The Game: 1976 Finals, Game 5
The Series Situation: Phoenix Suns and Boston Celtics tied, 2-2
The Play: With one second left, Garfield Heard catches Curtis Perry’s inbounds
pass, turns and hits a 20-foot jumper from the top of the key as the horn sounds
to force the first triple-overtime in Finals history.
The Significance: It has long been regarded as the greatest game in Finals
history for all that happened, especially at the end of the second overtime.
Perry gave the Suns a 110-109 lead with four seconds left, but John Havlicek
raced the length of the floor to drop in a 15-foot banker that touched off a
celebration at Boston Garden. Fans stormed the floor. Referee Richie Powers was
attacked on the court by a fan.
When order was restored, one second was put back on the clock. The Suns had no
timeouts, but Paul Westphal intentionally called a timeout Phoenix did not have.
It gave Boston a free throw, which was converted for a two-point lead, but also
gave the Suns an opportunity to advance the ball to mid-court and set up the
Perry-to-Heard play. While the Suns got to celebrate then, the Celtics
eventually won the game 128-126 and then closed out the series in Game 6 to wrap
up their 13th championship.
— Fran Blinebury
Fran Blinebury has covered the NBA since 1977. You can e-mail him here, find his
archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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