Game 7 NBA Finals history: LeBron James, Bill Russell and Jerry West highlight best-ever performances
With their backs against the wall — and their best player dealing with a tough injury — the Indiana Pacers rallied Thursday to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. The win not only kept the Pacers' championship hopes alive, but set up just the 20th Game 7 in NBA Finals history.
On Sunday, Pacers and Thunder players will have the chance to live out every kid's basketball fantasy. In a do-or-die situation with a championship on the line, who will rise to the occasion and sink the biggest shots?
Advertisement
A select few players have elevated their game to the highest level when their teams needed it the most. Below, is a list of the best performances by a player on a winning team in NBA Finals Game 7 history.
Player
Team
Year
Points
Rebounds
Assists
Arnie Risen
Royals
1951
24
13
2
George Mikan
Lakers
1952
22
19
4
Jim Pollard
Lakers
1954
21
N/A
N/A
Dolph Schayes
Nationals
1955
13
12
3
Tom Heinsohn
Celtics
1957
37
23
2
Bill Russell
Celtics
1960
22
35
4
Bill Russell
Celtics
1962
30
40
4
Bill Russell
Celtics
1966
25
32
1
Jerry West
Lakers
1969
42
13
12
Walt Frazier
Knicks
1970
36
7
19
Dave Cowens
Celtics
1974
28
14
4
Wes Unseld
Bullets
1978
15
9
6
Larry Bird
Celtics
1984
20
12
3
James Worthy
Lakers
1988
36
16
10
Hakeem Olajuwon
Rockets
1994
25
10
7
Tim Duncan
Spurs
2005
25
11
3
Kobe Bryant
Lakers
2010
23
15
2
LeBron James
Heat
2013
37
12
4
LeBron James
Cavaliers
2016
27
11
11
Los Angeles Lakers legend Jerry West holds the record for most points scored during a Game 7 of the NBA Finals on a winning team with 42. LeBron James and Tom Heinsohn sit behind him on that list, with both players dropping 37 points to lead their teams to titles.
When it comes to rebounds, no one can match the great Bill Russell. The Boston Celtics superstar snagged 40 rebounds in 1962, 35 rebounds in 1960 and 32 rebounds in 1966. He's the only player to appear on the above list three times. Russell's excellence is never a question — he did win 11 championships — but his presence above offers more proof that he stepped up when his team needed it the most.
James is the only other player to appear twice on the list above. James' 37 points and 12 rebounds for the Miami Heat in 2013 led them past the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7. James then turned in an equally impressive performance in 2016, when he scored 27 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out 11 assists while leading his home-town Cleveland Cavaliers to a title.
Advertisement
Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan does not appear on the above list, though that only speaks to his greatness. Jordan's Bulls never reached a Game 7 of the NBA Finals. He made sure Chicago closed out those series before a do-or-die game was necessary. The Bulls were pushed to a Game 6 in the NBA Finals five separate times during Jordan's era. They won every single one of those games.
Which player from the Pacers or Thunder will join that list Sunday night? On the Thunder side, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should have the edge after leading the NBA with 32.7 points per game in the regular season. He's maintained that performance during the Finals, where he's averaging 30.5 points in six games.
Advertisement
Tyrese Haliburton's injury makes it a more wide-open race for the Pacers. Haliburton seemed like a solid pick prior to his calf injury. During the first four games of the series, he was averaging 17.8 points per game. That number dropped to 9.0 following the injury.
That could set the stage for Pascal Siakam to shine if the Pacers pull out the victory. Siakam averaged 19.8 points over the first six games in the Finals, and turned in a double-double to extend the series Thursday night.
While there are exceptions, the stars usually shine the brightest with the season on the line. With each team one huge performance away from a championship, which player will step it up and will their team to a title Sunday?
