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Most exciting games of the 2016 NBA playoffs so far
Thunder center Steven Adams and Mavericks guard Raymond Felton played their parts in Dallas' Game 2 victory in the first round. J Pat Carter/Getty Images

Most exciting games of the 2016 NBA playoffs so far

Monday night’s Western Conference Semifinals matchup between the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder had a little bit of everything that we as basketball fans look for in a playoff contest. The two teams were largely neck and neck all the way through, star players shined, and most importantly, the game ended in dramatic fashion.

After a wild final sequence in which the Thunder turned the ball over, only to have the Spurs fail to capitalize — with a few botched calls in between — OKC left San Antonio with a 98-97 victory and the series tied at a game piece.

With the second round of the NBA playoffs just underway, let’s take a few moments and look back at the most exciting games that were played so far and how got here.

1) Celtics at Hawks, Game 1

After a miserable first half in which the Celtics only scored 34 points, Boston stormed back in the second half to make Game 1 of their first-round series matchup with the Atlanta Hawks come down to the wire. Unfortunately for the Isaiah Thomas and his Celtics, Boston was only able to erase 16 of the 17 points they were down by at half and lost 102-101 to Atlanta. Al Horford, Jeff Teague and Kent Bazemore all scored over the 20 points for the Hawks.

2) Mavericks at Thunder, Game 2


After getting blown out by 38 points in Game 1, the Dallas Mavericks received a spark from an unexpected source. Much-maligned point guard Raymond Felton stepped into the starting lineup for the Mavs and played his best game of the season. Along with grabbing 11 rebounds, Felton scored 21 points, including the go-ahead shot with 28 seconds left, giving the Mavs a lead they would not relinquish.

That being said, Felton’s performance was nearly all for naught. Leading 85-84 with just a few seconds remaining, Mavs guard Wesley Matthews missed two free throws, and Russell Westbrook raced down the court with a chance to win it for OKC. Westbrook tossed a pass to Kevin Durant at the rim, who missed a layup, but center Steven Adams was there to put the ball through the net on a put-back just before time expired.

Or so it seemed.

Adams' final shot was just a tenth of a second too late, as the ball was still on his fingertips as time expired. No basket. The Mavs held on to win in dramatic fashion.

3) Warriors at Rockets, Game 3

As easy as it is nowadays to hate on the Rockets, give them some credit for their performance in Game 3 of their first-round matchup against the mighty Golden State Warriors. Or, at the very least, give James Harden some credit.

Against a Warriors team sans Stephen Curry, Harden saved his Rockets from going down 3-0 in the series, hitting the game-winning shot with 13 seconds left to give Houston a 97-96 lead. It was a hard-fought contest in which a star player willed his team to victory essentially by himself. Harden finished the game with 35 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. It would be the Rockets' final win of the season.

4) Hawks at Celtics, Game 4


Game 4 of the Hawks and Celtics first-round matchup was the Paul Millsap show. With his entire team struggling to make shots, Millsap carried the Hawks, scoring 45 points in regulation. Unfortunately for Millsap and Atlanta, Celtics guard Marcus Smart came through in crunch time, hitting timely three-pointers and shutting down Millsap in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

After a disastrous final possession from the Hawks in which they didn’t even get a shot off, the game went to overtime. The Celtics, led by Isaiah Thomas, took control in overtime, outscoring the Hawks 12-3. In the end, the Celtics won by the final score of 104-95. It was a thrilling victory for the Celtics, however, it would was their final win of the season, as the Hawks won the next two games to advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

5) Pacers at Raptors, Game 5

Remember that Steven Adams shot that just didn’t leave his fingertips in time to win Game 2 of the Thunder’s first-round series against the Mavs? Well, history really does have a way of repeating itself.

After the Pacers led by 15 at the end of the first quarter, the Raptors, paced by 34 points from DeMar DeRozen, slowly clawed their back into the game. With just 2.7 second remaining, Toronto found itself with a three-point lead, but Indiana had a chance to tie. After Paul George was double-teamed off an inbounds pass, the ball found its way into the hands of Pacers forward Solomon Hill, who squared up and drained a wide-open three-pointer to tie the game at the buzzer.

So, remember Steven Adams? It happened again.

Like Adams, Hill just needed one more tenth of a second to get his shot away in time. Hill’s game-tying three was waived off, and the Raptors escaped with a 102-99 victory.

6) Hornets at Heat, Game 5

After falling behind 2-0 in their first series against the Miami Heat, most fans and pundits quickly wrote off the Charlotte Hornets. Instead, head coach Steve Clifford and his squad made the Heat sweat.

After winning Games 3 and 4 in Charlotte to tie the series, the Hornets found themselves in position to take the lead in the series in the waning moments of Game 5 in Miami. Down by one with 30 seconds remaining, Hornets guard Courtney Lee, who had been struggling from the field all game, snatched a key offensive rebound, found himself open beyond the arc and nailed the three-pointer that would eventually win the game for Charlotte.

OK, so the Hornets weren’t able to hold on to their 3-2 series lead over the Heat and lost in seven games to Dwyane Wade’s crew. But it was still a glorious moment for a Charlotte team that has struggled immensely since entering the NBA as an expansion franchise in 2004. And it also set the stage for even more Jordan crying memes.

7) Clippers at Trail Blazers, Game 6

Say what you will about the Clippers, but after their 106-103 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers that eliminated them from the postseason, L.A. head coach Doc Rivers said he had never been prouder of any other group of players he had coached. And with good reason.

With star players Chris Paul and Blake Griffin both lost to injuries, the Clippers looked like they were dead. But instead of rolling over and playing the part, Rivers' team fought and fought hard. Jamal Crawford did everything he could possibly do, scoring 32 points off of the bench. After nearly being decapitated by Al-Farouq Aminu’s forearm, point guard Austin Rivers stayed in the game and dished out eight assists while only being able to see out of one eye. And DeAndre Jordan dominated the boards, grabbing a game-high 20 rebounds.

Sure, it wasn’t enough to topple Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers, but Clips went out swinging. It was an admirable and memorable effort from a team missing its two best players.

8) Pacers at Raptors, Game 7

Admittedly, it wasn’t a classic Game 7, but it was a Game 7 nonetheless, and it did offer basketball fans some drama. Up by as much as 17, the Raptors nearly wasted away their entire second-half lead, scoring just 11 points in total in the fourth quarter.

Fortunately for fans of “We the North,” a few questionable calls went their way late, and Paul George’s Pacers just didn’t have enough firepower to steal a seventh game on the road. Although their performance was far from convincing, the Raptors defeated the Pacers 89-84 and won their first playoff series since 2001.

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