An excellent year-end article that covers 10 of the most defining games this season. Its a month old but still a good read. http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3555996
I actually think the Rockets-Mavs game (Dirk vs. T-Mac) was a more defining game for the Rockets than the San Antonio miracle. It was just before that game that T-Mac had a talk with JVG about his role in the offense, and it marked his first truly great performance as a Rocket. The Rockets would lose that game, but they were a different team afterwards.
Can't argue with the list. The Pacers/Pistons matchup had to be first, and the Shaq/Kobe face up second. However, I'd have moved the 'Mac Miracle' game one spot to 3rd. It's incredibly amazing for someone to score 13 in 33 seconds against argubly the best defensive team and one of the best defenders in the game.
i could argue with that list. it's actually pretty crappy. boston over the suns didn't mean anything. the rockets win over the spurs didn't change anything. the rockets were getting used to eachother and adding pieces. they would have finished the year strong with or without that win. seattle ove the spurs in december? seattle had already showed they were strong. dallas over philly? denver of g.s.? come on btw, where is san antonio over phoenix 3/21? that shows the suns were not an elite team despite their record. heat over spurs on 2/13? it showed the heat were good enough to be a strong wc team (at least at home).
TMac's 13 in 35 game was amazing...it was just dirrrrty what he did to SA and I agree that that changed the Rockets' mindset for the most part...it defined the personality of this team as well in that we had a "never say die" attitude and were a tough, gritty ballclub...but that list is right on point for the most part...
That T-Mac 13 in 35 game was an eye-opener. Even though it was not a playoff game, that instantly goes right up there with Reggie's 9pts in 9 seconds and such. Its good to see T-Mac maturing. I hated the guy because his great talent was wasted on his weak mentality (i.e. letting his team lose 19 straight; prematurely proclaiming a series victory a few playoffs ago; not wanting to play the last few games of a losing season). All of that has humbled him into a much better player. That one game has change my perception of T-Mac.
I like how he included the Chicago/Utah game at #3. That game really shows how it's not about how you start, rather how you finish. Utah was the best team in the league (or one of) at the time and Chicago was the joke of the NBA. Nobody could have predicted that the Jazz would have finished as one of the four worst teams in the NBA while Chicago went on to a high-seeded playoff birth.
Good choice for the Sonics, but I would argue even more defining was the very next night, when we also won in Dallas. Beating the Spurs in Texas and for the second time that season was defining, but then completing the Texas double really showed it wasn't a fluke.
