In the storied history of Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks have played seven Game 7s at home.
They are 5-2 in those games, including a victory in Game 7 of an NBA Finals.
However, the Knicks haven’t played a Game 7 at home in nearly two decades, and it was a loss to the Indiana Pacers.
The Knicks and Pacers will play another Game 7 Sunday at Madison Square Garden (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC) in their Eastern Conference semifinals series. The winner will face the Boston Celtics in the conference finals.
Here’s a brief Knicks history of Game 7s at Madison Square Garden:
Knicks star Walt Frazier had 15 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in a division semifinals series Game 7. Dave DeBusschere had 28 points and 13 rebounds, Dick Barnett scored 28 points and Willis Reed had 14 points and 14 rebounds for New York.
Known as the Willis Reed Game because the Knicks star was injured but limped onto the court, providing energy and inspiration, the Knicks won their first title. Frazier had 36 points, 19 assists and seven rebounds and DeBusschere collected 18 points and 17 rebounds. Reed played 27 minutes and scored just four points but was named Finals MVP for his overall performance: 23 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.
After taking a 3-2 series lead, the Knicks lost the last two games of the conference finals. Washington’s Earl Monroe (26 points) and Wes Unseld (17 points, 20 rebounds) were too much for the Knicks. Unseld blocked Bill Bradley's shot at the final buzzer to prevent overtime.
The Knicks and Bullets had a great rivalry during the early 1970s. The Knicks took this game with all five starters reaching double figures, led by Earl Monroe’s 30 points and Walt Frazier’s 19 points and 11 rebounds in this conference semifinals series.
Even without Michael Jordan – this was during his first retirement and foray into professional baseball – the Bulls had a decent squad with Scottie Pippen, B.J. Armstrong and Horace Grant. But not good enough to take this conference semifinals series. Ewing had 18 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and one block, and Charles Oakley had 17 points, 20 rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Knicks.
Patrick Ewing was a force: 24 points, 22 rebounds, seven assists, five blocks and one steal in the conference finals finale. The Garden was alive with a Game 7 in back-to-back series. The Knicks reached the Finals for the first time since 1973 but lost the Houston Rockets in seven games after taking a 3-2 lead – back when the Finals format was 2-3-2.
Reggie Miller loved playing in the Garden, and he had 29 points in this game as Ewing missed a finger-roll layup with one seconds remaining in the final game of the conference semifinals. Ewing had another monster game with 29 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and four blocks.
What does Game 7 have in store Sunday with beat-up Knicks trying to reach the conference finals for the first time since 2000, and the Pacers seeking their first conference finals appearance since 2014?
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