Ranking the Greatest Clutch Game 7 Performances in the NBA Playoffs Since 2000

Nothing beats a Game 7 of a postseason series, nor does anything in the NBA better help us separate the goats from the G.O.A.T.s.

Plain and simple, the best ones deliver in the clutch. And there have been a ton of incredible Game 7 performances by the likes of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry and others over the past two-plus decades.

Ranking those many performances by "clutchness" was no easy task, but here are the primary factors that went into the ranking process:

1. How deep in the playoffs was the series? A marginally above-average performance in Game 7 of the NBA Finals is automatically better than anything accomplished in the first round. In fact, we're going to devote a full section to first-round performances, because eking out an early series win just doesn't compare to carrying a team into the Finals or to a title.
2. How close/good was the game? Scoring 30 points in an overtime classic is more impressive than scoring 40 points in a blowout.
3. How well did the individual (or duo) play in the fourth quarter/overtime? A big part of being clutch is performing in the final five minutes and/or final few seconds. A buzzer-beater is always a crowd-pleaser.
4. Was it a particularly critical moment in the franchise's history? Allen Iverson's Game 7 gem got Philadelphia to its only NBA Finals since 1983. Kevin Garnett's Game 7 explosion carried Minnesota to one of its only postseason series wins. Some Game 7s just feel more important than others because of a drought.
5. Did the team win? We will mention a few individual performances from losing teams, including one in our top 10. Generally speaking, though, leading the team to victory is the most important part of being clutch.

Let's start out with the first-round highlights.

Since expanding the first round from best-of-five to best-of-seven for the 2003 playoffs, there have been 29 opening-round series that went the distance. Rather than attempting to juxtapose some of those early gems with things that transpired in the Finals, we're going to briefly rank the seven best first-round performances here.

7. Luka Doncic, 2021 vs. Los Angeles Clippers: Dallas lost the game, but how could we not at least mention Doncic racking up 46 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds in defeat? He scored 19 of those points in the first quarter, pacing the Mavericks to an early lead. But he was unable to keep up with the 20 three-pointers the Clippers made.

6. Carlos Boozer, 2007 vs. Houston Rockets: There were only two years in which both Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming were healthy enough to play for Houston in the playoffs. In this series, each member of that dynamic duo averaged better than 25 points per game. But it was Boozer's 35 points, 14 rebounds and five assists that led the Jazz to a 103-99 victory on the road.

5. Tony Parker, 2014 vs. Dallas Mavericks: The first round of the 2014 playoffs was ridiculous. Five of the eight series went the distance with the likes of Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Paul George and Joe Johnson carrying their teams to victories. But the biggest performance was Parker scoring 24 first-half points in guiding San Antonio to a 22-point lead at halftime. He ended up with 32 points, four rebounds and four assists, and the Spurs went on to win it all.

4. Nikola Jokic, 2019 vs. San Antonio Spurs: From 2004-13, the Denver Nuggets made the playoffs each year, but they were eliminated in the first round nine times. From 2014-18, they failed to qualify for the postseason. To say that Denver fans were expecting the worst in this Game 7 against the Spurs would be an understatement. But even on an off shooting night (9-of-26), Jokic led the way with 21 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists, three blocks and nary a turnover.

3. Joakim Noah, 2013 vs. Brooklyn Nets: With Chicago on the brink of elimination, Noah picked a fine time for what was pretty much indisputably the greatest game of his career. The defensive specialist had a rare offensive explosion, shooting 12-of-17 from the field en route to 24 points. He also corralled 14 rebounds and blocked six Brooklyn shots in a 99-93 victory. 

2. Dirk Nowitzki, 2003 vs. Portland Trail Blazers: The Mavericks were in danger of becoming the only team in NBA history to blow a 3-0 series lead. After losing Games 4-6, they trailed by two heading into the fourth quarter. But Nowitzki (and Steve Nash and Nick Van Exel) seemingly couldn't miss a shot in that final period, storming back for a 12-point victory. Nowitzki ended up with 31 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. (He also had 30 points and 19 rebounds in Game 7 against Sacramento in the following round.)

1. LeBron James, 2018 vs. Indiana Pacers: LeBron had to carry some otherwise dreadful Cleveland teams early in his career, but this series might have been his greatest one-man show. All four of the Cavaliers' wins against the Pacers came by four points or fewer. He put up 46 points in the Game 2 victory, 44 points in the Game 5 win and went for 45 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals in Game 7.

In addition to those first-round gems, there were quite a few impressive Game 7 performances in conference semifinals or conference finals over the past two-plus decades. Of the ones left on the cutting room floor, these were the most difficult omissions, listed in chronological order.

