#1 NBA Playoff Series Performance Of All-Time

[Psileas]

Nobody knew about triple double, or quadruple double back then. There was no such thing. Those terms were invented many years later. But that game 5 brought on a debate that has raged for 40 years.

One of my friends marked his scorecard to show Chamberlain with 16 blocks, but another friend had it with only 15. They still argue about it.

But even without knowing what a quadruple double was (and maybe Harvey Pollack knows the answer), it was plain to everyone that Chamberlain had demolished Russell in every possible way.

Wow, do you mean the 29/36/13 game? Somewhere else, I had read he had blocked "only" 7 shots.
BTW, I've also read that this game DOES exist in film and that a guy from APBR had seen it and recalled a crazy block on Havlicek, almost with his chest (!?).

[fpliii]

Wow, do you mean the 29/36/13 game? Somewhere else, I had read he had blocked "only" 7 shots.
BTW, I've also read that this game DOES exist in film and that a guy from APBR had seen it and recalled a crazy block on Havlicek, almost with his chest (!?).

Do you have a link to the post?

BTW Deuce - I've decided to stick with Wilt 67 EDF as my pick over Erving 76 Finals (ABA); as I've said before, I'm not a Wilt guy by-and-large, but his seasons under Hannum (and to a lesser extent his years with Sharman) were incredible.

[Psileas]

Do you have a link to the post?

BTW Deuce - I've decided to stick with Wilt 67 EDF as my pick over Erving 76 Finals (ABA); as I've said before, I'm not a Wilt guy by-and-large, but his seasons under Hannum (and to a lesser extent his years with Sharman) were incredible.

If I could remember the link, it would already be posted (it's been like 5 years since I read it). But it was an APBR guy, probably one of the guys with the most posts, but I won't try to delve deeper and run the risk of misinforming.

[PHILA]

Lets talk about Game 7s.

Game 7 vs the Hawks in 1964 he had 39 pts (10 pts in the 4th quarter, and 8 pts in the final 8 minutes), 12 blocks, and 30 rebounds. He also kept them in the game in the 2nd quarter, scoring 14 of the Warriors 21 pts.

Wilt was 7'1 250+ pounds.

He may have been 250 in college, but not in the NBA from what I know.

Russell was 6'9" and around 200.

200 pounds.. Why would you even post something like this?

[Deuce Bigalow]

30 votes in so far

BTW

Jordan vs. '90 76ers (5 games)
43/7/7/4 stls on 55/39/85 (61.6 TS%)

Jordan vs. '91 Lakers (5 games)
31/11/6.6/2.8 stls on 56/50/85 (61 TS%)

Choose one

Probably Hakeem's 95 WCF against the Spurs. Or maybe Shaq's Finals appearances in 2000 and 2001.

Choose one

Jordan's '91 Finals is as perfect a series as a player can have: 31.2 pts/6/7 reb/11.4 ast/2.8 stl/1.4 blk/56% FG and absurd defensive impact even beyond those numbers. Dude was everywhere this series. Hit 13 straight FG's in game 2. Epic.

Aside from that, Jordan's '90 series vs. Philly is the most dominant I can recall: 43.0 pts/6.6 reb/7.4 ast/4.0 stl/1.2 blk/55% FG. And those defensive numbers don't tell half the story about how good he was defensively this series - dude got his hands on the ball like 6-10 times each game, caused bad/hurried shots, broke up transition opportunities singlehandedly etc. Just a terror.

He has a had a few other series on that level offensively too:

45.0 pts/9.7 reb/6.7 ast/3.0stl/1.0 blk/61% FG vs. Miami in 1992

39.8 pts/5.8 reb/8.2 ast/3.0 stl/52% FG vs. Cleveland in 1989

36.8 pts/8.0 reb/7.0 ast/2.5 stl/1.0 blk/54% FG vs. Milwaukee in 1990


And a few others too (his '92 and '93 Finals, for instance, were not far off from this level offensively).

Is the 91 Finals the series you want to vote for?

No Kobe 2010 Suns series? That was his best WCF ever.

33.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 8.3 apg, .521 fg%.

Also Jazz series 2008

33.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 7.2 apg, .491 fg%.

Is 10 WCF your vote?

I would say its either 2006 Wade in the finals or 1998 Mj against the Jazz

Pick a series

LeBron's 2012 ECF elimination game 6 at Boston: Statistically not GOAT but if you watched it, given the narrative with the IMMENSE pressure of the "make or break career" game and the media just waiting to set LeBron on fire as soon as he loses, he responded pretty amazingly. I was in awe of what was happening during the course of the game.

MJ and Shaq had better games statistically but neither ever entered a game with that much pressure and performed like how LBJ did.

LeBron James in game six of the WCF was the best performance of any athlete I have ever seen.

06 Wade, a third year player doing what he did is ****ing unheard of.

06 Wade.

Im voting for Shaq in 2000

I'm gonna say Rondo in either series in 2009. Guy was insane.

Specify the series

[Deuce Bigalow]

Game 7 vs the Hawks in 1964 he had 39 pts (10 pts in the 4th quarter, and 8 pts in the final 8 minutes), 12 blocks, and 30 rebounds. He also kept them in the game in the 2nd quarter, scoring 14 of the Warriors 21 pts.



He may have been 250 in college, but not in the NBA from what I know.


200 pounds.. Why would you even post something like this?

250+ means over 250.
Around 200 means around 200, could mean 220 for all I know.

[tontoz]

Easy call for me. Hakeem in '95. He averaged 35/12.5 with 5 assists and 4 blocks, shooting 56% from the field against MVP DRob.

