 8 points): Starks was coming off of a brilliant Game 6 (27 points, 50% from the field, 5 for 9 from 3), but had a last second shot blocked by Hakeem Olajuwon to force a game 7. Unfortunately for Knicks fans, their notoriously hot and cold shooting guard came up empty in their biggest game of that era. The Knicks as a team averaged 11.1 three-point field goal attempts per game in 1994, so it was appalling to see Starks match that output on his own in this game and fail to make a single one. Hubert Davis only played four minutes while Rolando Blackman was a DNP-CD. Knicks fans will always wonder if Pat Riley should have played either of them more instead of watching Starks melt down in 42 minutes of play.

1. Dennis Johnson, 1978 NBA Finals Game 7 (0 for 14 from the field, 4 points): The expected rematch of the 1977 Finals between the Blazers and Sixers turned into a surprising encounter between the 44-win Bullets and 47-win SuperSonics due to Bill Walton’s injuries and Washington’s upset of Philadelphia. Even though Seattle had game 7 at home, Washington eked out a victory on the road. Johnson entered the game averaging 18.7 PPG on 44.8% from the field in the series, but he came up shockingly empty in Game 7. The fact that Seattle still had a chance to win at the end makes this performance all the more painful. Luckily for Johnson, he’d have five more Finals appearances in his career, including the following year, when he captured Finals MVP in the rematch between these teams.

All-Time Detroit Pistons vs. All-Time Los Angeles Clippers

The battle between the All-Time Detroit Pistons vs. All-Time Los Angeles Clippers features a point guard matchup for the ages. The historical rankings of these players are highly dependent on the factors that are valued by the ranker. One is a statistical marvel who hasn’t had the team success that other stars of his stature have earned. The other is a two-time champion who doesn’t have the (advanced) statistical profile of other legends. Who’s better? Let’s take a deeper look at our key matchup.

All-Time Detroit Pistons vs. All-Time Los Angeles Clippers

Key Matchups

Zeke vs. CP3: The battle between Isiah Thomas and Chris Paul is a fascinating one. ESPN’s recent All-Time #NBARank had them as the fifth and sixth best point guards of all time, respectively. What distinguishes these two legends?

Stats

As previously mentioned, Chris Paul may be the greatest statistical point guard in NBA history. Thomas’s value was not captured by advanced statistics (Kevin Pelton explained this well in his insider piece about Zeke). In fact, here’s a comparison of their statistics (as of 03-25-16), along with their all-time rank in several key categories:

Chris Paul vs. Isiah Thomas

Their surface statistics are very similar, although Paul’s numbers came in a league where less points per game were scored, on average, than when Isiah played (at the midpoint of Thomas’s career, 1987-88, the Pistons averaged 109.2 PPG with a pace of 98.3, while at the midpoint of Paul’s career, 2010-11, the Hornets averaged 94.9 PPG with a pace 88.7. While that’s not entirely fair, since the Hornets were one of the slowest-paced teams in the league, there were fewer possessions per game, and subsequently less scoring, on average, in the NBA at that time). The true difference lies in their shooting, protection of the ball, and overall efficiency. Thomas had a career true shooting percentage of .516, compared to Paul’s career .578 mark. Thomas committed an estimated 16.8 turnovers per 100 possessions, compared to Paul’s 13.0 turnover percentage. Paul’s career PER ranks 6^th in basketball (NBA and ABA) history, in between Wilt Chamberlain and Bob Pettit. Thomas’s career PER ranks 139^th in basketball history, in between Antawn Jamison and Kyle Lowry. Paul is also third ever in win shares per 48 minutes, behind only Michael Jordan and David Robinson. Thomas doesn’t rank in the top 250 ever. While Paul still hasn’t entered his decline phase, he’ll still likely have an almost incomprehensible lead over Thomas in these measures by the time his career is finished.

Pressure Moments

Isiah is known as one of the greatest clutch players in NBA history, while Paul is infamous for never making a conference finals appearance (thus far) in his career. Paul still has a sizable advantage over Thomas in his playoff advanced statistics, though it is less pronounced than their difference in the regular season (Paul’s career advanced playoff numbers: .584 TS%, 25.2 PER, .200 WS/48; Thomas’s career advanced playoff numbers: .520 TS%, 19.8 PER, .143 WS/48). These two have both had several noteworthy playoff moments, both positive and negative.

Memorable playoff moments

Isiah had a flair for the dramatic like few others. One of his finest showings came in the deciding game of the first round of his first playoff appearance (1984), when he scored 16 points in the final 90 seconds to force the game into overtime (where Detroit wound up losing). His magnum opus came on the grandest stage of them all, in his first NBA Finals appearance in 1988. With Detroit on the verge of a series win, Thomas scored a Finals-record 25 third quarter points, despite spraining his ankle mid-way through the period. To this day, there hasn’t been a finer performance in NBA playoff history.

