Spurs-Thunder will be record-tying 5th Game 7 in the NBA so far in these playoffs
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — It is the year of Game 7.
For the fifth time in this year's playoffs, a series is coming down to the ultimate game. San Antonio will visit Oklahoma City on Saturday night in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.
The others this season: Philadelphia beat Boston on the road in Round 1, Cleveland beat Toronto in Round 1, Detroit beat Orlando in Round 1 and Cleveland beat Detroit on the road in Round 2.
The five Game 7s this season tie the most in a single postseason. There also were that many in 1994, 2014 and 2016. And there have never been three instances of Game 7 road winners in the same season; the Spurs will aim to change that on Saturday.
Home teams have gone 117-42 in the previous 159 instances of Game 7s in the NBA playoffs.
A look at the histories in Game 7 for Oklahoma City and San Antonio, two franchises that have never before gone head-to-head in such a game:
— Thunder, since moving to Oklahoma City: 4-2 overall, 4-0 at home.
The four home wins — the last of which was Game 7 of last season's NBA Finals — were all by double digits and the margin averaged 17.5 points. The two losses were both on the “road,” though one of those was simply classified as a road game because Oklahoma City was lower seeded than Houston when those teams met in the bubble playoffs of 2020.
— Spurs: 4-7 overall, 1-5 on the road.
The lone road Game 7 win in franchise history was at New Orleans in 2008. The Spurs have never played a West finals Game 7 on the road — but played on the road in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals in 1979, losing to Washington.
Spurs forward Harrison Barnes turns 34 on Saturday. This could be a good sign for San Antonio.
No player has ever appeared in a Game 7 during the NBA playoffs on his birthday and lost. Paul George turned 36 on May 2 and Philadelphia beat Boston. And Barnes has been in this position once before; he turned 24 on May 30, 2016, and his Golden State team beat Oklahoma City.
The other birthday winners of Game 7s:
— Pablo Prigoni turned 35 on May 17, 2015; he and Houston beat the Los Angeles Clippers.
— Udonis Haslem turned 32 on June 9, 2012; he and Miami beat Boston.
— Kevin Garnett turned 28 on May 19, 2004; he and Minnesota beat Sacramento.
— Scott Hastings turned 30 on June 3, 1990; he and Detroit beat Chicago.
— Walt Hazzard turned 24 on April 15, 1966; he and the Los Angeles Lakers beat St. Louis.
Saturday night will be the 12th matchup between Oklahoma City and San Antonio this season. San Antonio went 7-4 in the first 11 games between the clubs.
Golden State and Houston played 12 times last season between four regular-season games, an additional game tacked on because of the NBA Cup, and then a seven-game playoff matchup in Round 1.
Other than that, the last time — before now — that two teams met 12 times in the same season was 1994-95, when San Antonio and Houston faced off on that many occasions.
The league has used a scheduling model for the last three decades that doesn't have any teams meeting more than four times in the regular season, which capped the total number of head-to-head meetings at 11 even if they went the distance in a seven-game playoff series. But the addition of NBA Cup now makes a 12-game season series possible.
And technically, teams could meet as many as 13 times.
It's theoretically possible for teams to play four regular-season games, plus a fifth time in NBA Cup, then meet in the No. 7 vs. No. 8 game in the play-in tournament, then play a seven-game playoff series.
Regardless, the record for head-to-head meetings will probably never be broken. In 1959-60, the Minneapolis Lakers and St. Louis Hawks played 20 times and in 1960-61, the Los Angeles Lakers played the Hawks 20 more times. The league had only eight teams then and played a 75-game schedule.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
© Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
