I think it might be this one.

I don't think you call a series where 5 of the 6 games have been lopsided one of the best played ever.

Not even the top 20.

Lakers Celtics match ups in the 1980s were miles better.

Well, only 3 of the 6 have really been lopsided, but you have a very good point. Despite the blowouts, I think this series has been extremely well played, by two fantastic teams.

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Lakers Celtics match ups in the 1980s were miles better

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I have to disagree. Jazz/Bulls (I forget the year. Went 6 games.) was probably better basketball than this one, though.







[This message has been edited by Bose Ikard (edited 6/19/2013 11:45a).]

If G7 is close, I think people will remember it as one of the best, but the blowouts do really stand out.

This is a great one. Some of the Finals in the '80s were really epic because the league was balanced with the Showtime Lakers in the West and the Bird led Celtics and later the Thomas led Pistons in the East. Some really high quality basketball with 8 or 9 HOF'ers on the court for many of the games.

Nothing will surpass the Lakers/Celtics from the 80's. It was the high-point of the league's existence.

I think the blowouts are a result of the teams and more specifically the coaching...Pop is known to blatantly throw in the towel when the game is wellin hand for the other team, and Miami has a bit of "quit" in them too the few times they get outplayed...I think the blowouts are misleading a bit...

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Not even the top 20.

Lakers Celtics match ups in the 1980s were miles better.

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Lololds

I'd like to hear which 20 were better.

generally speaking a great NBA finals needs:

- 6 or 7 games
- star power on the court/Hall of Famers
- 3+ close/great games
- memorable moments
- non-boring basketball

that criteria eliminates a bunch of the finals series in the past 15 years that featured weak teams from the Eastern Conference. Any of the series after the bulls' run that included the Nets, Pacers, Cavaliers, Pistons, Magic, or 76ers are out. And that's despite how good the Lakers or Spurs were during that era

the pistons beat the showtime part 2 lakers and took the spurs to 7 games the following year

gtfo

Those were definitely good series but not great ones. There may not be a single HoF player off that Pistons squad. The Lakers were also not really themselves with GP and Malone at the end of their careers trying to get gifted a ring. Shaq and Kobe were at each others throats. The next year with the Spurs was dramatic but it was very physical basketball and not really great to watch. The Horry Game 5 was epic though with his Stretch Armstrong dunk and of course the 3 to win it.

If you were old enough to see those Laker/Celtic series though it is hard to put anything above them. The Showtime Lakers were incredible, just so strong in every facet. Then you had the Celtics with Larry Bird in his prime and a tremendous supporting cast. It was just 2 tremendously talented and fundamentally sound basketball teams going at it. The Bird/Magic thing went all the way back to college of course with the epic Michigan State/Indiana State Final.

no offense, but you lost all sports knowledge credibility with this statement

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BTW, if you really want to get worked up about the international thing realize that one guy that could theoretically make the HoF with a few big NBA seasons is Splitter. He has a great international resume and the HoF has several Brazilians. It's ridiculous to me because he is not someone I see as a HoFer at all but at 28 he has time to keep building his resume.

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I think all of us on this board have time to keep building our HOF resumes.

2011 Mavs-Heat was really well played. Obviously I am biased, but I do think that the overall playoffs were just a ton of really great series.

I think history views this as a top 5 all-time Finals

1984, 1988, 2011, 1969, 2013

I don't.

On second thought maybe. Game 6 was pretty memorable.

I enjoyed 2011 but it was not one of the all-time great finals.

[This message has been edited by Frok (edited 6/21/2013 9:42a).]

2011 had some sort of record for smallest running point differential between the teams for most of the games - neither team ever pulled away with a big lead. Games 2 3 and 4 were all decided on the last shot, then games 5 and 6 were classic games as well.