Paul had his signature playoff moment in Game 7 of the 2015 opening round series against the defending champion Spurs. Despite playing with a hamstring injury, he hit the go-ahead shot with one second left in the game. It appeared that he finally shed the baggage of his teams’ playoff failures, until…

Memorable playoff blunders

In the next round, the Clippers were about to advance past the Rockets and go the first Conference Finals in franchise history. They were up by 19 points in the final moments of the third quarter of Game 6, with a three to two series lead. Then all hell broke loose. This was a team collapse that is difficult to pin solely on Paul, but it’s alarming that his team had so little poise. A year earlier, he melted down in Game 5 of the semi-finals against the Thunder, costing L.A. a chance to go ahead in the series. In 2008, Jannero Pargo was confusingly the most aggressive Hornets player down the stretch of game 7 of the conference semi-finals against the Spurs, which they lost at home. Paul has been brilliant in his postseason career, and his shortcomings are mostly related to losing to superior teams. However, there are warts on his resume.

Thomas isn’t without fault in the playoffs either, with one of the most infamous gaffes in playoff history during Game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals. He must get credit for consistently performing above his regular season baseline in the playoffs, but his overall playoff statistics still pale in comparison to Paul’s.

Summary

Isiah Thomas played in an environment where efficiency wasn’t as well understood as it is today. Could he have adjusted his game if advanced statistics were more prevalent during his time? It’s entirely plausible. What we do know is that Chris Paul has mastered the art of efficient basketball, like no point guard before him. His lack of playoff success, while overblown, does impact his legacy. This would be a fantastic matchup, and even though the statistical evidence favors Paul, I believe that Thomas would be able to match him in a high-stakes series based on his amazing playoff resume.

Biggest Mismatches

Pistons’ bench vs. Clippers’ bench and Pistons’ wings vs. Clippers’ wings: Oh yes, there’s an actual matchup outside of Paul vs. Thomas. Detroit is a deeper team, with every player on their bench having made multiple all-star teams, compared to the Clippers’ bench, where only three of the seven players ever made one (during their time in L.A.). Detroit also has outstanding wing depth, with Grant Hill, George Yardley, and Joe Dumars holding a big advantage over L.A.’s lineup.

Results

Isiah answers the big-game challenge. He leads a balanced Detroit team over L.A. in five relatively easy games.

All-Time Detroit Pistons — The Bad Boys advance to face their hated rivals from Chicago. Copyright © Lipofsky Basketballphoto.com

Detroit wins, four games to one.

Next Round

The Pistons face the All-Time Chicago Bulls.

All-Time Los Angeles Clippers Team

Our next franchise was the epitome of failure for much of their existence. Led by the contemptible Donald Sterling, they managed to make only four playoff appearances in their first 33 seasons on the west coast, after moving over from Buffalo. Recently, three events have helped to turn around their fortunes and make them an annual contender. First, they used the first pick in the 2009 draft on Blake Griffin, a hyper-athletic forward who helped to electrify their fan base. Then, David Stern blocked a trade that would have sent the great Chris Paul to the rival Lakers, allowing the Clippers to ultimately land him in what became a laughably one-sided trade. Finally, Sterling became embroiled in a scandal that resulted in his banishment from the league, and forced him to finally sell the franchise. Now that their baggage has been removed, they’re poised to remain a contender for years to come, and an attractive free-agent destination for the first time ever. The All-Time Los Angeles Clippers team reflects this promise, with three contributors from the present-day team that make them more competitive than their franchise history warrants.

Several advanced statistics have Paul rated as the greatest point guard of all time. He’s third in league history in win shares per 48 minutes, behind Michael Jordan and David Robinson. He’s sixth all-time in PER, and first among point guards. While playoff success has eluded him, he’s one of the greatest players ever at his position, and his arrival immediately brought credibility to this franchise. He’s joined in the starting backcourt by Randy Smith, a throwback to the Buffalo Braves days who once set a league record for consecutive games played at 906. They’re backed up by Norm Nixon, a talented play maker who led the league in total assists in his first year with the club, and Corey Maggette, a high scoring wing whose knack for drawing fouls helped him compile a .578 true shooting percentage as a Clipper.

