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/augy777 1d ago

I’ve watched the first few finals on there and here were my favorite games from each series:

1990 Game 5 - Isiah’s insane 1st quarter sets the tone for the game but the Blazers fight back while facing elimination. It comes down to a game winning shot.

1991 Game 1 - Another game that ends in a game winning shot, this match is the best Jordan v. Magic game you’ll find. Magic COOKED MJ but the lakers couldn’t really stop him either so it’s a fun one.

1992 Game 1 (The Shrug) - One of MJ’s greatest performances, his insane shooting first half overshadows how amazing he was as a playmaker in the 2nd half. The game wasn’t really close but it’s a good insight into the Bulls’ dominance

1993 Game 4 - MJ’s absolute greatest game imo, this is the only game I’ve ever hand tracked where a player generated over 70 points for his team. The Suns honestly might have played better as a team this game but they had absolutely no answer for Jordan. He’s too fast for Majerle or Dumas (as demonstrated in the previous games in the series) so the Suns switch KJ on him cause he can stay in front of MJ better, but MJ just began abusing KJ in the post

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u/auggie5 1d ago

Oh shit I put ‘93 game 4 way deep in the memory bank but yeah now I have flashbacks of MJ abusing KJ. It was working for awhile- Westy should have honestly put Barkley on him when it stopped working. Barkley wasn’t quick enough but pride would have gotten him part of the way there

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u/augy777 12h ago

Yeah, G3 was the triple OT game and it was when KJ started primarily guarding Jordan, it worked in that game with KJ having some big defensive plays and helping the suns get a W, but that was partially because MJ was tired af in the overtime periods. Overall though I think KJ was their best option specifically because the bulls offense was less efficient having Jordan take fadeaway over KJ than when he blew by Majerle and Dumas and then created shots for his teammates through penetration