6 Responses to “Layups: Ranking the Greatest Playoff Series Ever”

1. Greyberger Says:
   June 7th, 2011 at 7:56 pm

   Tease! He's probably the best writer we have, but nobody gets to read Hollinger unless they can get through the pay wall - and even if it was a one-time fee of one cent some people would never pay.

2. Cort Says:
   June 7th, 2011 at 9:37 pm

   I agree with the top pick. The 1981 ECF was the best series I ever saw for sure. The 1984 Finals the best championship series I've seen. Didnt see 1969 or 1970 Finals but I would guess they are near the top. The 1997-98 Finals were excellent too, but I wouldn't put them quite as high.

3. huevonkiller Says:
   June 8th, 2011 at 1:23 pm

   Seem like fair choices, I'm more partial to the 90's and later eras.

4. AHL Says:
   June 8th, 2011 at 1:34 pm

   He should have incorporated a "star power" rating as the 6th metric, even using his beloved PER to help filter out those subjectively bad series and boost the other ones.

5. Mike Goodman Says:
   June 9th, 2011 at 7:19 am

   The turning point of the 1981 ECF:
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTtxnBFZ88Y

6. cort Says:
   June 9th, 2011 at 10:12 pm

   yea mike that was a key turning point when maxwell went into the crowd. boston had lost 11 in a row at the spectrum before that game and seemed to be unintimidated after that, or fired up.
   other key plays in that series:
   ML Carr hit 2 winning FTs in the final seconds of game 5;
   bird's leaning 16 footer from the right wing that bounced high off the rim and in late in game 6;
   mchale's great block AND rebound of andrew toney's drive at the end of game 6 with boston up 1 and on the verge of elimination;
   multiple bad passes/turnovers by Dr J in the final minutes of game 7. boston's ferocious defense held philly without a fied goal in the last 5+-minutes of the game!
   bird's winning banker in the final minute of game 7 to break the tie for, fittingly, the last basket of the series.