Best NBA Finals Rematches
The Spurs are ready to avenge last year's loss to the Heat.
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Spurs–Heat Ready for Rematch - Every sports fan loves a good rematch — especially in the NBA finals with the league’s title on the line. For the first time since 1998, when Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to the league’s crown with a win over the Utah Jazz in the second straight year, the NBA finals is a rematch. Standing in LeBron James and the Miami Heat’s way of a three-peat is the San Antonio Spurs, led by Tim Duncan, who seeks his fifth ring. The usually reserved Duncan even added intrigue to the rematch, recently stating, “We’ve got four more to win” and “We’ll do it this time.” To which James retorted, telling ESPN: "They don't like us, they don't. I can sense it from Timmy's comments over the last couple of days. They wanted this, they wanted us and we'll be ready for the challenge." And we’ll be ready to watch. In lieu of the Spurs-Heat NBA finals rematch, ...
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1998 NBA Finals: Chicago Bulls–Utah Jazz - After losing to the Chicago Bulls in the 1997 NBA finals, Karl Malone, and his Utah Jazz teammates, came roaring back the following year with a chip on his shoulder. After a brilliant 62-20 regular season campaign, the Jazz rumbled through the Western Conference and found themselves once again with Michael Jordan standing in their way. The Jazz even took care of business, standing pat on their home court for a 2-0 series lead. But after taking a 42-point thrashing by the Bulls in Game 3, the Jazz just couldn’t recover. Jordan led the Bulls to a series sweep the rest of the way through, capping Game 6 by stripping Malone of the ball, driving the length of the court and pulling up for a 20-foot jumper in what was supposed to be the last shot of his career. "The Last Shot" gave the Bulls a one-point lead with 5.2 seconds left — eno...
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1987 NBA Finals: Boston Celtics–Los Angeles Lakers - The NBA may never see a better rivalry than that of the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. The storied franchises went head to head in 12 NBA finals, including a stretch of seven finals meetings in 11 seasons from 1959-69. And perhaps there wasn’t a better ending to that rivalry than the one Magic Johnson provided in Game 6 of the 1987 finals. Johnson drove cross court above the charity stripe and dropped in a junior sky hook which enabled the Lakers to finish off Larry Bird’s Celtics in six games. (Photo: Mike Powell/Getty Images)
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1979 NBA Finals: Seattle SuperSonics–Washington Bullets - After Wes Unseld led the Washington Bullets to a seven-game series win over the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1978 NBA finals, a then 25-year-old Dennis Johnson led the Sonics to a resounding 4-1 series win over the Bullets the following season. Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens was coach of that Sonics team, as Seattle proved to the Bullets that revenge is best served cold. A five-game NBA finals type of cold. (Photos from left: Seattle Sonics, Washington Bullets)
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2010 NBA Finals: Boston Celtics–Los Angeles Lakers - It took 21 years for the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers to once again meet in the NBA finals, with the Celtics behind Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett polishing off their rivals four games to two in the 2008 NBA finals. Locked and reloaded, however, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers would storm back to win the league’s crown in 2009. And when the teams met again in 2010, Kobe made sure this time was different. Bryant averaged 28.6 points per game, capturing his second consecutive NBA finals MVP in leading L.A. to a thrilling seven-game series over Boston — Kobe’s fifth ring, and arguably sweetest victory yet. (Photo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
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1972 NBA Finals: Los Angeles Lakers–New York Knicks - Wilt Chamberlain and the Lakers had a bad taste in their mouths following a seven-game 1970 NBA finals loss to Willis Reed and the New York Knicks, giving them their first title in franchise history. That started a rivalry over the next few years, with Chamberlain leading the Lakers to a 4-1 series win over the Knicks in 1972 and Reed roaring back to return the favor with a 4-1 Knicks victory over the Lakers in the 1973 NBA finals. Anything you can do, I can do better — coast-to-coast style. Nothing like a little rematch redemption. (Photo: Focus on Sport/Getty Images)