How important is Game Five of the NBA Finals?

In NBA Finals history, the series has been tied at 2-2 on 25 occasions. The Game Five winner has gone on to capture 19 of those 25 series (or 76 percent), including six since the 2-3-2 format was institutionalized in 1985 on legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach’s prodding.

* * *

For all the scoring accomplishments of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in recent years, not one of them comes close to the offensive wizardry of Michael Jordan at his prime.

Until now, Jordan still holds the all-time NBA record for the highest scoring average in one NBA Finals series.

“His Airness” registered the mark when he hit at a 41-point clip in the Chicago Bulls’ 4-2 triumph over the Phoenix Suns during the 1993 title series.

It was the year Jordan lost the regular-season Most Valuable Player award to Charles Barkley, who was the Suns’ meal ticket at the time. The humbling experience served as Jordan’s motivation.

In addition to Jordan, two other players averaged at least 40 points during an NBA Finals.

San Francisco (now Golden State) Warriors forward Rick Barry drilled in 40.8 ppg during the 1967 Finals but his efforts went for naught as his team fell to Wilt Chamberlain and the Philadelphia 76ers in six games.

LA Lakers forward Elgin Baylor’s 40.6-point average in the seven-game 1962 Finals was likewise put to waste when Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics came through with a 4-3 victory.

During the series, Baylor also posted the highest individual score for an NBA Finals game when he chalked up 61 markers in the Lakers’ 126-121 Game 5 win at Boston on April 14, 1962 that temporarily gave LA a 3-2 lead.

The all-time fourth-highest scoring average for one Finals series was recorded by the Lakers guard Jerry West, who normed 37.9 points per game during the 1969 championship series against Boston. The Celtics captured the crown in seven games but West grabbed the Finals MVP award, marking the only time that the honor went to a player from a losing squad since the award’s inception that year.

Barry also owns the highest career scoring average in NBA Finals history with 36.3 ppg in 10 games. Jordan ranks second with 33.6 ppg in 35 contests and West is third with 30.5 ppg in 55 appearances.

* * *

Only six teams in NBA Finals history have rallied from a 3-2 deficit to win a best-of-seven championship series.

They are the 1955 Syracuse Nationals (vs. the Fort Wayne Pistons, Games 6 and 7 at Syracuse), 1962 Boston Celtics (vs. LA Lakers, Game 6 at LA and Game 7 at Boston), 1969 Celtics (vs. LA Lakers, Game 6 at Boston and Game 7 at LA), 1978 Washington Bullets (vs. the Seattle SuperSonics, Game 6 at Washington and Game 7 at Seattle), 1988 LA Lakers (vs. Detroit Pistons, Games 6 and 7 at LA) and 1994 Houston Rockets (vs. New York Knicks, Games 6 and 7 at Houston).

No team has ever come back from a 3-2 deficit to secure the NBA Finals with a pair of road victories in Games 6 and 7.

* * *

When the late Lawrence O’Brien retired as the National Basketball Association’s third commissioner (after Maurice Podoloff and J. Walter Kennedy) in February 1984, the NBA Board of Governors voted to name the championship trophy in his honor.

The O’Brien trophy, which is kept by the title-winning squad on a permanent basis, is actually the second symbol of NBA supremacy.

The first was a huge punch bowl named after Walter Brown, the former owner of the Boston Celtics and one of the NBA founders. It was awarded from 1964 to 1976, with each champion getting custody of the trophy for just one year.

The current handcrafted trophy was initially called the World Championship Trophy when it was launched in time for the 1977 NBA Finals.

Aside from the playoff money each member of the NBA championship team receives, he also is entitled to a championship ring. The ring, which is made of diamond-studded platinum, is now worth around $20,000.

+ Pat Riley and the late Alex Hannum were the only head coaches ever to pilot three different franchises to the NBA Finals.

Riley, who won an NBA championship ring as a reserve player with the LA Lakers in 1972, steered the Lakers to the NBA Finals seven times (1982-83-84-85-87-88-89 – winning them in 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988), the New York Knicks once (1994 – lost to the Houston Rockets in seven games), and the Miami Heat once (2006 – winning over the Dallas Mavericks in six games).

Hannum mentored the St. Louis Hawks to the NBA Finals twice (1957 and 1958 – winning over the Boston Celtics in 1958), the San Francisco (now Golden State) Warriors once (1964), and the Philadelphia 76ers once (1967 – winning over the San Francisco Warriors in six games).

+ Pat Riley, Alex Hannum and Phil Jackson are the only head coaches in NBA history to capture championships with two different clubs. Jackson, of course, is the winningest bench boss in NBA annals with 10 titles – six with the Chicago Bulls and four with the Lakers.