Retro Classic NBA Playoffs

Houston Rockets vs L.A. Lakers

Last night I stayed up a bit late until 2 am watching ESPN. There was a 1986 retro classic NBA Playoffs: Western Conference Finals match between Houston Rockets vs Los Angeles Lakers game 5 (Houston led 3-1). The game was so exciting, not much tactics just fast break, dunks, and fighting! Both teams played like they were still in the college. The game was very fast for the whole 4 quarters, no time killing or passing the ball around at the last 24 secs of each quarter. That's why the score was so high 114-112. This kind of the score can't be found easily from today's NBA games.

The Houston Rockets, led by Hakeem Olajuwon, Ralph Sampson, and head coach Bill Fitch.

    

While the Lakers, led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Earvin 'Magic' Johnson, and head coach Pat Riley.

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The game was played at The Forum, the Lakers' home court. With the great supports from the fans, the Lakers led the Rockets for the whole 3 quarters until the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter, the scores were brought down to the 3-point gap. Even Hakeem was ejected for punching one of the Lakers player, the Rockets still perform great and tied the score at 112-112. During the last 22 secs, Lakers got the ball but missed the 2-point shot and gave 1 last second to the Rockets. After the 20-sec time out, who knew the score would come out this way....

A buzzer-beating, turnaround jumper by Sampson in the last second eliminated the Lakers' dream to defend their titel against the Celtics. Houston had set up the final play with a mere second on the clock. Sampson caught the inbounds pass, whirled and released. The ball hit the rim, bounced high and fell through the basket, ending the Lakers season and sending the Rockets back to the NBA Finals.

Houston was entering the NBA Finals for only the second time in their history. Their last appearance was in 1981 against their 1986 opponents, the Boston Celtics. The season took an unexpected turn when the Houston Rockets eliminated the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, four games to one (4-1). The Lakers got off to a good start on their way to a 62-20 record, but getting worse in the playoff time as the Lakers blew out pretty much everyone they played. The Rockets, on the other hand, played with confidence and enthusiasm. With Bill Fitch as coach, they sported the original "Twin Towers," 7-foot-4 Ralph Sampson at power forward and 7'0 Hakeem Olajuwon at center.

It's quite amazing that I've chance to see the basketball matched played when I was 10 years old. I've never imagined that after 20 years, Hakeem, Kareem, Magic will be on the TV showing their skills and talents again. Thank you ESPN.

VS

Mr.O