Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own site, Hoops Haven.
Do you long for some great throwback NBA footage of superstars of the past featuring some of the game’s players? Do you miss watching games in which the jump shot was an art form and not an afterthought? Longing to see some of the NBA’s greatest grudge matches of teams wearing some of the league’s ugliest uniforms? If you are a fan of the game from back in the day, this is the series for you.? Welcome to Vintage Video.
“16 Points In 94 Seconds”
During the ’83-’84 NBA season, two of the game’s best players, New York’s Bernard King and Detroit’s Isiah Thomas, had no idea that come playoff time, they were destined for history in one of the NBA’s All Time Great Playoff Duels. During the regular season Bernard King was out to prove that he was the game’s most devastating offensive force by averaging more than 26 ppg, scoring 50+ points in back-to-back games, and became one of the few players to ever score 60 points in a game. Isiah Thomas was building his legacy as a Hall of Fame point guard by averaging 20 ppg and 11 assists. Their two squads met in a 1st round playoff series. Even though King was unconscious, by averaging more than 42 points in the first 4 games, Isiah and the Pistons had the series tied at 2 games a piece.
In the now legendary Game 5, Bernard King was his usual unstoppable self by putting up 40 points as the Knicks held a double digit lead with under 2 minutes remaining. Then Thomas decided to take things into his own hands by putting on a performance of epic proportions, tallying 16 points within the game’s final 94 seconds, to force overtime. King and Thomas exchanged offensive blows like a boxing title fight, with King getting the final blow by jamming an offensive put-back in the games final moments, giving him a game high 46 points and the Knicks a 3-2 series win. King showed a national audience that he would become one of the game’s most prolific scoring machines before injuries robbed him of his explosiveness. Game 5 was also arguably the moment that put a young “Zeke” on par with the NBA’s elite.
