This Date in NBA History: June 7

June 7, 1978

The Washington Bullets traveled to Seattle and defeated the SuperSonics 105-99 in Game 7 to win the NBA Championship. During this series, Washington coach Dick Motta famously proclaimed, The opera isnt over until the fat lady sings.

June 7, 1990

Terry Porter of the Portland Trail Blazers made all 15 of his free throw attempts in Portland 106-105 overtime win over Detroit in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Porters perfect performance set an NBA Finals record for most free throws made without a miss.

June 7, 1992

In Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Chicago and Portland combined to score only 31 points in the third quarter, the lowest-scoring third quarter in Finals history. The Blazers 94-84 loss was the ninth straight homecourt defeat suffered by a Western Conference club, dating back to 1989, also an NBA Finals record.

June 7, 1995

Bolstered by the outside shooting of guard Kenny Smith, who set NBA Finals records for most 3-point field goals made in a game (7) and quarter (5), Houston overcame a 20-point first-half deficit and defeated host Orlando 120-118 in overtime in Game 1 of the 95 Finals. Hakeem Olajuwons tip-in with only three-tenths of a second left in OT gave the Rockets their comeback victory and a 1-0 series lead. The teams also combined to fire up an NBA Playoff and Finals record 62 3-pointers, with the Rockets hitting 14-of-32 attempts and the Magic 9-of-30.

June 7, 1998

The Chicago Bulls defeat the Utah Jazz 96-54 in the most lopsided game in the history of the NBA Finals. The 54 points by the Jazz is also an NBA record for fewest points in a game since the inception of the 24-second shot clock.

June 7, 2000

Shaquille ONeal scores 43 points against the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of NBA Finals 2000, using a variety of dunks, spin moves and jump hooks. In doing so, he continued a trend established at the start of NBA Playoffs 2000. In the Lakers first game in the first round against Sacramento, ONeal exploded for 46 points. In a second round series opener against Phoenix, he posted a 37-point effort. In the Western Conference Finals opener against Portland, he came out of the box with 41 points. In all, ONeal averaged 41.8 points per game in the years playoff openers. O'Neal's domination in Game 1 nearly landed him in the NBA Finals record book. He finished the night with 21 field goals, one shy of the NBA Finals mark of 22, co-held by Elgin Baylor and Rick Barry. O'Neal joins Baylor, Barry, Jerry West and Michael Jordan as the only players in NBA Finals history to hit for at least 21 field goals in a game.

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