NBA

The 5 Worst Shooting Performances in NBA Finals History

Have no fear Ray Allen, you’re not number one on this list!  But you’re pretty close.  We’ve poured through some NBA archives, some as far back as 1948, to find the answer to the question: what is the worst shooting night in NBA Finals history?  Follow us as we track the bottom 5 in offensive production throughout past NBA Finals’ (please note we tried to limit it to those players unfortunate enough to attempt over 10 field goals throughout the game, with limited to no success).

5) Kenyon Martin in Game 6 of the 2003 NBA Finals. The deciding game in the series between a Jason Kidd-led Nets team against a younger Tim Duncan-led Spurs team, with David Robinson on his last hurrah! Martin actually leads this list in terms of FGs made, with 3, but it took him 23 shots in total.  He even went so far as to attempt a couple of 3 pointers, not content to just suck in his typical mid-range game.

4) John Starks in game 7 of the 1994 NBA Finals.  Starks almost wins the award for worst timing for his worst game.  He waited to unleash this stink bomb until all Knicks fans were expecting their first title since 1973.  In the deciding game 7 against The Dream’s Houston Rockets squad, Starks unleashed a torrent of 3 point field goal attempts and made none of them, finishing 0-11 behind the arc.  In total he finished 2-18 in possibly the second-worst-played game 7 of all time.  The Knicks fell 90-84 as Olajuwon won the first of two successive rings.

3) Ray Allen in game 3 of the 2010 NBA Finals.  Well, we know what happened in this one.  Allen, fresh off his record-setting game 2, almost set another, more dubious record.  He was one shot away (0-13) from tying the previous record for most field goals attempted in an NBA Finals game without a basket.  He was 0-8 behind the arc.  Actually, at one point, it appeared he might have tied the record, but Kevin Garnett was whistled for a moving screen and Allen’s missed left-handed lay-up was called off.  We’ll see how he bounces back from his worst night this Thursday as the Celtics try and even the series 2-2 against the Lakers.

2) Joseph “Chick” Reiser of the Baltimore Bullets (now the Washington Wizards) in the 1948 BAB Finals (Basketball Association of America).  The no defunct Baltimore franchise played the old Philadelphia Warriors in 1948 (pre-shot clock) and “Chick” went 0-14 from the field.  It’s hard to place this historically, since it’s well before the advent of the 24 second shot clock.  Reiser would go on to lead his team to the title in game 6, did hold the record for shooting incompetence over the next 30 years (which is why he’s #2) before the next guy on our list had his infamous night.

1) Dennis Johnson with the Seattle Supersonics (now the Oklahoma City Thunder) in game 7 of the 1978 Finals.  The Sonics played the old Washington Bullets team in the 1978 Finals.  In game 7, after setting a NBA Finals record in game 6 with 7 blocks as a guard, he went 0-14 in the deciding game.  The Bullets took the series.  It remains the worst shooting performance in NBA Finals history, but just barely.

Johnson would go on to win the NBA Finals the next year, with the Sonics, and be named the 1979 NBA Finals MVP.  He then became the Boston Celtics defensive stopper during the 1980′s Celtics dominance with Larry Bird at the helm, and won 2 more titles.  DJ was enshrined in the NBA Hall of Fame in 2010, much to the delight of Boston’s Sports Guy.

So there was a happy ending to DJ’s epically bad night.  It remains to be seen whether Allen can look back and smile the same way.