Translator's Note: The author of this article is Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports, and the views expressed in this article do not represent the translator.
In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, with the future of the NBA still so uncertain, all we can do is fried cold rice. Let's take a look at the most exciting and incredible goals in the history of basketball, and maybe it will help you distract from the boring and isolated life.
Today, we're going to revisit Robert Horry's shots that changed the course of history.
I don't know if Robert Horry is a Hall of Famer, but throughout his career, I personally think he definitely deserves a nomination. Although he was just a role player on every team, his key shots have repeatedly rewritten history and influenced the career trajectory of countless superstars.
Now let's see how Horry influenced the careers of those superstars. It's a long list, including but not limited to: Olajuwon, Rodman, Drexler, David Robinson, Shaquille O'Neal, Anfinney Hardaway, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Iverson, Chris Webber, Rashid Wallace, Scott Pippen, Kidd, Duncan, Billups, Cameron Anthony, Nash, LeBron James and many more.
1. First game of the 1995 Western Conference Finals
All-game stats: 7 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, 1 of 5 shooting, 3 of 3 three-pointers and 0 of 3.
The 1995 Western Conference Finals were played between the Rockets led by Olajuwon and the Spurs led by David Robinson. With little time left on the timer, Olajuwon noticed that Horry, standing in the bottom left corner, was in a large vacancy. The closest Spurs player to him at this point is Rodman, and he is also struggling under the basket. Horry hesitated after receiving the ball, dribbled forward, and completed a calm jump shot in the elbow zone, with the last 6.5 seconds left in the game. The shot helped the Rockets rewrite the score to 94-93 and take a one-point lead. In the end, neither side scored again, and the Rockets used this valuable point to take the Spurs' home court and take a 1-0 lead. It is worth mentioning that this shot is the only sports goal that Horry has hit in this game.
The Rockets advanced to the Finals 4-2 without home advantage, and swept the Magic without bloodshed in the Finals to win the championship. The year was David Robinson's best chance to win the title before Duncan joined the team.
2. Match 3 of the 1995 Grand Finals
20 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists, 6-of-11 shooting and 2-of-5 three-point range.
The Rockets' opponent in the Finals was the Orlando Magic led by O'Neal. In the first game, Magic's Nick Anderson conceded four consecutive free throws with 10 seconds left in the game — and he only had to hit one of them to help the Magic seal the win. The Rockets pocketed two away games and returned to Houston with a 2-0 run. Then it was Horry who stood up again.
The game was also very anxious, and in the final moments of the game, Horry helped the team lead by one point with a free throw. It was the Rockets' offensive round again, and it was Olajuwon who carried the ball again, and Horry was again let go in the bottom left corner. This time Horry did not hesitate any longer, he received the ball and shot, the knife fell in his hand, hollowed into the net, and changed the score to 104-100, with 14.1 seconds left in the game. Once again, the Magic lost everything, being absent-minded in the face of a 0-3 scoreline and being swept out.
If O'Neill or Hardaway had stepped up in the final moments of the first or third game to change the course of the game, how would everything have been different? Moving on, if it weren't for Horry helping Olajuwon defend his title and helping the gliders win their first career title, how would their careers be different? If O'Neal had met not Olajuwon but David Robinson in the Finals, would O'Neal, who had won the championship in the third year of his career, have left Orlando in 1996? So how should Kobe's career be written next? If Hardaway had a championship ring in his hand, would he have been inducted into the Hall of Fame? Sadly, Horry killed all this suspense.
3. Game 3 of the 2001 NBA Finals
All-game stats: 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, 4-of-5 shooting, 3-of-3 three-pointers.
In January 1997, Horry threw the towel straight in the face of his head coach Danny Angie, so the Suns sent him to the Lakers. Not counting the incomplete season in 1997, Horry spent six seasons with the Lakers, winning three consecutive championships with the Lakers.
In the 2001 Finals G3, the Lakers drew 1-1 with the 76ers. With the final 47.1 seconds left in the game, Horry hit a bottom-corner three-pointer to give the team a 92-88 lead. Iverson then grabbed a life-saving frontcourt rebound and caused Tyrone-Lou to foul, rewriting the score to 91-92 with the final 27.6 seconds left in the game, trailing by just one point. Since then, Horry has hit four consecutive free throws to help the team win the game without any danger. He scored 15 points in the game, 12 of which were scored in the final quarter.
After that, the Lakers did not give the 76ers any more chances to win the championship with a big score of 4-1. But if Iverson had a chance to rewrite the big score to 2-1 at G3 and lead the 76s, how confident would he be?
4. Third game of the first round in the West in 2002
All-game stats: 8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, 3-of-9 shooting, 1-of-4 from three-point range.
In 2002, the Lakers ran into their old rival, the Blazers, in the first round. With 10 seconds left in G3, Ruben Patterson, known as "Kobe", forced Kobe into a corner, Pippen came up to kobe and clipped it, and Kobe struggled to throw the ball into the hands of Holly, who was ambushed in the bottom corner. With 2.1 seconds left on the timer, Horry hit a counter-attack to give the Lakers a 92-91 lead.
