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The NBA Playoffs and the NBA Finals have given us amazing legacy performances from several superstars in the game's toughest environments and pressure situations.
However, we can be quick to define such games as more like an individual achievement and tend to possibly ignore other key performances for a team on its way to an NBA Finals appearance or NBA championship.
Kevin Durant's amazing Game 5 performance against the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Semis with a 49-point triple-double will always be remembered as a legacy game from KD.
But Jeff Green's unbelievable shooting night will hardly be mentioned. Green had 27 points off the bench with seven made threes out of eight attempts.
Forgotten performances from an NBA Finals game in league history
In this article, we will take a look at similar situations that occurred in NBA Finals history. As opposed to Green's case in Durant's game against the Bucks, this has happened to some NBA legends in league history. It is not fair or unfair, it is just a reality.
Apart from some spectacular games that were overshadowed by another big performance, we will also take a look at big outings from NBA superstars that remain under the radar.
Without further ado, let us take a look.
#5 Draymond Green - 2016 NBA Finals, Game 7
There are many reasons why Draymond Green's performance in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals will naturally go unnoticed. For starters, the 73-9 Golden State Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals (the only team to ever do such a thing).
Meanwhile, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving had iconic moments in the history of the NBA Finals in that same game.
Irving hit what eventually became the title-winning shot for Cleveland, while James recorded a triple-double in Game 7 and had arguably the most iconic block in NBA history.
After all of that, it is certainly difficult to remember Green, a player who really is not a great shooter, scoring 32 points on 6/8 from the three-point line with 15 rebounds and nine assists.
#4 Gail Goodrich - 1972 NBA Finals, Game 2
The 1971-72 LA Lakers are easily one of the greatest teams in NBA history, and that particular season was historic in many ways. The regular season was the greatest in league history until the 1995-96 campaign as the Lakers' 69-13 record stood as the NBA's best for more than two decades.
The team also recorded the longest winning streak in NBA history, with 33 straight wins.
After winning the NBA Finals, LA Lakers' Jerry West earned the first title of his legendary NBA career, while Wilt Chamberlain became the Finals MVP award winner for the only time in his career.
However, there was another Hall-of-Famer on that team in the NBA Finals: guard Gail Goodrich. In the regular season, Goodrich led the team in scoring and played in each of the LA Lakers' 82 games that year.
Goodrich's scoring continued in the NBA Playoffs as he also led the team in that area in the postseason, including the NBA Finals. Moreover, after the Knicks took Game 1 in Los Angeles, there was pressure on Bill Sharman's team.
While Wilt Chamberlain was huge with 23 points and 24 rebounds while playing the entire game, Goodrich led all scorers with 31 points and also dished out five assists. In that game, Goodrich made 14 of his 18 field goal attempts, while West struggled with six field goals in 21 attempts.
#3 Michael Jordan - 1993 NBA Finals, Game 4
Yes, one of Michael Jordan's performances in the NBA Finals seems to be forgotten. In reality, Michael Jordan's overall performance in the 1993 NBA Finals is the best he ever put up on the NBA's biggest stage.
The final line might be purely subjective, but the numbers he put up in that series have to be seen to be believed.
Jordan had the highest average of points per game in NBA Finals history with 41 per game, and also added 8.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game. It was arguably the best performance ever in a single NBA Finals series.
However, in this piece, we're taking into consideration Jordan's performance in Game 4 of the 1993 NBA Finals. After the Chicago Bulls took home-court advantage from the Phoenix Suns by winning the first two games on the road, Charles Barkley and company stormed back to win Game 3 in Chicago in triple overtime.
In Game 4, Jordan led the Bulls to a pivotal win by scoring 55 of the team's 111 points. Jordan made 21 of his 37 attempts from the field, while grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out four assists.
It was an iconic game that is surely overshadowed by other Jordan moments in the NBA Finals. Whether it is the shot against the Utah Jazz in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals, the 'Flu Game' in 1997 or a layup from the 1991 NBA Finals' Game 2, Game 4 from 1993 is not mentioned enough.
#2 Walt Frazier - 1970 NBA Finals, Game 7
This one is a classic. Walt Frazier's performance in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals will always be known as the 'Willis Reed game'. Reed, the Knicks' leader, injured his thigh in Game 5 of the series and missed the sixth match.
However, he returned to play in Game 7 and made the Knicks' first two baskets of the game, before spending the night guarding Wilt Chamberlain.
While Reed had an emotional impact on the game, Walt 'Clyde' Frazier put up 36 points, 19 assists and seven rebounds in the night to guide the New York Knicks to the first championship in franchise history.
Reed was eventually named Finals MVP, but Frazier's outing deserves big praise.
#1 Jamaal Wilkes - 1980 NBA Finals, Game 6
Diehard NBA fans might mention Walt Frazier's performance in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals as the most iconic game that is often forgotten. That fact only gives us more reasons to put Jamaal Wilkes' outing in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals at the top of this list.
The 1980 LA Lakers arrived for Game 6 of the NBA Finals leading the series 3-2, but lost Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for that match. Kareem was averaging 33 points and 13 rebounds against the Philadelphia 76ers at that point in the series, but he fell out with an ankle injury.
In Game 6, a 20-year-old Magic Johnson put up 42 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists to lead the LA Lakers to the NBA championship in his rookie season. Johnson's outing is deservedly regarded as one of the greatest in league history, but even Johnson has had to remember everyone how important Jamaal Wilkes was in that game.
While Magic led the team, Wilkes, who was already a champion in 1975 with the Golden State Warriors, scored 37 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Wilkes won four NBA championships in his career, including three with the LA Lakers, though he did not play in the 1985 NBA Finals due to injury.
When remembering the 1980s "Showtime" LA Lakers, the 'Big Three' that is mostly mentioned are Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy, but Wilkes was a big factor in the early years of that team.
Wilkes is a Hall-of-Famer and averaged 17.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in his career. He went to the All-Star Game three times, was selected twice to the All-Defensive team and won the Rookie of the Year award with the Warriors in the 1974-75 season.
In the two NBA Finals series the LA Lakers won with Wilkes on the court, he averaged 20.5 points and seven rebounds per game.
Also read: 5 players with most triple-doubles in NBA Finals history
