The 2010s saw two dynasties of sorts: the Warriors, of course, and LeBron James, who took two cities across three different stints to eight straight NBA Finals. As we continue our end-of-decade countdown, it’s time to look back at the last 10 years of professional hoops and count down the 10 best games from the decade:
10) April 13, 2016:
A meaningless season finale on paper, no superstar had gone out on a higher note than Kobe Bryant. Sure, the long-eliminated Lakers basically gave the future Hall of Famer a free pass to shoot however often he wanted to (50 times, it turns out). But that didn’t take away from the results.
Down 10 with three minutes left, Bryant scored 17 of the final 19 points of the game to lift Los Angeles to the 101-96 win over Utah. In all, Kobe went out with his final 60-point performance in a career full of big scoring nights.
9) 2011 Western Conference 1st Round, Game 4:
Brandon Roy, a former All-Star coming off double knee surgery that would ultimately cut a budding career short, was a bench player for Portland, who barely played in Games 2 and 3 against Dallas. Down 2-1 in the series, the Trail Blazers were down 67-49 through three quarters, when Roy gave one final memorable performance.
As Portland came back, Roy was the centerpiece. He converted a four-point play to tie the game late, then on the next possession banked in a pull-up jumper, both over Shawn Marion, to win the game 84-82. Of the 15 field goals Portland made in the final quarter, Roy scored or assisted on 12 of them.
8) February 27, 2016:
The single-best regular season game of the decade happened in Oklahoma City between the Thunder and Warriors. Golden State erased a four-point lead in the final 14 seconds to force overtime, where the reigning MVP had his signature moment to help secure a second straight award.
Tied at 118, the Warriors grabbed a Russell Westbrook miss and Steph Curry sauntered up the court slowly, despite being nine seconds left (and counting). As soon as Andre Roberson turned around, Curry launched a 40-footer for the three-point win, giving him an NBA-record 12th three-pointer.
7) 2019 Western Conference 1st Round, Game 5:
There was a lot of trash talk surrounding the Blazers and Thunder during their series this past April, as is standard in the NBA. But Damian Lillard let his play (and his hand) do all the talking. Up 3-1 in the series, Lillard stood at 47 points with the game tied at 115 in the final seconds. With the ball in his hand, he eschewed an easier shot attempt and instead pulled up (and drained) a 37-footer at the buzzer for the win, capping a 50-point night.
He then waved bye-bye to Oklahoma City in what was Russell Westbrook’s final game with the Thunder.
6) 2010 NBA Finals, Game 7:
t wasn’t the prettiest of games – 83-79 was the final, with the two teams combining to shoot 36 percent from the field – but a close Game 7 will make the list every time. The Lakers and Celtics went back-and-forth all game, three straight possessions saw made threes to make it 79-76 LA with 51 seconds left. After a pair of Kobe Bryant free throws made it a five-point game, a Rajon Rondo three made it 81-79 with 16 ticks on the clock. Sasha Vujacic, though, made two free throws to ice the game for the Lakers, who won 83-79 and beat their longtime rivals.
5) 2011 NBA Finals, Game 2:
LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were supposed to cruise to a championship as the superteam in Miami. Already up 1-0 in the Finals against the Mavericks, the Heat led by 15 with 7:14 to play, before it all came undone. A 20-2 Mavs run gave Dallas the lead with 26 seconds left, the last seven of which came from Dirk Nowitzki. After a Mario Chalmers three tied the game, Dirk scored the winning points with a lefty finish for the 95-93 win to tie the series. Dallas would go on to win it all in six games.
4) 2019 Eastern Conference semifinal, Game 7:
Amazingly, there had never been a buzzer-beater to win a Game 7 in NBA history... until May. Philadelphia tied Toronto at 90 on a Jimmy Butler layup, giving the Raptors a chance to win it with 4.2 seconds left. Kawhi Leonard forced up a shot from the baseline over Joel Embiid... and it bounced... and it bounced again... then a third time... then a fourth... and it finally dropped in. Leonard capped a 41-point performance with the game-winner, and Toronto would eventually go on to win its first title.
3) 2016 Western Conference finals, Game 6:
Perhaps no game this decade shook the core of the NBA more. Oklahoma City led 73-win Golden State 3-2 in the series, and held an eight-point lead through three quarters at home in Game 6. That’s when Klay Thompson exploded for 19 points, turning that deficit into a 108-101 victory to force a Game 7 at Oracle, where the Warriors were again victorious.
Game 6 turned out to be the final home game in Kevin Durant’s OKC career. If the Thunder hold on to win that game, perhaps the entire course of the NBA to follow – his signing with Golden State and everything that came of it – changes.
2) 2013 NBA Finals, Game 6:
The Spurs were nine seconds away from another championship, leading the Big Three Heat 95-92 in Game 6. LeBron James’ game-tying three missed, but Chris Bosh grabbed the offensive rebound and found Ray Allen in the short corner. The veteran backpedaled just beyond the three-point line and buried it, tying the game and forcing overtime. Miami would survive OT, then go on to win Game 7 to bring the James-Wade-Bosh trio its championship.
1) 2016 NBA Finals, Game 7:
The almighty Warriors, winners of 73 regular season games, held a commanding 3-1 series lead, an edge no team in Finals history had ever squandered. Alas, LeBron and the Cavaliers forced a Game 7 in the Bay Area.
Klay Thompson’s bucket with 3:49 tied the game at 89, and after a sequence that includes LeBron’s block from behind of Andre Iguodala, it stayed that way until the 53-second mark. That’s when Kyrie Irving made a contested three-pointer to give the Cavs a three-point lead. After Kevin Love won a one-on-one battle with Steph Curry, who missed the game-tying three, James made a free throw, and he fulfilled the promise of bringing Cleveland its first championship, and the city’s first since 1964.
