He hurried a soft, lofting pass to center Bill Laimbeer, who also failed to come to the ball, not seeing Bird flashing toward the ball from his left. Hall of Famer Thomas then made the mistake of his career. Thomas quickly motioned for official Jess Kersey to give him the ball so he could in-bound it in a hurry while the Celtics were still seemingly stunned, in disarray.Īt the other end of the floor, veteran Piston coach Chuck Daly was calling for a timeout to advance the ball to halfcourt, but the headstrong Thomas disregarded or did not see him. The Celtic bench was pensive, seeing defeat and fearing the worst, while assistant coach Chris Ford screamed “foul, foul, foul” to the Boston players.īut thankfully his advice was drowned out by all the noise. Cocky rookie Rodman celebrated as if the Pistons had won. The block caromed out toward the left sideline, where Mahorn hit the ball off the leg of Jerry Sichting and out of bounds, giving possession to the Pistons. Isiah Thomas had just drained a 17-footer to give Detroit a 107-106 lead in the final seconds.Īfter driving past Rick Mahorn along the left baseline, reigning three-time NBA MVP Larry Bird had his baseline-driving double-clutch layup blocked from the weakside by high-flying Dennis Rodman. Game 5 Eastern Conference Finals (series tied 2-2)ĭetroit 107, Boston 106: Five seconds left to play, Piston ball in backcourt along left sideline. The setting: Boston Garden, Wednesday, May 26, 1987
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