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Pacers vs. Thunder odds: Best bets, predictions for NBA Finals Game 7
The Indiana Pacers won their 10th game as an underdog this postseason on Thursday night, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-91 in Game 6 of the 2025 NBA Finals and covering as 5.5-point underdogs. The game stayed under the total for the fourth time this series. Indiana opened the series as a huge +550 underdog at BetMGM, while Oklahoma City was a massive -800 favorite. If the Pacers end up winning Game 7, it would be one of the biggest finals upsets in NBA history. Advertisement The Thunder opened as 8.5-point home favorites in Game 7, but the line has drifted back to -7.5. The total is the lowest in the series at 215.5. Yahoo Sports asked handicapper Jon Metler for his thoughts on Game 7 of the Finals and some best bets: Game 7: Indiana Pacers at Oklahoma City Thunder (-7.5, 215.5) Metler: "Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's assists prop opened at 5.5 with increased juice to the over. That's a really low total for SGA in general, but when you consider the spot, it really jumps off the page. The Thunder will want the ball in SGA's hands as much as possible in Game 7, and he'll likely play 40-plus minutes. Advertisement "SGA's assists prop has dropped throughout the series because he's had a few rough games in that department, but the final box scores don't fully reflect what's happening. Game 4 is a perfect example: He recorded zero assists, but had eight potential assists — they just didn't convert. In Game 6, he had only two assists, but again tallied eight potential assists. The low conversion rate, combined with reduced minutes due to a blowout, skewed the numbers. "These games have tanked his assists line in the market, but that's good for us — it's opened up a chance to attack the lower total and even take a shot at the alternate over of 6.5 (+132), which I believe should be trading closer to -115. There's solid value on this number, and the fact that his role players and shooters are back home should help, too. In the last home game (Game 5), they converted 10 assists for SGA." Best bet: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander over 6.5 assists (+132) Metler: "Just pause and think about this for a second: You're getting Tyrese Haliburton over 7.5 assists at +144. Imagine if I told you this price during the regular season. I know it's the Thunder defense, but 7.5 at +144? Come on. You were typically seeing 9.5 or even 10.5 for Haliburton's assists prop, with the over trading around -110 back then. Advertisement "Similar to the SGA prop, look at the spot — it's Game 7 of the NBA Finals, where his usage and minutes should be as high as possible. Yes, Haliburton is nursing a calf injury, but I thought he looked completely fine in Game 6. If anything, the injury is what's creating this value. "His totals dropped heading into Game 6 due to uncertainty around his minutes and the injury, and they didn't adjust much after Game 6 because he only played 23 minutes due to the blowout. If Haliburton plays 35 minutes in that game, he likely smashes all of his totals — and the numbers for Game 7 would look very different. "I believe this prop should be trading closer to -120 for Haliburton in Game 7, which is why I'm hitting the button on +144." Best bet: Tyrese Haliburton 8+ Assists (+144)
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NBA Playoff MVP rankings: With Game 7 to go, who is No. 1 — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Tyrese Haliburton?
We have not yet reached the end of the road for the 2025 NBA Finals, but we are jumping the gun, because this is supposed to be fun: Let us determine the MVPs of this year's playoffs before Game 7. If you have been following along, or even if you have not (shame on you), we also chronicled the Playoff MVPs at every step of the way — around the end of the first round, second round and conference finals. 1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder Following a 31-point performance in Game 5 of the 2025 NBA Finals, Gilgeous-Alexander became the fourth player ever to score 30 or more points in at least 15 games of a single postseason, joining Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon. He downplayed the accomplishment in the aftermath, suggesting that, if you put enough qualifiers around a statistic, you can bend it to make any argument. Advertisement "It's just like the rest of the other [statistics]," he said. "It's like a stat, but it's narrowed into three different specific details. It's cool, I guess. Focused on one thing, and that's winning one more game." That "one more game" is now a do-or-die Game 7 on Sunday. (Hassan Ahmad/Yahoo Sports Illustration) Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 30 points (on 47/30/87 shooting splits), 6.3 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.5 combined blocks and steals per game in the playoffs. What, then, is at stake for him in Game 7? We could narrow our search on Stathead to find the only players ever to average a 30-5-6 en route to a title, and we would find Jordan (twice) and Nikola Jokić in the 2022-23 campaign. That is the whole list. Advertisement Based on SGA's logic, though, there are too many qualifiers around that company. So let's broaden our scope. How many players in NBA history have even averaged 30 points per game on a championship run? Ten. That is it. And it is an extraordinary list: Jokić, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal (twice), Jordan (six times), Olajuwon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and George Mikan (twice). This is the company Gilgeous-Alexander could keep, no additional qualifiers necessary. 2. Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers In Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, Haliburton amassed 32 points, 15 assists, 12 rebounds and zero turnovers in a 130-121 win, all but clinching Indiana's first berth in the NBA Finals since 2000. He has not been able to replicate any of those numbers since, but it was the prime example of what Haliburton has done all playoffs, controlling games by prodding the defense, seeing the floor and protecting the ball. Advertisement And he was even better throughout the playoffs in the clutch, sinking a game-winner in each series, including a 22-footer with 0.3 seconds remaining in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Nobody expected the Pacers to be on this stage, and yet Haliburton has proved both he and they belong among the NBA elite. Whenever you are receiving favorable comparisons to Steve Nash, Chris Paul and Magic Johnson on a playoff run, it says good things about your ability to steer a team without your scoring. It is not that he cannot score in bunches; it is that he is more concerned with making everyone around him better. Which he has done, so much so that he has forced us to rethink what we figured possible for the Pacers' future. 3. Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder Scottie Pippen may not have been the best No. 2 option ever, but he is the first one who springs to mind. He is the quintessential complement to a superstar. In fact, any time a team develops its No. 1 option, we ask: But who is his Pippen? When you become somebody's Pippen, you have made it as a second option. Advertisement Well, consider what Pippen averaged across his six championship runs, alongside Jordan, on the 1990s Chicago Bulls: 19.2 points (44/29/73), 7.9 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3 combined blocks and steals a game. Now consider what Williams has averaged in these playoffs: 21.5 points (46/31/80), 5.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.8 combined blocks and steals. The only second options to average a 20-5-5 on a title run: Bob Cousy, Hal Greer, John Havlicek, Walt Frazier, Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Bryant, Stephen Curry (as Kevin Durant's co-star in 2017 and 2018), Khris Middleton and Jamal Murray. Essentially the best No. 2s ever. Advertisement And Williams is just 24 years old, a year younger than Pippen was when he first won a championship. It is far too early to anoint Williams as the next Pippen, for he is still six rings behind, but if the Thunder can complete their quest for one championship, we should at the very least accept him as SGA's Pippen. 4. Pascal Siakam, Indiana Pacers I don't know where in the player rankings we had Siakam before the playoffs began, but it wasn't as the second-best player on a championship-caliber team, which is weird, since he was the second-best player on the 2019 champion Toronto Raptors. If we had not already, we now have to accept that you can win a title with a borderline All-NBA player (Siakam received four third-team votes) as your second-best player. Advertisement The Boston Celtics did the same last season, leveraging Jaylen Brown as a No. 2 option, and surrounding their stars with a well-paid and talented supporting cast, rather than the multiple-superstar model that became en vogue earlier last decade, when James joined Dwyane Wade and Durant teamed with Curry. If you help change the way an entire league fundamentally thinks about team-building, as Siakam has, you probably earned your spot on this list, and there is no doubt that Siakam deserves his spot here. 5. Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets When last we convened, we had Jokić ranked fifth among Playoff MVPs. He has not played again, and nothing has changed. How does that square? Well, in retrospect, Jokić's Denver Nuggets did to the Thunder exactly what the Pacers have, pushing them to a Game 7 in the Western Conference semifinals. Advertisement Considering how shallow the Nuggets were in comparison to the Thunder, and how hobbled Denver was, as Michael Porter Jr. played with one arm and Aaron Gordon played on one leg, the fact that Jokić willed his team to three wins against OKC is nothing short of remarkable. Had he won four against the Thunder and gone on to do what they have done, we would be welcoming Jokić into the pantheon of NBA all-timers. As it is, even after Gilgeous-Alexander's regular-season MVP campaign and run to Game 7 of the NBA Finals, we still universally accept Jokić as The Best Player Alive because of his effort against the Thunder. 6. Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks 7. Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves 8. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors 9. Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers 10. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics Honorable mention: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks; Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic; Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics; Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons; Luka Dončić, Los Angeles Lakers; Aaron Gordon, Denver Nuggets; Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder; Kawhi Leonard, Los Angeles Clippers; T.J. McConnell, Indiana Pacers; Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers; Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets; Alperen Şengün, Houston Rockets; Julius Randle, Minnesota Timberwolves; Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks.
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Haliburton warns Pacers of 'poison' of outside noise before NBA Finals game 7
Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers celebrates a basket in the Pacers' victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in game six of the NBA Finals (Maddie Meyer) Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton says the Pacers must keep their focus firmly on the Oklahoma City Thunder and block out the "poison" of narratives popping up around game seven of the NBA Finals. The Pacers pushed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder to a winner-take-all game seven with a stunning blowout victory on Thursday, Haliburton inspiring his teammates with a 14-point performance two days after he limped through game five with a right calf strain. Advertisement Now the Pacers have a chance to claim the first NBA championship for a franchise that won three American Basketball Association titles before joining the NBA as part of the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. "The narratives are going to be almost poison," Haliburton said. "To talk about what this would mean to our city and our organization and legacy talk, and how we played so well and now the pressure is on (the Thunder) ... there's going to be narratives that we can't really pay attention to. "We've got to control what we can. So much of these games has come down to who is going to start the fight from a physicality standpoint, take care of the ball better, rebound the ball better. "Those are the important things that we need to focus on ... we've got to be ready to compete in game seven." Advertisement Sunday's title showdown in Oklahoma City will be the 20th game seven in Finals history, and the first since 2016 -- when the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors on their home floor to complete their comeback from a 3-1 series deficit and claim the title. The LeBron James-led Cavs were the first road team to win a Finals game seven since 1978. Home teams are 15-4 in championship game sevens and Haliburton knows the Pacers face a monumental task in trying to polish off the 68-win Thunder on their home court. "There's no such thing as, like, a pretty game seven. They're usually ugly bloodbaths," Haliburton said. "We've got to go in and just figure it out. These guys are going to play hard. They make shots at a higher clip at home. Their crowd is amazing. "This is why we do what we do," he added. "This is the peak, the pinnacle of our sport." bb/js