Shaquille O'Neal, 2002 Western Conference Finals (35 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks in 112-106 OT victory)

One game after a Game 6 that was allegedly rigged by the referees, it was primarily O'Neal who kept alive the dream of a Lakers three-peat. He had seven points and six rebounds in the fourth quarter and another six points and two blocks in overtime.

Dirk Nowitzki, 2003 Western Conference Semifinals (30 points, 19 rebounds in 112-99 victory)
Dirk Nowitzki, 2006 Western Conference Semifinals (37 points, 15 rebounds in 119-111 overtime victory)

Nowitzki had three 30-10 double-doubles in Game 7s in his career, the other already mentioned in the first round of the 2003 playoffs. Most impressive was the 2006 game against the Spurs, as he scored those 37 points on just 20 field-goal attempts. One of those was the and-one bucket with less than 25 seconds remaining in regulation, followed by a block of Tim Duncan's attempted game-winner.

LeBron James, 2008 Eastern Conference Semifinals (45 points, six assists, five rebounds, two steals in 97-92 loss)
Paul Pierce, 2008 Eastern Conference Semifinals (41 points, five assists, four rebounds, two steals in 97-92 victory)

Two incredible individual performances in the same game. At halftime, Pierce had 26, James had 23 and no other player on either team had more than six. Teammates got a little more involved in the second half, but that was a vivid reminder that Cleveland was never going to a win a title until it got some help for its star.

Rajon Rondo, 2012 Eastern Conference Semifinals (18 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, three steals in 85-75 victory)

Got to have "Playoff Rondo" somewhere on the list, right? Most of his great postseason performances came within the first four games of a series, but he was clutch in this do-or-die game against the 76ers. He had 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, either scoring or assisting on seven of Boston's nine made buckets in that final period.

LeBron James, 2012 Eastern Conference Finals (31 points, 12 rebounds in 101-88 victory)

James has played in eight Game 7s in his career, and yes, most of them are on this list. He's always great, but the man certainly rises to the occasion when necessary. On this particular occasion, he scored 11 fourth-quarter points (plus three rebounds and two assists), Dwyane Wade scored nine and Chris Bosh added eight as the trio carried the Heat to a 28-15 thrashing of the Boston Celtics in the final frame of the series.

[In addition to his impressive performance in Game 7 of the previous round, Boston's Rondo also had a triple-double (22 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds) in this game.]

Stephen Curry, 2016 Western Conference Finals (36 points, eight assists, five rebounds in 96-88 victory)

This was easily one of the most highly anticipated Game 7s in recent history: KD and Westbrook against the 73-win Warriors. Oklahoma City led by six at halftime, but Curry scored 24 in the second half (15 in the fourth quarter) to pace the Warriors to victory. They won by eight, but Curry had a +/- of +18.

LeBron James, 2018 Eastern Conference Finals (35 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists, two blocks in 87-79 victory)

If you're already sick of hearing about him, maybe stop reading before you get to the top two spots on this list. In this low-scoring affair, James led all players from both teams in points, rebounds, assists, blocks...and turnovers (eight). Fortunately for Cleveland, Boston could not buy a triple (7-for-39) and was unable to capitalize on all those giveaways.

Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic, 2020 Western Conference Semifinals (56 points, 26 rebounds, 18 assists in 104-89 victory)

We've got a few dynamic duos in our top 10, and this easily could have been considered the best of that bunch. Jokic stormed out to eight points, six rebounds and four assists in the first quarter. Murray followed that up with 20 points in the second. But it was really Kawhi Leonard and Paul George missing just about everything in the second half that paved the way for Denver's win.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, 2021 Eastern Conference Semifinals (40 points, 13 rebounds, five assists in 115-111 overtime victory)

On a night when Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday shot a combined 6-of-32 from the field in the first three quarters, Antetekounmpo almost single-handedly kept Milwaukee in this game long enough to win it. Had he not been overshadowed by what Kevin Durant did for Brooklyn, he would've made the cut.

Stephen Curry's Stat Line: 27 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds, four steals in 101-92 victory

Kevin Durant's Stat Line: 34 points, five rebounds, five assists, three blocks

During Kevin Durant's first two seasons with the Golden State Warriors, they were practically unchallenged in the playoffs. They won back-to-back titles, sweeping four out of eight series along the way. In three of the other four series, they won in five games. The lone exception to the rule was the 2018 Western Conference Finals, in which James Harden, Chris Paul and the Houston Rockets won three of the first five games.