Horry helped the Lakers sweep their old rival led by Rashid Wallace. Two years ago, they also competed with the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals to grab seven.
5. Game 4 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals
(Video Touching Me)
All-game stats: 18 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 5-of-7 shooting, 3-of-5 three-pointers.
The Lakers tackled the Spurs in the second round without bloodshed, meeting the king in the limelight in the Western Conference Finals. Chris Webb played well, leading the Kings to a 2-1 lead and taking a 99-97 two-point lead with little time left in game four. The Kings are poised to eliminate the defending champions and reach the Finals for the first time in 50 years.
In the final leg of the game, Divac managed to defend kobe and O'Neal's attacks. In the scramble for rebounds, he flicked the ball outward, trying to run out of time. Unfortunately, the ball landed right in Holly's hand. He calmly grabbed the ball and steadily shot a three-pointer. The ball hollowed into the net and Horry completed the deadlock, rewriting the big score to 2-2.
There was a lot of controversy in this series, and the Kings always believed that the referee was on the side of the Lakers. But without that three-pointer, the Kings would have a 3-1 lead — and no matter how much the referee blew it, it would be difficult to send the Lakers to the Finals. It's no exaggeration to say that it was Horry who sent the Lakers to the Finals. The Lakers eventually defeated the Kings in a big seven battle to achieve a three-game winning streak. Their opponent in the Finals was Kidd's Nets, and the Nets didn't win a single victory over the Lakers. Webb is supposed to be a Hall of Famer, but this is the only time he's ever been close to the Finals.
6. 2005 Finals Match 5
All-game stats: 21 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists, 7-of-12 shooting, 5-of-6 three-pointers
In 2005, the Spurs drew 2-2 with the Pistons in the Finals. At the crucial Battle of Tennosan, the then 34-year-old Horry was not affected in the slightest after injuring his left shoulder, and he continued to play, scoring 18 of the 21 points in the game after the injury. With 5.9 seconds left in overtime, Horry received a pass from Ginobili just outside the three-point line, opened his hand, and changed the score to 96-95. In the end, the score was fixed here, and the Spurs struggled to rewrite the big score to 3-2. In the end, the Spurs won the championship in the scramble seven, and Duncan got the third of five rings of his career.
If the Pistons had been able to defend their title that year, how would our Pistons' memories have been different? Will Billups, Rashid and Ben Wallace all be inducted into the Hall of Fame? Perhaps no player has been worse than Rashid Wallace, whose legendary career has been ruined at the hands of Hory.
7. Game 4 of the first round of the Western Conference in 2007
With the Spurs taking a 2-1 lead over the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the series. With 35 seconds left in G4, Horry's three-pointers helped extend their lead to 93-89. The Nuggets tried two three-pointers without success and unfortunately lost. Back at home for the Spurs, they didn't give the Nuggets any more chances and eliminated them without bloodshed.
The Nuggets' team is the same Nuggets who almost reached the Finals two years later. If Anthony and Iverson can lead the team to win this game, can they create a little threat to the Spurs? What level of performance can 22-year-old Anthony come up with? If they're lucky enough to pick down the Spurs, can they beat the Suns in the second round? Will Nash's Suns make it to the Western Conference Finals? What will the winner between them and the Jazz be against the young LeBron James? Can Nash realize his dream of a championship? What about LeBron?
Any one of these answers could mean that the player's historical position is completely shuffled.
In fact, it was Horry who personally ruined Nash and Stoudemire's chances in the finals with very dirty means.
In G4, the Spurs' loss to the Suns, Horry pushed Nash into the technical platform, and an angry Stoudemire and Dior came up to support Nash and put them suspended in game five. In game five, facing the Suns, who were missing major generals, the Spurs won by a narrow margin of three points, and finally eliminated their opponents in six games to advance to the Finals.
This incident is also a stain that Horry and the Spurs can never wash away.
For those accustomed to measuring players by the number of championships, Horry has had a profound impact on many of the quasi-Hall of Famers: O'Neal, Kobe, Duncan, Ginobili, Parker. Remove two of these people's rings, and what will be their historical status? How likely are Ginobili and Parker to enter the Hall of Fame? Will they be like Weber and Hardaway? Horry's influence on the historical landscape is too far-reaching to be combined.
In fact, Horry didn't hit every shot. For example, in the 2003 Western Conference Semifinals G5, with 3.6 seconds left in the game, Horry missed a three-pointer that could reverse the score. If that ball is thrown, can the Lakers win four consecutive championships? If the Lakers really won four in a row, would Horry leave the Lakers that summer to join the Spurs? Maybe everything will be reshuffled again.
But look at this: In February 1994, the Rockets traded Sean Elliott with Horry and Matt Bullard, but Elliott's medical report indicated he had kidney disease, and Houston subsequently canceled the deal. If the deal goes through, can Horry win his seven titles? Will there still be his shots that change the course of history? Will Elliott return to the Spurs? If Horry had been a member of the Pistons in 2005, what role would he have played in the Finals? Has the world as we know it been radically changed by Robert Horry?
By Ben Rohrbach
Translator: Bacchus, the god of wine