Complete ownage.

[Deuce Bigalow]

Do you have a link to the post?

BTW Deuce - I've decided to stick with Wilt 67 EDF as my pick over Erving 76 Finals (ABA); as I've said before, I'm not a Wilt guy by-and-large, but his seasons under Hannum (and to a lesser extent his years with Sharman) were incredible.

It remains the only "old school" pick so far. You're a Russell guy though, yeah? Why not '62 NBA Finals?

[Deuce Bigalow]

So is this over? D-Wade in th 06 Finals is your vote for the greatest playoff series performance of all-time ISH?

[OldSchoolBBall]

Is the 91 Finals the series you want to vote for?

Yes.

[fpliii]

It remains the only "old school" pick so far. You're a Russell guy though, yeah? Why not '62 NBA Finals?

It was a great series for sure, but it's hard to top Wilt's 67 vs Boston. Taking down the 8x defending champions while averaging a triple double (along with an estimated 41 blocks in 5 games) is pretty nuts.

I do prefer Russell in general, but everything went right for Wilt that year.

[Deuce Bigalow]

It was a great series for sure, but it's hard to top Wilt's 67 vs Boston. Taking down the 8x defending champions while averaging a triple double (along with an estimated 41 blocks in 5 games) is pretty nuts.

I do prefer Russell in general, but everything went right for Wilt that year.

I don't think beating the defending champs is all that impressive to be honest. After a team wins it all the hunger, determination, will, ect to win a ring goes down compared to when the team was going for its first title. That is why its rare to see teams repeat, and many times the team has a horrible follow up season, espicially in NFL teams after they win the Super Bowl. But Wilt individually was probably impressive no doubt.

[ThaRegul8r]

You're a Russell guy though, yeah? Why not '62 NBA Finals?

I don't see why someone being a _______________ guy means he has to vote for that player as the answer to any question asking for the best _______________. That would just be nothing more than fanboyism, and would make such questions worthless and nothing more than popularity contests if everyone just votes for their favorite players. How much one likes a player should be irrelevant and have no bearing on how one answers.

[Deuce Bigalow]

I don't see why someone being a _______________ guy means he has to vote for that player as the answer to any question asking for the best _______________. That would just be nothing more than fanboyism, and would make such questions worthless and nothing more than popularity contests if everyone just votes for their favorite players. How much one likes a player should be irrelevant and have no bearing on how one answers.

Yeah and I agree. Its just that Russell's 62 Finals has such greats stats and a 30/40 game 7 to go with it. Certainly regarded as one of the best series ever, no?

[stanlove1111]

And Wilt could only have dreamed of facing that Laker team in a Finals in '62. Chamberlain averaged 51.5 ppg against LA during the regular season that year, which included three games of 60+, one of which was a 78 point, 43 rebound game.

And given the fact that Russell shelled the Lakers in every one of his 60's Finals performances, except one (oh wait, he faced Wilt in that one), one can only wonder what kind of Finals records that Chamberlain would own today had he had the good fortune to have played the Lakers in the Finals in that decade.

How about these performances by Russell against LA?

In '62, he averaged 22.9 ppg, 27.0 rpg, and shot .543 from the field against the Lakers in the Finals. Against Wilt in the previous series? 22.0 ppg, 25.9 rpg, and on a .399 FG%. Oh, BTW, Chamberlain averaged 33.6 ppg, 26.9 rpg, and shot .468 from the floor (in a post-season NBA that shot .411.)

Russell in the '65 Finals against the Lakers. 17.8 ppg, 25.0 rpg, and on, get this, .702 shooting from the field. How about Russell in the previous series against Wilt? 15.6 ppg, 25.3 rpg, and on .447 shooting from the floor. Chamberlain in that series against Russell? 30.1 ppg, 31.4 rpg, and on .555 shooting from the floor.

Russell in the '66 Finals against the Lakers. 23.6 ppg, 24.3 rpg, and on .538 shooting from the field. Russell against Wilt in the previous series. 14.0 ppg, 26.2 rpg, and in the two known games, he shot .423 from the field. How about Wilt in that series against Russell? 28.0 ppg, 30.2 rpg, and on .509 shooting from the floor (we do have all five of his games.)



You also forgot to compare their FG%'s in that series. Wilt averaged 21.6 ppg on .556 shooting from the field, while Russell was at 10.2 ppg on a .358 FG%. And then in the Finals, Chamberlain averaged 17.5 ppg on .560 shooting from the floor, while Thurmond was at 14.3 ppg on .343 shooting.


And Psileas already mentioned Wilt's performance against Russell in the '64 Finals. Here were their numbers in that series. Russell averaged 11.2 ppg, 25.2 rpg, and shot .386 from the field. Chamberlain averaged 29.2 ppg, 27.6 rpg, and on .517 shooting. BTW, in the '64 WDF's, Chamberlain averaged 38.6 ppg, 23.4 rpg, and shot .559 from the field. Overall in the '64 playoffs, in a post-season NBA that averaged 105.8 ppg on .420 shooting from the floor, Wilt averaged 34.7 ppg, 25.2 rpg, and shot .543 from the field.

WE all know that Russell was considered the best defender of all time.. Where are the defensive stats for this series? Are there are setting picks at the top of the key for teammate stats? Are there any outlet passing stats here?

Stats only tell part of the story..We know Wilt in scorin and rebounding had better stats then Russell as a player, we also know that players at the time felt Russell was the more valuable player to a team..