The ’80s Showtime Lakers had a monopoly on finals appearances, much like Michaels Jordan’s dominant Chicago Bulls had in the ’90s and LeBron James‘ teams in the 2010s. For eight out of ten years in their dynasty, Showtime was the last Western Conference team standing. Just like Jordan’s Bulls, there is a two-year gap in their respective dynasties filled by the same franchise, the Houston Rockets. On this date in 1986, Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson defeated Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson in a dominant five-game series that concluded with a thrilling game-winning shot.
RALPH SAMPSON’S GW-FG KEPT LAKERS FROM THE FINALS FOR ONLY TIME IN 8-YEAR SPAN
Ralph Sampson is often overlooked in discussions of the great players in his era, but the college standout and first-round pick showed much promise before his short career was derailed by back injuries. He and Olajuwon led Houston to the second seed in the 1985-1986 season. Together they fought their way to the Western Conference Finals where they were awaited by the reigning champion Los Angels Lakers.
LA’s sole victory came in Game 1 behind a 31-point effort from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Games 2, 3, and 4 went to Houston. Game 5 came down to the last second of regulation. After Olajuwon was ejected with five minutes to go, it was up to Ralph Sampson to close out the series. Sampson caught an inbound pass from Rodney McCray midair with his back to the basket. He twisted around for an awkward shot over Abdul-Jabbar that rattled in at the buzzer, securing the win and a trip to the Finals. Houston’s run came to an end against the 67-win Boston Celtics featuring Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, and Bill Walton.
May 21, 1986: Houston #Rockets C Ralph Sampson hit a GW-FG with just 1 second left to beat the LA Lakers and send Houston to the NBA Finals. This was the only year the Magic/Kareem-led Lakers were held out of the Finals over an 8-year span (1982-89) pic.twitter.com/eV0CxluhOz
— Pro Sports Outlook (@PSO_Sports) May 21, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF740MqYbOs&t=21s
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