The starting frontcourt consists of three natural power forwards, each of whom brings a unique skill set to the table. Griffin has developed into one of the best players in the current NBA, with the rare ability to handle the basketball and initiate his team’s offense as a big man. Elton Brand helped to briefly resurrect the franchise in the 2000s by serving as the pillar of a young team that came within one game of reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2006. Although he didn’t have elite size (6’8”), he excelled at offensive rebounding and used his solid mid-range and post-up games to average over 20 PPG and 10 RPG in his Clippers career. Bob McAdoo is the most decorated player in franchise history. One of the greatest shooting big men of all time, he led the league in scoring three years in a row (1974 to 1976), peaking in the 1975 season, when he averaged 34.5 PPG and 14.1 RPG, and won the only MVP award in franchise history.

Off the bench, Bob Kauffman and Charles Smith can play at both forward positions. Kauffman was a three-time all-star who averaged 19.0 PPG, 10.7 RPG, and 4.5 APG from 1971 to 1973. Smith is best known for this (and more recently, this), but as a Clipper, he was a high scoring option who twice eclipsed the 20.0 PPG barrier. Danny Manning was a multitalented power forward who should fit well alongside the other frontcourt options. Swen Nater and DeAndre Jordan are true big men who will provide this team with two physical options against opposing frontcourts. Nater led the league in rebounding in 1980, while Jordan has led the league in rebounding for the past two seasons, and in field goal percentage for the past three.

Despite never winning 50 or more games in their first 42 seasons of operation, the All-Time Clippers team has a good amount of talent. The 22nd seeded team in our tournament, they have a first-round match up against the All-Time Brooklyn Nets.

Coach: Doc Rivers

All-Time Franchise Winning Percentage (through 2014-15): .389

All-Time New Orleans Pelicans Team

It’s hard to know what to do with our next franchise. They’ve only been in existence for 13 seasons, and it’s hard to define who they really are. What do I mean by that? Well, the Charlotte Hornets were established in 1989. They moved to New Orleans in 2003, becoming the New Orleans Hornets. Meanwhile, the Charlotte Bobcats were established in 2005, two years after the Hornets left town. In 2014, New Orleans decided to change their name to the Pelicans, seemingly for comedic purposes. Since the ‘Hornets’ name was now up for grabs, the Bobcats decided to change their name to the Hornets, starting in 2015. Somehow the former Bobcats seem to have magically adopted the history of the Hornets franchise, while the first year of the New Orleans franchise is considered to be 2003, even though they really have been in existence since 1989. Confused yet? You should be. The All-Time New Orleans Pelicans team considers only those players who have been a part of the franchise since that original 2003 date, even though that doesn’t make any logical sense.

Since this is technically our newest franchise, they don’t have the longevity to field a team that complies with our rules (namely, each player having played at least four seasons and 200 games with the franchise). So we’ll make a team with the best players in franchise history, regardless of longevity, and, to be fair, they’ll forfeit the opportunity to advance in our tournament. With that out of the way, this team is anchored by two players who have a chance to be among the greatest to ever play their respective positions. Chris Paul played his first six years with the franchise, and garnered some of the most impressive statistics ever seen at the point guard position. He led the league in assists twice in New Orleans, and in steals three times. He also finished second in MVP voting in the 2007-08 season, when he led the team to 56 wins and an improbable Southwest Division title. Anthony Davis is just beginning his reign of excellence, but is already one of the best players in the league at 22 years of age. In 2014-15, Davis accumulated the 11th greatest player efficiency rating in NBA history, and if he continues on this path, he has a great chance to join the list of all-time great power forwards.

The other starters are David West, along with the oft-injured Baron Davis and Jamal Mashburn. West was an excellent complement to Paul, and earned two all-star appearances with the franchise. Davis was a dynamic play-maker when healthy and motivated; however, he was also a woefully inefficient shooter who wasn’t known for his work ethic. Jamal Mashburn made the All-NBA third team in 2002-03, when he played all 82 games for the only time in his career. He only played 19 more games with the franchise before retiring, but he remains the leading scorer on a points per game basis in New Orleans’ history.

Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans are the backup guards. The Eric Gordon signing hasn’t worked out well for New Orleans, but he’s re-discovered his three-point stroke in his last two seasons, and will open up the floor when he’s on the court. Tyreke Evans has switched to primarily playing small forward, and his ballhandling has helped the team adjust to the constant absence of Jrue Holiday (due to injuries). Peja Stojakovic and Ryan Anderson can stretch the floor from both forward positions. The three-headed big man combo of P.J. Brown, Tyson Chandler, and Emeka Okafor can protect the paint and make New Orleans competitive on the glass. Expect big minutes from this trio, especially since the starting lineup lacks a true center.

Down the road, this team will be intriguing, since they’re anchored by two Hall-of-Famers in the making. In the meantime, their forfeit allows the All-Time Bulls to advance to the second round of our tournament, where they’ll face the winner of the All-Time Hawks vs. the All-Time Mavericks.

Coach: Byron Scott

All-Time Franchise Winning Percentage (through 2014-15): .474

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