In another of my uploaded videos, this autonomous clip is CBS' introduction to game 1 of the 1985 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics. This isn't the snippet from the NBA's DVD celebrating those Lakers; this is the full intro to the game, Brent Musburger and all! The Celtics won the "Memorial Day Massacre" 148-114, but the Lakers won the series in six games for their first championship series win against the C's. Check out the full game video (and I mean full game!) at my Youtube channel (DownsA530's channel)!

Today's autonomous pick is the CBS intro to game 1 of the 1989 NBA Finals between the Detroit Pistons and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Pistons won the game 109-97 en route to a four-game series sweep. I love the guy who posted this. You know why? Because it's me! Yes, that's right; expect me to post some more of my videos to this site as I upload them. Enjoy!

The Charles Barkley tribute clip intention was to feature perhaps his most replayed shot (over David Robinson in 1993), but in lieu of it, I'll post the intro to game 1 of the 1993 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and Barkley's Phoenix Suns. Phoenix celebrated their first Finals game since 1976... with a 100-92 loss, as Chicago won the series in six games. Still, this intro features a cool mini-retrospective of both Barkley and Michael Jordan's varying career paths, and thus it makes for a good clip.

For the 1998 NBA Finals, what other clip would best exemplify that series? Of course; it's Michael Jordan's dramatic final shot as a Chicago Bull in game 6 of that series between the Bulls and the Utah Jazz! In fact, we get to see the dramatic final sequence, picking up with 35.4 seconds remaining. Right after Jordan scored a layup to cut the Jazz lead to 86-85(not featured), he strips Karl Malone of the ball, dribbles the ball down, and dekes out Bryon Russell (Jazz fans claim he pushed off, and maybe he did!) to score a jumper, giving Chicago a 87-86 lead. After Utah misses (not included in the clip), the Bulls win their sixth and final title of the 1990s. A sequence that was pure Jordan, and one of the greatest sequences in NBA history.

In tribute to Bob Cousy, I dug up a clip from the oldest NBA game preserved today. It comes from a "Vintage NBA" show about Cousy, and it's from game 6 of the 1963 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers in what was Cousy's last game as a Celtic. Boston won 112-109 for their fifth straight NBA title. The action comes from the 1st quarter of that game, and though the segment preceding it is in Spanish, the game is still in English. Enjoy!

For the Larry Bird tribute today, here's a clip from his first NBA championship run. Here is CBS's intro to game 6 of the 1981 NBA Finals between Bird's Boston Celtics and the Houston Rockets. Bird had 26 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists as the Celtics wrapped up their 14th NBA title with a 102-91 victory at the Houston Summit. The cool thing about this clip is we see Gary Bender (the stopgap between Brent Musberger and Dick Stockton) doing the commentary with Bill Russell and Rick Barry (who was dismissed after the seres for controversial remarks directed at Russell). Enjoy!

As promised, here is part two of the Zone's Chuck Daly tribute. Here is the postgame celebration for the 1990 Detroit Pistons after they beat the Portland Trail Blazers 92-90 to win their second straight title. The victory was the end of an era for the NBA on CBS, which broadcast its last Finals in this year. Enjoy the champagne!

Here is the first of a two-part Chuck Daly tribute post (the other will be up tomorrow). Here are the final 3:49 of game 5 of the 1990 NBA Finals between Daly's Detroit Pistons and the Portland Trail Blazers. During this clip, you'll see how they won this game in dramatic fashion; Vinnie Johnson hits a jumper with 0.7 seconds left to give the Pistons their second straight NBA title with a 92-90 win. The celebration clip will come next!

Although I posted this video earlier in the Zone, the person disabled embedding, so I'll repost with a good embedder. In tribute to Rick Barry, here is CBS' intro to game 3 of the 1975 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Washington Bullets. The Warriors won this game 109-101 en route to a four-game sweep. And the real old-school CBS song is quite cool, too!

Normally, I don't do two tribute clips, but with Reggie Miller, once just isn't enough! Here's another clutch moment from Miller's career! It's from game 4 of the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals between his Indiana Pacers and the defending champion Chicago Bulls. Chicago led the series 2 games to 1, and very likely could have wrapped up the series with a win in Indy. With the Bulls ahead 94-93, the Pacers had 2.9 seconds to win. Miller (albeit after a pushoff of Michael Jordan) got the inbound pass and, despite an ankle injury, nailed a triple with under a second left, sending the Market Square Arena crowd into a frenzy. After Jordan narrowly missed a triple at the Bulls' end, the Pacers prevailed 96-94. Despite this, Chicago won the series in seven games. But it was yet another example why Miller was one of the greatest clutch shooters (as Bob Costas mentions after the shot) of his generation.