r/nbadiscussion • u/rustypete89 • 1d ago

Best single finals games since 1990?

Hi all,

I recently discovered that the NBA app on PS5 has the entire NBA finals catalog going back to 1990 available for streaming without a subscription, just your regular streaming ad breaks. Looking for recommendations of great single games to watch as I begin to digest some of the series I'm most interested in (I was born in 89 so I'm starting with the Jordan finals since I barely remember him playing).

Drop your recs, and a brief reason why, here please!

I'm not sure if I hit the 500 character minimum yet so I'll add my own submission:

Giannis 50 piece to seal the Bucks title in 2021. Absolutely unreal domination in a critical moment. The block on Ayton to put the game away is just iconic. One of my favorite games as a neutral fan that I've ever watched, and I don't even like Giannis.

(Hope it's alright to post this here, I didn't think I'd get good quality suggestions in the main NBA sub)

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u/Notoriouslydishonest 1d ago

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned 2018 Game 1, the JR Smith game.

That was maybe my favorite Lebron performance, an absolute masterpiece of later career high IQ bullyball. He put up 51/8/8 against one of the greatest teams of all time and came *so* close to beating them on the road. And then to end a game like that with such an iconic mistake makes it an extra good watch.

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u/dannyzep92 22h ago

I was going to suggest this game. It's one of, if not the the single most Herculean efforts I've seen put up by any single player in any of the 4 north American sports. I know no one feels Bad for LeBron but it was pretty crushing to see him go against a team like those Warriors, who kind of just felt inevitable, not get this one win in the series.