After Paul suffered a hamstring injury late in Game 5, the Warriors came out and smashed the Rockets by 29 in Game 6. But Paul-less Houston bounced back in a huge way in the first half of Game 7, taking a 54-43 lead into the intermission.

Durant and Stephen Curry combined for 21 points on 19 field-goal attempts in that disappointing first half. Each former MVP also missed his first shot of the second half before catching fire. The Warriors were still down by 11 (58-47) with nine minutes left in the third quarter when that dynamic duo took over, scoring 24 of Golden State's 29 points during a 29-11 run that flipped the game on its head.

The Warriors scored a total of 33 points in the quarter, and either Curry or Durant either scored or assisted on 31 of them. Even on the other bucket of that sequence, a Durant block gave way to a Curry-led run out. It's only because Draymond Green missed from short range before putting back his own miss that Curry didn't get the dime.

Where the game fully turned was when Curry, as seemingly only he can, got hotter than the sun. He scored 11 points in the span of four possessions, turning a tie game into a nine-point lead.

Neither star cooled off much in the fourth quarter, either. They combined for 40 second-half points and just kept hitting huge buckets any time Houston threatened to make things interesting.

Stat Line: 48 points, nine rebounds, six assists, one block, one steal in 115-111 overtime loss

Kevin Durant was impressive alongside Stephen Curry in that 2018 series as part of the Golden State super team, but there's no question his virtuoso performance three years later against Milwaukee was more impressive.

Even though we're comparing a conference semifinal to a conference final.

And even though his team lost the game.

With Kyrie Irving out (ankle) and James Harden (hamstring) clearly operating at less than full strength, Durant had to become a one-man show for the Brooklyn Nets. He played all 48 minutes of Game 5, delivering one of the most impressive individual performances in NBA postseason history. He scored 49 points in that one, 20 of them in the fourth quarter alone while leading the Nets to a come-from-behind victory.

Four days later, he damn near did it again. Durant fought through P.J. Tucker's gnat-like pesky defense on a regular basis while playing every second of regulation. And in the final second of the fourth quarter, he drained a clutch jumper from 23 feet, eight inches away. Too bad the NBA three-point line is 23 feet, nine inches, or else it would have been one of the best game-winning shots of all-time.

Because his toe was on the line, it was *only* a game-tying two-pointer. It was a record-breaking shot, though. Durant's 48 points were the most in Game 7 of a series in NBA history.

Unfortunately (but understandably) he had no gas left in the tank for overtime. Durant shot 0-of-6 from the field in the extra five minutes, including air-balling an attempted repeat of the shot he made at the end of regulation. Even so, it was a Herculean effort from one of the game's greatest scorers.

Stat Line: 41 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals in 92-90 victory

For as immensely talented as he is, Kawhi Leonard is not typically a volume shooter. Only once in his career—regular season or postseason—has he attempted more than 32 shots in a game.

This was that lone outlier.

Through the first three quarters, he was 10-of-30 from the field for 26 points. Not exactly clutch numbers there. To that point, his contributions on defense were infinitely more helpful than his inefficiency on offense.

He dialed it in for the fourth quarter, though, shooting 6-of-9 for 15 of Toronto's final 19 points.

Leonard did have a rare miss of an important free throw with 10 seconds remaining, but that merely set the stage for one of the more unforgettable shots in postseason history.

After the miss, Jimmy Butler went the length of the floor for a game-tying layup with 4.2 seconds left on the clock. Toronto advanced the ball into the frontcourt with a timeout and got the ball to Leonard at the top of the key. He dribbled into the corner before throwing up a high-arcing leaner just over the outstretched arm of Joel Embiid and just before time expired.

It bounced off the rim once.

Twice.

Thrice.

Whatever comes after thrice.

And then fell through the net.

The Raptors then went on to play in (and win) the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, so it turned out to be quite the important shooter's bounce.

Kobe Bryant Stat Line: 25 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, four blocks in 89-84 victory

Shaquille O'Neal Stat Line: 18 points, nine rebounds, five assists

Throughout NBA history, there have been a bunch of really good, highly entertaining teams who never quite got over the hump to win a title or become a mini dynasty. The Raptors with Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady, the Thunder with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook or the "Seven Seconds or Less" Suns, to name a few recent examples.

But this game was the moment when the Los Angeles Lakers flipped that switch.

It was the fourth year of the Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant tandem, and after getting swept out of both the 1998 and 1999 playoffs, they brought Phil Jackson out of retirement to lead them to the promised land. They won 67 games in that first season together, but they were in danger of blowing this series against the Trail Blazers.

Portland won Games 5 and 6 somewhat convincingly and carried a 71-58 lead into the fourth quarter of Game 7. It seemed the Lakers were 12 minutes away from yet another disappointing pre-Finals ousting, right up until a 25-4 run brought them roaring back for a Western-Conference-landscape-shifting victory.

