The Most HEROIC Performances In NBA History

There’s something captivating about a player leaving his all on the court and not giving up despite an injury or other physical challenge. It fits their role as superheroes. All of us, as fans, believe that if we were in the same position, we would do the same. Particularly in the postseason, when a deep run or even a ring is at stake, every team needs guys who would give their blood, sweat, and tears to contribute to a win.
So, let’s take a look at some of the most heroic performances in NBA postseason history. What up everybody my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it.
Starting off with perhaps the most famous heroic performance. It’s Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals between the Knicks and Lakers. At the Garden, almost everybody thinks Willis Reed won’t play because he had suffered a torn thigh muscle in Game 5 and sat out Game 6. But Reed had other plans. “I didn’t want to have to look at myself in the mirror 20 years later and say I wished I had tried to play,” Reed later recalled thinking. So, after painkiller injections in his thigh, he limped to the court during warmups. His presence electrified both his team and the crowd, whereas the shocked Lakers stopped warming up to stare at the injured Knick. Teammate Walt Fraizer believes, gave the Knicks confidence that they have the Lakers already beaten. Though Reed had only four points and three rebounds, in 27 minutes, the Garden was rocking. Also, good defence by him resulted in multiple misses by Wilt Chamberlain and In the end, the Knicks prevailed, winning the title.
One of the reasons why the Answer remains to this day a well-respected figure among fans and former and current players alike is because he was never one to back down. Possibly the best example of that is Game 4 of the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals against the Bucks, when he literally swallowed blood just to stay in the game. In the fourth quarter, Iverson got elbowed in the mouth inadvertently by Ray Allen. But of course he continued.
"I didn't think the refs were going to let me back in the game because I was spitting up so much blood. I was trying to stop the bleeding but it wouldn't stop, so I kept my mouth closed and swallowed the blood when it filled up," the Answer said.
Though Iverson finished 10-for-32 from the field for 28 points, he did enough in the final period to render his early shooting woes insignificant in a Sixers victory.
When Nash and Tony Parker collided heads late in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the 2007 Western Conference semifinals, the Canadian cut his nose open. However, he checked back into the game to score a big 3 pointer and a layup to bring his team within 2 points with 1 minute to play. Unfortunately however, he started bleeding on the court and therefore had to head to the bench until the bleeding stopped. The Spurs used the period without Nash to win the game. Still, the desire and decisiveness to keep trying to get on the court are admirable.

Three years later, once again in the semifinals against the Spurs, Nash's face collided with Tim Duncan's elbow in Game 4. The point guard found blood on his face yet again. He left for the locker room with his team up seven, 64-57. However, when he returned to the game with several stitches and a severely swollen right eye, the Spurs had made it a one-point contest. So, what did Nash do? He hit a pull-up three-pointer. A contested leaner, plus the foul. That was followed by another push-shot in the lane. Two consecutive assists for Amar'e Stoudemire jumpers came next. Ultimately, Nash either scored or assisted on 21 of the Suns' 35 fourth-quarter points in this performances for the ages. More importantly, this time, the Suns won the game, completing a sweep. Nash later admitted he couldn't see anything out of his right eye.
The 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals was a heated battle between the Heat and the Celtics. The animosity between the 2 teams is well known and confirmed from everyone on both teams. So in game 3, a scramble for a loose ball left Rondo twisting in pain on the floor. You can imagine Celtics Nation’s reaction when they found out the point guard had dislocated his elbow. Rondo first carried back to the locker room for a relocation but then to everyone’s disbelief he miraculously returned to finish the game. In an improbable turn of events he played out the rest of the game essentially one-handed and using his own adrenaline, finishing with six points and 11 assists. Rajon even played tough defense and dove on the court in a few situations, while still trying to protect that injured arm. Riding off of that momentum, the Celtics were able to finish that game off and get the victory. "My adrenaline was too high. I fed off the crowd energy," Rondo said after the Celtics win.

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