Best game by an individual you saw 'live'. Reg season, playoffs, finals respectively

[elementally morale]

I'm interested in the ones of your active 'basketball-watching' life that you actually did see when they happened. It would also be nice to know how old you were at the time of those games.

I will give you an example. One game I would possibly add is Jordan's 63 in the playoffs vs. the Celtics. The game was played in April 1986. I was 12. Played basketball and watched basketball. However, I didn't have a chance to watch this game when it happened, I only saw it much much later. It was good but it didn't have the same effect on me as it would have had I seen it 'live'. So this game doesn't count for me.

It's tough to pick one when you are old enough to have seen lots of games. I remember vividly Shaq's Finals games in his Lakers run. One of those monster games is a nice pick, but I'm not sure. I was 27-30 at the time. I might have seen better, I have to think about it. Kobe's 81 comes up first along with his 62 in 3 quarters vs. Dirk and the Mavs when he outscored the other team by himself through 75% of the game. And that was a 60-win team that went to the Finals, the Mavs were. I did see these games live.

I'm unsure. May have seen better ones. Fandom bias is strong.


What about you?

[Xiao Yao You]

the 63 was certainly one for me as was that whole series.

[Wally450]

I only got into ball in 2005, but I watched the LeBron Paul Pierce duel in Game 7 in 2008. Two great performances in one game.

I was at the Garden for G4 of the Finals in 2022 when Curry took the Celtics souls with the 40+ point performance.

I'm sure there's more that I saw, but those are the first two that come to mind.

[Xiao Yao You]

Saw some good duels in my early years with MJ and Darrell Griffith. I think it was Jeff Malone and Tim Hardaway my brother and I saw a few rows back of the Jazz bench dueling it out. Hayward had a good one too with Kemba. Brandon Jennings 57 or whatever was something. AI close to 60 when he was with Denver. Andre Miller's 50...

[elementally morale]

LeBron had a double OT win over the Pistons. 48 points with the game winning shot in 2007. Has to be up there as far as the best playoff performance I got to see when it happened.

[elementally morale]

As for Finals games I did catch, it has to be one out of these 3:

Shaq 40/24 vs. Pacers in 2000
Duncan 32/20/6 with 7 blocks vs. Nets in 2003
Worthy in 1988 in a game 7: 32/16/10

[ShawkFactory]

Mcgrady game one against the Pistons in 03. I was 10 and hid in the basement of my uncles house on Easter and skipped the egg hunt to watch on a tiny TV in his office.

Obviously the Warriors won the game but Lebron in game 1 in 2018 was truly spectacular.

[mr4speed]

[QUOTE=elementally morale;14866343]I'm interested in the ones of your active 'basketball-watching' life that you actually did see when they happened. It would also be nice to know how old you were at the time of those games.

I will give you an example. One game I would possibly add is Jordan's 63 in the playoffs vs. the Celtics. The game was played in April 1986. I was 12. Played basketball and watched basketball. However, I didn't have a chance to watch this game when it happened, I only saw it much much later. It was good but it didn't have the same effect on me as it would have had I seen it 'live'. So this game doesn't count for me.

It's tough to pick one when you are old enough to have seen lots of games. I remember vividly Shaq's Finals games in his Lakers run. One of those monster games is a nice pick, but I'm not sure. I was 27-30 at the time. I might have seen better, I have to think about it. Kobe's 81 comes up first along with his 62 in 3 quarters vs. Dirk and the Mavs when he outscored the other team by himself through 75% of the game. And that was a 60-win team that went to the Finals, the Mavs were. I did see these games live.


The best game I ever saw in person was game 6 of the 1992 Finals when the Bulls beat Portland. Phil Jackson sat Jordan down at the start of the 4th quarter while the Bulls were losing and we thought Phil had lost his mind. The Bulls went on a 14 to 2 run to close the gap and Jordan re-entered the game and was so energized, there was no stopping that team. The crowd was so loud I get chills just thinking about what happened = the Bulls won, Jordan hit 2 late FT to ice the game. My friend had just bought a new truck so we bolted out of there for fear that his new truck might get torched or upended by the raucous crowd.
The best game I watched on TV would be game 7 Celtics vs Hawks in 88 = Bird vs Dominique = the shoot-out in the Boston Garden. Dominique was unreal, but Bird refused to let his team lose and shot 9 for 10 in the 4th quarter including a falling down left handed bank shot and 1 FT on the foul call. I watched that game not believing what I was seeing.

