An Unforgettable Day in Game 7 History
“The best two words in sports: Game 7” is one the most popular clichés in sports. More often than not, game seven goes as expected. It starts with a tip and ends with the betting favorite moving to the next round in a close but not nail-biting game. But not today. No, today was different. And although Knicks vs Pacers kicked off this memorable Sunday with Isaiah Hartenstein tipping the ball to Josh Hart, everything after that moment was completely abnormal.
From the jump, Indiana looked more than ready for the moment. Tyrese Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard had never played a game 7, Aaron Nesmith had two minutes of game 7 experience under his belt, Pascal Siakam had averaged 12 points on on 39% shooting in two career game 7’s, and Myles Turner only scored 6 PPG on 29% shooting in deciding games. This didn’t phase the young Pacers. They shot 22-27 out of the gate and ended up holding off the injury-ravaged Knicks by a score of 130-109 in one of the greatest offensive postseason performances ever to reach their first conference finals in ten years. Here are some interesting facts about the game.
Indiana broke the record for the highest field goal percentage in a playoff game with 67.1%. The previous record was 67.0% by the Boston Celtics in 1990.
They also broke the record for the highest field goal percentage in a game 7. The previous record was 61.0% by the Suns in 2006. The gap between Indiana and Phoenix is as big as the gap between Phoenix and 17th ranked Detroit in 2003.
The Pacers are just the fifth 6 seed to reach the conference finals and the first to do so since 1995. The ‘81 and ‘95 Rockets are the only teams to get there by winning a game seven.
The 2024 Pacers are the first team to win a game 7 at Madison Square Garden since the Reggie Miller-led Pacers in 1995.
Every Indiana starter scored over 15 points and shot over 50% from the field. That’s the first time that’s happened in game 7 since 1971.
They broke the game 7 record for most points in a quarter with 39 points in the first quarter, and are the second team (1998 Clippers) to score 70 points in a game 7 half in NBA history.
Their 76.3% first half field goal percentage is the fourth best in any half by a team in NBA history. The record holder is the 2023 Pacers against Miami (78.9%). For perspective, there are been 281,944 halves in NBA history, and in the biggest game of all of these Pacers players’ careers, they scored the 4th highest half.
The Pacers put the league on notice, but the Timberwolves may have just changed the course of NBA history with their shocking 98-90 comeback victory against the defending champions last night. Facing a seemingly insurmountable deficit, Minnesota finished the game on a 60-32 run, sending the Joker back to Sombor, Michael Porter to a visiting cell, and the rest of the Nuggets packing early. Only Mike Conley and Monte Morris have ever reached the conference finals and yet, the Timberwolves, led by a 22-year-old, an often crucified playoff-choker, a center who is notorious for getting bullied in the postseason, and a collection of largely inexperienced role players proved the world wrong as they punched their ticket to the conference finals in dramatic fashion.
Minnesota’s 20-point comeback was the largest comeback in game 7 history.
Their 38 first half points are the lowest by any team to win a game 7.
They held Denver to just 37 second half points which is the 6th lowest output in game 7 history.
Denver’s 14-point third quarter was the 11th worst mark for any quarter in game 7 history.
Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum are the only 22-year-olds this century to defeat the defending champions in a seven game series However, Tatum defeated the Raptors without Kawhi Leonard making Edwards’ feat even more impressive.
Minnesota became the 9th team to defeat a defending champion on the road in the game 7 history.
The Timberwolves are the only team to defeat a reigning 3-time MVP in the playoffs as a lower seed. Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Moses Malone, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James all won the title in the year that they won their third MVP. As a 4 seed, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar lost to the 1 seed Bucks. The Timberwolves defeated Nikola Jokic as the 3 seed against the 2 seed.
This season, the Timberwolves were held under 100 points just 13 times. The Timberwolves held them under 100 seven times in 11 matchups. All other teams only accomplished that six times in 81 total games.
Evidently, there were some shocking wrinkles and surprises amid yesterday’s action, but this was more than a couple of good games.
May 19th, 2024 marked the first time that two lower seeds have won game 7 on the road on the same day in NBA history. There have been four other occurrences where two teams won game 7 on the road in the same round, but never in the same day.
Houston Rockets and Kansas City Kings in 1981.
Indiana Pacers and Houston Rockets in 1995.
Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors in 2018.
Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks in 2021.
Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves in 2024.
Among those teams who won road game 7s in the same round, Indiana and Minnesota & Cleveland and Golden State are the only duos that were both trailing 3-2 in their series. And among all seasons (not rounds) where there were two game 7 road victories, the duos of Jayson Tatum and Luka Doncic & Edwards and Haliburton (Tatum’s and Doncic’s conference finals opponents) are the first players 24 or younger to lead their teams to victories. In a class that was considered to be one of the weakest of the century, two gems in Edwards and Haliburton emerged, and are now laughing at the rest of the league.
The road excellence that we saw yesterday is, all of a sudden, not a fluke. In game 7 history, the home team has won 74.2% of the time. However, that has not been the case recently. Game 7 has been won by the road team 10 of the last 14 times. Given the strong win rate by home teams, the odds of that is just 0.046%—the slimmest of the slimmest odds. On a broader scale, the road team has won 15 of the last 26 games. The probability of that is only 0.057%. Clearly, it’s become easier to win as the road team with the ability to swing a big lead with three-point shooting.
Three-point shooting also has the capacity to create blowouts, and that’s been apparent in game 7s as of late, too. From the start of the 2022 playoffs until the conclusion of Knicks vs Pacers, there were eight game 7s played and the average margin of victory was 20.1 points. Five of those eight were among the 19 biggest blowouts in game 7. And as expected, there has never been an eight-game stretch of game 7s with an average score difference even close to that one. For those reasons, Timberwolves vs Nuggets was not just thrilling, but refreshing to watch despite the fact that it didn’t come down to the last second.
It’s rare that we witness so may oddities in one day of basketball, but it seems that the script writers had May 19th, 2024 circled on their calendars as one of the most abnormal, history-making days in NBA history. It did not disappoint.