1988 - Lakers survive Isiah's attack
Never let it be said that Isiah Thomas went down without a fight in the 1988 NBA Finals. Leading 3-2 in the series with Game 6 in Los Angeles, Thomas sprained his ankle early in the game. Things looked dire for the Pistons at half, as they trailed by seven and the Lakers were rolling.
Enter Thomas, who, on one good ankle, scored 25 of the team's 35 points in the third quarter, a finals record. Thomas would finish the game shooting 18-of-32 for 43 points, adding eight assists and six steals, but the Pistons would fall just short, 103-102.
The Lakers would win Game 7 for their second consecutive championship and their 11th overall, while the Bad Boys would have to wait another year before raising their first banner, the first of back-to-back titles.
2000 - Big Diesel's big sweep
On this day in 2000, Shaquille O'Neal was unanimously selected as the NBA Finals MVP after the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 to win their 12th championship in franchise history.
That made O'Neal just the third player ever to sweep the MVP awards for a season, joining Willis Reed (1970) and Michael Jordan (1996) as the only players to win the All-Star Game MVP, the regular season MVP and the NBA Finals MVP. O'Neal averaged 29.7 points, 13.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and three blocks that season, turning those numbers up to 30.7 points and 15.4 rebounds in the playoffs and an unfathomable 38 points and 16.7 rebounds in the finals.
Birthdays
1978 - Dirk Nowitzki
1986 - Marvin Williams