[Kblaze8855]

I was at Jordan’s 58 point game vs the nets though I know that isn’t what you meant by “live”.

[elementally morale]

I was at Jordan’s 58 point game vs the nets though I know that isn’t what you meant by “live”.

Yeah. Being a foreigner, live is really not an option for me so I use the term 'live'.

I noticed that even if I don't know the end result, watching the game the next day is very far as an experience from watching it 'live'. The simple fact that you know it has already been decided diminishes... I don't know what. I tried watching games a day or two after they took place. As I have League Pass it's easily doable. Scores off mode. It doesn't really work for me. 'Live' is different.

The only game I saw semi-live was a playoff game (Game 3 or game 4 vs. San Antonio) in 2001 I think. I was in LA, Staples Center. It was a road game though, so we were all watching on the big screen in the middle. Full house. Now that was my absolute best experience ever as far as an NBA game goes.

[elementally morale]

The best game I ever saw in person was game 6 of the 1992 Finals when the Bulls beat Portland. Phil Jackson sat Jordan down at the start of the 4th quarter while the Bulls were losing and we thought Phil had lost his mind. The Bulls went on a 14 to 2 run to close the gap and Jordan re-entered the game and was so energized, there was no stopping that team. The crowd was so loud I get chills just thinking about what happened = the Bulls won, Jordan hit 2 late FT to ice the game. My friend had just bought a new truck so we bolted out of there for fear that his new truck might get torched or upended by the raucous crowd.
The best game I watched on TV would be game 7 Celtics vs Hawks in 88 = Bird vs Dominique = the shoot-out in the Boston Garden. Dominique was unreal, but Bird refused to let his team lose and shot 9 for 10 in the 4th quarter including a falling down left handed bank shot and 1 FT on the foul call. I watched that game not believing what I was seeing.


I saw that game 'live'. On TV. I was in London at a friend's house and it was very early in the morning. Ate ice cream from a carton, too. I was upset. (I was always upset when the Bulls won. At the time I was very strongly anti-Jordan.)

[ILLsmak]

that shit Dirk was doing in 2011 fr fr. It's not the best, but it was something else. I prol said this but I told this girl who was like a pseudo fan who i was like so whats ur team (I lived in Tx then) and she was like Mavs. I was like yo they about to win it this year. And that was like 2nd round / conf finals time, forgot exactly. I didn't know FOR SURE, but I dunno if I've seen someone do it like he was doing it.

I feel like you gotta be going somewhere, too. Dirk was that dude, but for some reason I didn't expect him to go next level. It was part shock and part just how well he played. I'm not sure which game I'd pick, though.

-Smak

[jlip]

The first thing that comes to my mind is not particularly a full game, but a moment, and that was T-mac's 13 in 33 seconds against the Spurs in 2004(?). I saw Reggie Miller's 8 points in 9 seconds live.

[Jasper]

regular season game , back in the early 70's Pistol pete on the jazz playing the Bucks.

Dude was like 6 points first half , and ended the game in the 30's.

[1987_Lakers]

I remember watching Klay when he dropped 37 in a quarter. That was pretty wild.

LeBron dropping 45|15 on the Celtics in 2012 was also insane considering the circumstances, his legacy was pretty much on the line that night.

[Naero]

Giannis's 50-point closeout in the 2021 Finals will always be the most impressive performance I've ever seen in-person. Watching that at the Fiserv Forum was about as untoppable of a moment as it gets, and it's honestly made me blasé about the NBA since.

As for games I've seen on TV in real time? Possibly Durant's Game 5 (https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/202106150BRK.html) against us that postseason. A superefficient 49-point TD with an injury-ravaged supporting cast, all against the Bucks' robust defense. It would've haunted me to this day if we didn't eke out that series, and it easily would've been KD's legacy-defining performance had the Nets finished the job (making the not-so-bold assumption that they'd win it all that year).