BASKETBALL (Pro)
1. SPORTS’ GREATEST WONDER: Artist and athlete, devastating and indomitable, he defied logic (and gravity) and was simply sports’ greatest wonder. The guy collected 10 scoring titles, six championships and five MVPs. But it was one shot, his last stroke, that is the jewel on his crown, a bucket that so reveals the man’s grace and grit. Michael Jordan’s herky-jerk, four-dribble, stop-and-pop, 17-foot, nothing-but-net jumper at crunch time secures his sixth NBA title in Utah in ‘98. Simply unstoppable, MJ leaves it all out on the court.
2. MAGIC SHOW: With star center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hurting in Game 6, Lakers rookie Magic Johnson switches from his customary point-guard role to center and scores 42 points, grabs 15 rebounds and totals seven assists as the Lakers stun Dr. J’s 76ers in ‘80 to clinch the first of his five NBA championships.
3. GUTS IN THE GARDEN: Game 7 of the ‘70 NBA Finals, and nobody knows if Knick center Willis Reed will play after suffering a torn muscle. He didn’t play Game 6 and Laker Wilt Chamberlain dominated. During most of the warm-ups, Reed remains in the locker room, and moments before tip-off he limps through the tunnel to inspire the Knicks to victory.
4. SWEET HERSHEY: Few fans and no media were there, still Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain scores 100 points in Hershey, Pa., in ‘62.
5. TRIPLE OT: With the ‘76 NBA Finals tied 2-2 between the legendary Celtics and upstart Phoenix, Game 5 goes three overtimes, with Boston’s John Havlicek scoring on a 15-foot running bank shot at the end of the second OT, which brings hundreds of fans on court. But officials put a second back on the clock and a Gar Heard jumper sends the game into its third OT. Boston finally comes through 128-126.
6. THIEF 1: With just five seconds left against the dreaded Philadelphia 76ers in the ‘65 semis, Boston’s John “Hondo” Havlicek steals Hal Greer’s in-bounds pass to preserve a victory in Game 7, which clears the way for the Celtics to win their seventh straight title.
7. THIEF 2: Defending champ Boston is down and almost out against the young Detroit Pistons in the ‘87 Eastern Conference Finals, but Larry Bird cuts into the passing lane, nearly falls out of bounds but finds a streaking Dennis Johnson, who lays it in with a second remaining for a 108-107 win.
8. MILLER TIME: Up six points in the waning moments of the fourth quarter, the Knicks are in good shape in Game 1 of the ‘95 Eastern Conference semis. But in eight seconds, Reggie “Knick Killer” Miller drops 11 points on two three-pointers and a pair of free-throws to give Indiana a 107-105 win. Spike Lee is not pleased.
9. THE RIVALRY: The Celtics and St. Louis Hawks had one of the best rivalries ever, meeting in the finals four times in five years beginning in ‘57. The Celtics survive 125-123 in double OT in Game 7 as St. Louis’ Alex Hannum throws a court-length inbounds pass off the backboard to Hawks star Bob Pettit, whose shot just misses as time expires.
10. The Doctor: Game 4 of the ‘80 Finals, with Philly trailing Magic Johnson’s Lakers 2-1 in the series, Dr. J drives the baseline, reaches back behind the backboard and emerges on the other side to convert a reverse lay-up and help his team to a 105-102 win.
BOXING
1. THE THRILLa IN MANILA: In ‘75, Muhammed Ali makes good on his trash talkin’ claim: “It will be a killer and chiller and a thriller when I get the gorilla in Manila” when he unleashes his fabled combinations to out-box a flailing Joe Frazier in the climatic bout of the definitive rivalry of modern boxing.
2.THE BROWN BOMBER: Joe Louis — the first black heavyweight champ since Jack Johnson, a semi-accidental war hero and a civil rights activist — pummels Hitler’s man in a re-match. Louis’ dominance of the supposedly superior Aryan Max Schmeling in the first round at Yankee Stadium sets off a wild-in-‘38 America as war clouds begin to gather.
3. ALI IN THE GARDEN: Stripped of his heavyweight title for nearly four years for refusing to fight in Vietnam, Ali comes back in ‘71 for a bruising, hype-heavy “Fight of the Century” at Madison Square Garden, but Smokin’ Joe prevails.
4. GREAT WHITE HOPE: Former heavyweight champ Jim Jeffries is dragged from retirement to challenge the first African-American title holder, Jack Johnson. Thousands descend on Reno to see the “Great White Hope” prevail, but Johnson scores a 15th-round KO.
5. THE LONG COUNT: In one of the great controversies in a controversial sport, Jack Dempsey refuses go to a neutral corner after flooring Gene Tunney. The young champ has at least 14 seconds to re-group and comes back to out-box his iconic rival before 104,000 in Al Capone’s Chicago in ‘27.
6. ‘A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SONNY’: “The Louisville Lip,” Cassius (“I am the King”) Clay makes good on the first of his many famous boasts, subduing burly Sonny Liston in ’64.
7. BUSTER WHO: Raging Mike Tyson had never been knocked down before, and little-known journeyman Buster Douglas was certainly going to be his (get to your seat early) victim. But Douglas rocks the universe by skillfully scoring a 10th-round K0 in ‘90 in what is called “the biggest upset in sports history.”
8. SUGAR RAY II: After 14 rounds of speed and devastating blows in ‘81 by two of the most storied welterweights ever, Sugar Ray Leonard pins Thomas “Hitman” Hearns against the ropes and beats on him until the contest is stopped.
9. SIMPLY MARVELOUS In ’85, Marvelous Marvin Hagler stops Hitman Hearns in perhaps the fastest, most brutal, action-packed middleweight title fight ever, which ends when a desperate Hagler pounds Hearns into the canvas.
10: ‘THUNDER MEETS LIGHTING’: Julio Cesar Chavez has tremendous power, but Medrick Taylor, with his blinding speed, is leading going into the final round in ‘90. Then, with less than a minute left, Chavez drops Taylor, who gets back to his feet, only to have the ref stop the fight with two seconds remaining.