Shaq and Kobe each played the entire fourth quarter, combining for 18 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Brian Shaw and Robert Horry each hit big three pointers early in the comeback, but it was all O'Neal and Bryant in crunch time. Trailing 77-75 with less than three minutes to go, they shot 3-of-3 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line to pull ahead 85-79.

And then they won three straight titles.

Stat Line: 32 points, 21 rebounds, five blocks, four steals, two assists in 83-80 victory

The Minnesota Timberwolves have only made it to the second round of the NBA playoffs once in franchise history, and Kevin Garnett—after getting eliminated in the first round in each of the previous seven seasons—wasn't about to squander the opportunity in Game 7 of that series.

Sacramento was the second-highest scoring team in the NBA during the regular season, but this game was the pinnacle of a series that was a defensive grind. And that makes Garnett's numbers even more remarkable.

Even in the modern era of everyone averaging well over 100 points per game, going for 30+ points and 20+ rebounds is an uncommon display of individual dominance. Hitting those marks (plus five blocks and four steals, no less) in an 83-80 rock fight borders on the preposterous.

Garnett was especially dominant in the fourth quarter, racking up 14 points, five rebounds, three blocks and a steal. During a six-minute stretch in the middle of the quarter, he outscored Sacramento 13-8 by himself. That individual run was punctuated by a sequence in which he made just his second three-pointer of that postseason and then rejected a Chris Webber layup attempt at the other end.

2003-04 was the year he was named MVP, setting career-best marks in points (24.2), rebounds (13.9) and blocks (2.2). But not every league MVP gets to deliver an unforgettable Game 7 gem.

Stat Line: 44 points, seven assists, six rebounds, two steals in 108-91 victory

Allen Iverson was named MVP for the 2000-01 season, and his run through those playoffs was nothing short of absurd.

He scored at least 30 points in 14 of 22 games played that spring. He put up 45 with nine assists in a first-round win over Indiana. He had both a 54-point and 52-point game in the subsequent round against Toronto, punctuated by a 21-point, 16-assist Game 7 performance. He also had 46 points in Game 6 of this series against Milwaukee, as well as 48 points in Game 1 of the Finals against the Lakers.

All the same, this 44-point gem stands out as the best non-Finals Game 7 showing of the past two-plus decades.

As far as scoring is concerned, this series often felt like Milwaukee's three against Philadelphia's one. Ray Allen and Glenn Robinson each averaged 22.0 points per game during the regular season with Sam Cassell not far behind at 18.2. Iverson, on the other hand, didn't have a single teammate average better than 12.4 points during the regular season. As a result, he had to be almost flawless.

Case in point, when AI scored 46 in Game 6, Milwaukee still got the W because those three Bucks combined for 69 points and 20 assists. They also went for 70 points and 15 assists in Game 7, but Iverson did his work much more efficiently (and earlier) than he did in Game 6.

Between the second and third quarters, Iverson had 27 points and four assists with just one turnover—a night-and-day transformation from his nine points, one assist and four turnovers in those two quarters of Game 6. He drained a deep three-pointer right before the third-quarter buzzer and drilled another on the first possession of the fourth quarter, giving the 76ers an insurmountable lead.

Stat Line: 23 points, 15 rebounds, two assists, one steal in 83-79 victory

By no stretch of the imagination was this one of Kobe Bryant's more efficient playoff performances. There were literally 200 postseason games in the course of his career in which Bryant attempted at least 10 shots from the field, and this 6-of-24 dud was one of his five worst from a percentage perspective (25.0).

It was, however, one of his "gutsiest" performances, as evidenced by the 15 rebounds and clutch free-throw shooting.

This was one of just two times in Bryant's postseason career that he grabbed more than a dozen boards, the other coming in a 48-point, 16-rebound gem during the Los Angeles Lakers' rampage through the 2001 playoffs. Even though the Boston Celtics had Kevin Garnett, Rasheed Wallace and Glen "Big Baby" Davis crashing the glass, Bryant got comfortable among those trees.

During one two-minute stretch of the fourth quarter (6:15-4:15), Bryant was the only player on either team to corral a rebound. He got four of them (and four points) while the Lakers turned a 64-61 deficit into a 70-64 lead. Boston was unable to recover from that run.

On the free-throw shooting front, Bryant was having a rare off night heading into the fourth quarter. After shooting 42-of-45 from the charity stripe in the first six games, he was 3-of-6 through three quarters of this winner-take-all clash. He righted the ship in the fourth, though, shooting 8-of-9 and leading all players with 10 fourth-quarter points.

