Ranking post-merger NBA Game 7s from worst to best

On Sunday, the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder meet in the ninth NBA Finals Game 7 since the 1976-77 NBA/ABA merger.

Before tipoff, here's our ranking of the previous eight post-merger Game 7s, from worst to best. 

8. 1978 NBA Finals

Washington Bullets 105, Seattle SuperSonics 99 | The Thunder are hoping things go better than the last time the franchise hosted an NBA Finals Game 7 in 1978. 

The then-Seattle SuperSonics trailed 79-66 entering the fourth, and guard Dennis Johnson shot 0-of-14, the most attempts without a make in NBA Finals Game 7 history.

7. 2005 NBA Finals

San Antonio Spurs 81, Detroit Pistons 74 | The Pistons and Spurs set NBA offenses back generations. The decisive game featured 10 lead changes but none after San Antonio pulled ahead two minutes into the final quarter. A Game 7 has never felt more anticlimactic.

6. 2010 NBA Finals

Los Angeles Lakers 83, Boston Celtics 79 | Despite featuring Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, Garnett and Lakers guard Derek Fisher were the only starters to shoot above 50 percent. Los Angeles won with a 27-of-83 (32.5 percent) performance, Bryant scoring 23 points on 6-of-24 shooting.

5. 1984 NBA Finals

Boston Celtics 111, Los Angeles Lakers 102 | Legendary rivals Larry Bird and Magic Johnson each had double-doubles in their only Game 7 against each other. Bird had 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Johnson finished with 16 points and 15 assists, the most in a Game 7 loss in NBA history. 

Boston won thanks to an astounding 43 free-throws on 51 attempts. And you thought Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got too many calls.

4. 1994 NBA Finals

Houston Rockets 90, New York Knicks 84 | Hakeem Olajuwon’s Rockets came out on top against Patrick Ewing's Knicks following a back-and-forth Game 7.

Houston entered the fourth up three, 63-60, and expanded the lead to 10 before successfully fending off New York to win the first of two consecutive Larry O’Brien Trophies.

3. 1988 NBA Finals

Los Angeles Lakers 108, Detroit Pistons 105 | An Eastern Conference Central Division underdog, led by a former assist champion point guard with a leg injury, goes on the road for Game 7 against a 62-win Western Conference foe.

We're not talking about the Pacers and Tyrese Haliburton's strained calf, but Isiah Thomas, who valiantly battled an ankle injury as the Pistons fell a win shy of the 1988 NBA title.

Lakers forward James Worthy recorded a triple-double in the win, which featured the wildest ending in Game 7 history, with photographers and bench players on the court before Detroit's final inbounds pass with two seconds left.

2. 2013 NBA Finals

Miami Heat 95, San Antonio Spurs 88 | This series is most remembered for Ray Allen’s Game 6 three-pointer, but the follow-up was also a classic. LeBron James scored 37 points, the post-merger Game 7 record.

Miami led by two with under a minute remaining when Spurs power forward Tim Duncan missed a pair of shots near the basket that would have tied the game.

1. 2016 NBA Finals

Cleveland Cavaliers 93, Golden State Warriors 89 | James’ chase-down block. Kyrie Irving’s three. The most recent NBA Finals Game 7 is the gold standard.