5 Honourable Mentions - #4

12. 2011 Eastern Conference Finals - Game 5 - Chicago Bulls (A)

Miami Heat 83, Chicago Bulls 80

The achievements of the first season incarnation of the Miami Heat sometimes get swept away by the ultimate knowledge that they came up short in the finals. But it must be remembered that they achieved favourite status in the finals only because of the way they succeeded in beating two heavyweight eastern conference teams on their way there. And in both series, they were considered underdogs by some experts. Both the Celtics and Bulls series ended in 5, but were both incredibly toughly fought and much closer than that number suggests. And they meant everything to Miami at the time. Their comeback to close out the series in Chicago was unbelievable, and probably one of the more underrated playoff road wins, given that it was never really celebrated because of the immediate shift of focus on the finals and then onto what went wrong after they were defeated. But it was a special moment in time. It looked like the beginning of a long playoff rivalry between the two teams, but Rose’s injury would derail that.

The reasons:

• Basically the whole comeback run. Wade's 4 point play, LeBron's 3's. LeBron's dagger jumpers from the top of the key.

It's easy to forget how important this win felt at the time, but you can see it here.

Miami had yet to establish themselves as champions. It seemed very possible it could have been the Bull’s league at this stage.

-         Lebron had yet to really establish himself as a clutch closer either, and those 2 jumpers to seal the game were huge. The 2011 finals would go on to showcase the best of Wade (and it did, see game 3+4: , ) and the worst of LeBron, but in this series it was LeBron who showed the first signs of assuming the batman role, as Wade struggled.

• This whole series was incredible fun, and featured a number of amazing plays. Taj Gibson had a ridiculous putback, and posterised Wade, while Rose and LeBron had a couple of huge dunks, and Haslem had these two in a comeback game from injury.
• LeBron’s block of rose to close it out.