Former Cleveland Cavaliers big man Channing Frye was served a painful reminder on Saturday after Derrick White’s tip-in lifted the Boston Celtics over the Miami Heat.
Frye took note of a video of the last possession of Game 5 of the 2010 Western Conference Finals matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns, the team for which the retired marksman was playing for at the time.
This hurt https://t.co/7TYsuap8my
— Channing Frye (@channingfrye) May 28, 2023
That match saw the teams tied at 101-101 with 3.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Lakers inbounding the ball. Naturally, the play was drawn up for the late Kobe Bryant, who forced a 3-pointer in front of two Suns defenders.
Unfortunately for Phoenix, it didn’t box out well enough, providing Metta Sandiford-Artest, who was then known as Ron Artest, an open lane to the paint for an offensive rebound. The forward grabbed the ball and made a shot just before the buzzer sounded. With the game-winning putback, the Lakers went up 3-2 in the series.
A Suns win in overtime in that contest would have given the team a good chance of advancing to the Finals. Game 6 was held in Phoenix, but with the Lakers having momentum, Bryant and company finished off the series and got another shot against the Boston Celtics in the Finals.
Fortunately for Frye, he eventually secured a ring. He did so suiting up for the Cavs in the 2015-16 season.
It remains to be seen if the Heat will suffer from a similar fate as the 2009-10 Suns after also failing to box out late in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
CELTICS WIN pic.twitter.com/X4yNrgLz16
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 28, 2023
Miami had the opportunity to close out the series and make it to the Finals after forcing a tough shot from the Celtics with little time remaining remaining on the clock. However, White, who inbounded the ball, rushed to the rim and scored on the putback right before time expired.
With the loss, the Heat have one last chance to avert disaster. If they fail to steal Game 7 on the road on Monday, they will become the first franchise in NBA history to lose a playoff series after going up 3-0.
Draymond Green is hoping for that because he thinks it would make people forget about the Golden State Warriors’ 3-1 collapse against the Cavs in the 2016 NBA Finals.
