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After the Golden State Warriors added inarguably one of the top 3 players in the league, it was pretty much decided as to who was going to reach the 2017 Finals and who they were going to face.This decision was derided by many as it was expected to take away all the thrill from the regular season as well as the Playoffs.
While that still might have proved to be true, the fans were treated to plenty of exciting games this year that didn't include the Warriors and the Cavs playing each other.
Let us look at the top 10 games of the calendar year 2017 -
#10 Toronto Raptors Vs Chicago Bulls - March 21, 2017
Over the past three seasons, the Toronto Raptors have revived themselves from being a joke of a franchise to being a permanent playoff team and had already been to one Eastern Conference Finals (2016). But even after achieving Playoff success, they still had a black mark - 11 straight losses to the Chicago Bulls.
The Bulls were on their way to make it 12 straight as they had a 15-point lead at the end of three quarters with Rondo playing like his old Celtics self. To add to the Raptor’s problems, Serge Ibaka and Robin Lopez both got ejected after exchanging blows.
With Kyle Lowry out, DeMar DeRozan took it upon himself to end the losing streak. DeRozan scored clutch bucket one after another, all the while being guarded by an elite defender in Jimmy Butler. Dwayne Casey went deep into his bench and introduced Pattrick Patterson and P.J. Tucker for defensive purposes who locked down Butler and the Bulls' offense.
After the fight (between Ibaka and Lopez), the Raptors went on a 50-32 run to close out the game and secure a dramatic comeback win to end the streak.
#9 Golden State Warriors VS Houston Rockets - October 17, 2017
The Houston Rockets spoiled Golden State’s championship celebration by defeating them 122-121 on the opening night of the 2017-18 season. Kevin Durant’s game-winning buzzer-beater was ruled good initially but was overturned by the officials after several replays showed that the ball was still in contact with Durant’s hand as the clock expired.
The Warriors led for most of the game, but they played poorly in the fourth quarter as they allowed the Rockets to outscore them 34-20. Green strained his leg at the end of the third quarter, not to return to the game, and therefore remaining one point shy from opening the season with a triple-double. Nick Young announced himself to the Oracle crowd and led the Dubs with 23 points which included six-pointers. Durant and Curry ended with 20 and 22 respectively.
The Rockets were playing for the first time with the addition of their new All-Star Chris Paul and all were eager to see how their two stars will gel together. But Paul suffered a knee injury and he also didn’t return for the 4th quarter. With the help of some valuable contribution from the bench though, in Eric Gordon (24 points) and the PJ Tucker (20 points), the Rockets fought back to upset the Warriors.
#8 Game 1, NBA Finals - June 1, 2017
All the media and the fans had their eyes peeled on the Finals 2017 as the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers met for the third straight time on the grandest stage of them all.
The Warriors, after losing the 2016 Finals by blowing away a 3-1 lead, were on a revenge mission. Durant making his second Finals appearance was trying to prove his own worth and get his hands on the silverware for the first time in his career.
Both the teams came out with all guns blazing and what we saw in the saw in the first quarter was a fast-paced game with a lot of open dunks on both ends, something which by itself was more exciting and thrilling than the competitiveness in the previous rounds of the 2017 Playoffs. The Oracle Arena was buzzing and the fans were up on their feet for most of the first half.
Although the Warriors poised themselves in the third quarter by separating themselves from the Cavaliers by taking a commanding lead, the first three quarters had some of the most thrilling moments of the 2017 Finals.
Kevin Durant was absolutely sensational as he torched the Cavs for 38 points while shooting almost 54% from the field. The performance also included 9 boards and 8 dimes. Steph Curry ended up with 28 points as the Warriors drew first blood of the Finals by winning the game 113-91.
#7 San Antonio Spurs Vs Houston Rockets - March 6, 2017
Even though the two best teams in the NBA were clearly defined, the race for the MVP was one of the most compelling stories last season. This showdown between these two superstar MVP candidates was one for the ages - Harden and Kawhi Leonard.
The Rockets and Spurs were separated by four wins and were desperately trying to grab onto to the two spot in the Western Conference. While we had seen Harden turn himself into a bonafide superstar in the league in the last past two seasons, Leonard had found his own way and had begun to enter the discussion as being the second best player in the NBA because of his two-way abilities.
Leonard took on the challenge against Harden that particular night as he went shot for shot with Harden. But in this back and forth affair, it was the breathless final sequence that summed up the kind of player Leonard is. Late into the 4th quarter, with his team down one point, Leonard sunk a 3-pointer from beyond the arc, where he shot 4 out of 5 in the game, to give them the lead. He then chased Harden at full speed on the other end to block his shot and grab the defensive rebound to seal the win for the Spurs.
Harden had 39 points on 13-of-20 shooting while Leonard had 39 on 12-of-18 shooting as the Spurs defeated the Rockets 112-110.
#6 Atlanta Hawks Vs New York Knicks (4OT) - January 29, 2017
Although the teams mentioned in this game include a 26 win and 36 loss New York Knicks, the events that transpired on this late January night in Atlanta demand a place on this list.
In this absolutely riveting four overtime match, the two teams ended up scoring a total of 281 points. Paul Milsap was the pick of the players as he ended with monstrous stats of 35 points and 19 rebounds. On the other hand, the former Knicks star, Carmelo Anthony, did what he usually does by hitting two buzzer-beating shots to send the game into two overtimes.
If the back and forth action weren't exciting in itself, to add to the drama four of the Knicks players fouled out of the game including Carmelo Anthony in the second overtime and Kristaps Porzingis in regulation.
