The Wizards ran over the Pacers in a must-win play-in game, and are headed to the playoffs after a brutal start to the season.
The road doesn’t get any easier as the top-seeded 76ers await in round one on Sunday afternoon, but Washington will be hoping to find some playoff magic like these unforgettable postseason moments in franchise history.
Here are five of the most memorable:
‘I called game’
The Wizards were without John Wall in a pivotal game three of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, but it looked like Washington would have no problem without its star point guard against the Hawks at home, at least until Atlanta erased a 21-point deficit.
The Hawks tied the game with 14 seconds left, and the Wizards went to Paul Pierce off the bench to try and find some more playoff magic that Pierce made a living out of with the Celtics. As time expired, Pierce heaved up a fadeaway jumper to bank in the game-winning shot and give Washington a 2-1 series lead.
In a classic postgame interview, when asked if he called “bank” on the final shot, Pierce replied, “I called game.”
Wall forces game seven
The Celtics showed up to game six of the 2017 Eastern Conference Semifinals dressed in black to signify the “funeral game,” something the Wizards themselves did earlier in the year. But there would be no funeral that night.
Down two with 7.7 seconds left and trailing 3-2 in the series, the Wizards inbounded to Wall, who quickly and unexpectedly pulled up for a three, and he nailed it, giving Washington a one-point lead with 3.5 seconds left, and the Wizards hung on to force game seven, which they would lose to end the season.
Never forget your first
The Baltimore Bullets were considered heavy underdogs against the defending champion Knicks in the 1971 Eastern Conference Finals, but after trailing 3-2 in the series, Earl Monroe and the Bullets forced a thrilling game seven in New York.
With just over a minute to go in the fourth quarter, Fred Carter sank a jumper to put the Bullets ahead by four. The Knicks cut it to two and had a chance to tie, but Baltimore held on for the win to finish the stunning upset and secure the franchise’s first-ever trip to the NBA Finals.
Going back to the Finals
The Bullets looked finished in the 1979 Eastern Conference Finals, trailing the Spurs 3-1 in the series heading back to San Antonio. But after taking game six, Washington found itself with a chance to complete a thrilling series comeback and get back to the Finals for the second year in a row.
But the Bullets trailed by 10 in the fourth quarter of game seven, only to storm back and have a chance to win it with a tie game with eight seconds to go. Bob Dandridge played the hero with a baseline jumper to give Washington a 107-105 lead, and the defense held strong on the final possession to make it two straight trips to the Finals.
The first and only
The Wizards franchise has one NBA title to its credit, and it took history to claim it back in 1978. Trailing the SuperSonics 3-2 in the Finals, the Bullets forced a game seven in Seattle, and would have to claim a winner-take-all dogfight on the road.
The Bullets didn’t seem fazed by the Seattle crowd early on, building a 13-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. But the Sonics battled back before Washington hung on behind 19 points off the bench from Charles Johnson to claim the championship for the Bullets. No other team would win a game seven on the road in the NBA Finals until 2016, when LeBron James and the Cavaliers stunned the Warriors.