The Lakers trailed 57-53 at the start of that final quarter, but Bryant's work on the glass and at the line paved the way for a come-from-behind victory and the fifth title of his Hall of Fame career.

Stat Line: 23 points, five rebounds, four assists, one steal in 81-74 victory

Tim Duncan was the 2005 NBA Finals MVP, and rightfully so. The Big Fundamental averaged 20.6 points, 14.1 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 2.1 assists during a physical, defensive seven-game series with the Detroit Pistons. Putting up numbers like those while constantly dealing with some combination of Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess in the paint was no small feat.

But after relying heavily upon Duncan through the first 27 quarters of the series, it was Manu Ginobili who carried the Spurs to victory during gut-check time.

The game was knotted up at 59-59 with a little over 10 minutes remaining when Ginobili took over, either scoring or assisting on five of San Antonio's final six made field goals.

His dunk broke the tie. His wherewithal to pass out of a double team to a wide-open Robert Horry extended the lead to five. His three-pointer with just under three minutes to go was the dagger. And his layup with 36 seconds left on the clock effectively put the game on ice.

All told, Ginobili had 11 points, three rebounds and two assists in the fourth quarter alone. He shot 3-of-4 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line with no turnovers in that final period. Mighty impressive work in the clutch against the defending champs.

Stat Line: 37 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, two steals in 95-88 victory

By 2012-13, Miami's "superteam" was a well-oiled machine. Led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, the Heat won 66 regular-season games that year and made it to the NBA Finals for a third consecutive time.

But they ran into one heck of a solid San Antonio Spurs team. Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili were well into their mid-30s and Kawhi Leonard was just a 21-year-old still cutting his teeth at the NBA level, yet Gregg Popovich's guys had enough talent to win three of the first five games of the series. They darn near won Game 6, too, blowing a five-point lead in the final 20 seconds of regulation before losing in overtime.

That set up the do-or-die affair in which James delivered one of the most clutch performances of his career.

Bosh, Ray Allen and Mike Miller shot a combined 0-of-14 from the field and were held scoreless, leaving James to put the offense on his back against an excellent San Antonio D.

He merely racked up 37 points and 12 rebounds in what was his highest-scoring game and second-best rebounding tally of the 2013 playoffs.

Not only was it his highest-scoring game during the 2013 run, but it was the first time someone scored 37 or more points in Game 7 of the Finals since Jerry "The Logo" West put up 42 (in defeat) in 1969.

James got out to a slow start in the first 12 minutes, but he led all players in scoring in each of the second, third and fourth quarters. He either scored or assisted on 30 of Miami's 49 points in the second half. He also delivered the late daggers with a mid-range bucket, a steal and a pair of free throws that pushed Miami's lead from two points to six points in the final 30 seconds.

Stat Line: 27 points, 11 assists, 11 rebounds, three blocks, two steals in 93-89 victory

When the Cleveland Cavaliers came back from a 3-1 series deficit to stun the 73-win Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals, it was instantly (and understandably) declared one of the worst collapses in sports history.

It was also a case of one of the greatest players of all time willing his team to an unlikely victory.

Golden State led 76-75 at the start of the fourth quarter when what had been a high-scoring series suddenly turned into a defensive grind. After averaging 50.8 points through the first 27 quarters, the Warriors and Cavaliers would combine for just 31 in the championship-deciding final 12 minutes.

LeBron James scored 11 of those points, including one critical sequence of six unanswered points in the span of 31 seconds. He was fouled while attempting a three-pointer, and after making all three of the ensuing free throws, he drained a triple his next time down the floor.

Even more memorable than the points, though, was the chase down block of Andre Iguodala's would-be layup with less than two minutes remaining in a tie game. James has made many incredible defensive plays exactly like that one in his career, but that was the biggest of them all.

The funny thing about this performance landing at No. 1 is it was only his third-best game of the week. Facing elimination while clawing back from that 3-1 hole, James put up 41 points in each of Game 5 and Game 6, posting a +39 while on the floor between those two contests. But even after those Herculean efforts, he had enough left in the tank to become the first player with a triple-double in Game 7 of the NBA Finals since James Worthy did it in 1988.

It's worth noting there was almost another triple-double in this game. Golden State's Draymond Green went for 32 points (on just 15 field-goal attempts), 15 rebounds and nine assists and would have been a viable choice for this No. 1 spot if the Warriors had won the game. However, after shooting 6-of-7 in the first three quarters, he bricked his only three-point attempt of the fourth quarter while Golden State was unbelievably held scoreless over the final four minutes and 30 seconds.