Finally, the Hawks emerged to be the winners of this grueling contest as they won 142-139. Dwight Howard scored 19 points, and Tim Hardaway Jr., Kent Bazemore, and Dennis Schroder combined for 66 points.
#5 Oklahoma City Thunder Vs Denver Nuggets - April 9, 2017
This night can be defined as the night Russell Westbrook was confirmed as the MVP for the season 2016-2017 if anybody had any doubt in their mind. Even the Nuggets fans chanted MVP after Westbrook got his 42nd triple-double of the season to break Oscar Robertson’s long-standing record.
Although he had broken the record before the game ended, the Oklahoma City Thunder were still down 10 points. Westbrook, as he had done all season long, carried the Thunder on his shoulders as he scored the final 15 points in a four-minute span. To ice it all, he hit a game winner from 36 feet out and single-handedly ended the Nuggets’ season.
This performance defined what kind of a player Westbrook had been the whole season and how valuable he was to the Thunder. The Nuggets all in all had a rough week as they were handed out another 50 point game (earlier that week Lillard had scored 59 on them). Although this was totally a solo performance, the fans were treated to one of the most emphatic individual performances you will ever see a superstar put on.
#4 San Antonio Spurs Vs Cleveland Cavaliers - January 21, 2017
For years now, Kawhi Leonard has been looked upon as the future of the San Antonio Spurs. After the departure of Tim Duncan and with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili’s depleted roles due to their age, Leonard became the face of the Spurs last season and was considered amongst the best two-way players in the league. He filled up the stat sheet night in and night out and was looking absolutely unstoppable heading into this matchup between two of the NBA’s most reputable forces.
Cleveland’s stars surely came to play as well, with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving both scoring 29 points. But Leonard put on a spectacular show as he scored career-high 41 points playing a career-high 46 minutes and became the first San Antonio player to score at least 30 points in six straight games since Mike Mitchell in 1986.
The game went into overtime and a missed 3-point attempt by Kevin Love as time expired in overtime helped the Spurs beat the Cavaliers 118 – 115.
#3 Oklahoma City Thunder Vs Philadelphia 76ers (3OT) - December 15, 2017
This contest between Oklahoma City Thunder and Philadelphia 76xers marked the first triple overtime of the season and one of the most exciting matches of the year 2017. The whole game was full of monster stat lines that are intriguing in itself. The fans were thrilled with 63 minutes of competitive basketball as the two teams fought tooth and nail. When all was done and dusted, the Thunder prevailed over the Sixers with the final score 119-117 in triple overtime.
Andre Roberson had the opportunity to the end the game in double OT but was unable to finish a lay-up around the rim sending the game into another overtime.
Embiid played a career-high 49 minutes for the Sixers, finishing with 34 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Oklahoma City’s trio of stars finished with 24 or more points each. Although Westbrook struggled shooting the ball (10-33), he ended up putting a 27-point, 17-rebound, 15-assist triple-double (joining just three other players Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson in NBA history to match those numbers) stat line which is impressive in any context.
The King himself took to Twitter to acknowledge the game.
#2 Cleveland Cavaliers Vs Washington Wizards - February 6, 2017
This was one of the most dramatic and heated battles of the 2016-2017 NBA season and the level of basketball that was witnessed in this Cavs VS Wizards matchup on a Feb 6th afternoon was absolutely surreal.
Amongst the trade rumors surrounding Kevin Love, he stepped on the floor with all guns blazing and scored 39 points to go along with 12 rebounds. The Cavs were firing on all cylinders, with Lebron finishing with 32 points and career-high 17 assists and Irving scoring 11 of his 23 points in overtime. Even Tristan Thompson contributed with a season-high 22 points.
But throughout the game, Wizards began to look like true contenders and fought tooth and nail the entirety of the matchup. Bradley Beal led the way with 41 points, John Wall added 22 points and 12 assists while Otto Porter Jr. ended with 25 points.
But as the game reached entered its climax, the Wizards looked like they had almost defeated the Cavs this time. But the King banged a turnaround jump shot with a second left on the clock to send it to overtime. Kevin Love ended the Wizard’s fate by hitting two clutch foul shots with 3.6 seconds remaining in overtime to seal the deal.
LeBron became the only player in the history of the NBA who ranked in the Top 20 in All-Time points, assists and steals.
Although the Wizards lost, fans throughout the NBA began to anticipate an exciting potential Eastern Conference Finals between the Cavs and the Wizards.
NBA Finals 2017, Game 3 - June 7, 2017
The 2017 NBA Finals saw the Warriors and Cavs play each other for a third straight time in the Finals. Warriors won the first two meeting between the two teams heading into game 3 in Cleveland.
This is the kind of match that the fans expected to witness coming into these Finals as the two teams fought neck to neck and nobody was able to grab the upper hand through the first half. After his heroics in game1 and game 2, Kevin Durant was rather quiet in the 3rd quarter of game 3. Late into the 4th quarter, it looked like we were going to have an interesting series in our hands as the Cavs looked like on the cusp of winning.
With just 0.45 seconds left in the game, Durant just casually brought the ball down the court and hit 'THE' shot of the game and the Final over the King himself to almost seal the series for the Warriors. Durant described the shot as that he “felt like he [Lebron] was passing the torch to me” in that moment.”
LeBron and Kyrie combined for 77 points, but the Warriors made an 11-0 run late into the 4th quarter to win the game 118-113.
