The New York Knicks last held a lead in the NBA Finals on June 17, 1994, during Game 5 of their series against the Houston Rockets. They won that night 91-84 at Madison Square Garden, powered by a then-record eight blocks from Patrick Ewing, to take a 3-2 series lead. They would lose the next two games in Houston and the title, and not lead in a Finals again for 32 years.
The date is seared into American memory for another reason entirely. As the Knicks and Rockets played, O.J. Simpson, having failed to surrender on murder charges, led police on the infamous slow-speed white Ford Bronco chase across Los Angeles freeways. An estimated 95 million people watched. NBC broke from the game repeatedly, eventually shrinking the Finals into a small corner box while Tom Brokaw narrated the pursuit, muting Marv Albert's commentary.
The crossover became one of the strangest moments in sports broadcast history. Al Cowlings later said Simpson, gun to his head, asked him to drive slower so he could catch the end of the game on the radio.
Sources: Sports Illustrated, Sportico, Fox News.
The New York Knicks last held a lead in the NBA Finals on June 17, 1994, during Game 5 of their series against the Houston Rockets. They won that night 91-84 at Madison Square Garden, powered by a then-record eight blocks from Patrick Ewing, to take a 3-2 series lead. They would lose the next two games in Houston and the title, and not lead in a Finals again for 32 years.
The date is seared into American memory for another reason entirely. As the Knicks and Rockets played, O.J. Simpson, having failed to surrender on murder charges, led police on the infamous slow-speed white Ford Bronco chase across Los Angeles freeways. An estimated 95 million people watched. NBC broke from the game repeatedly, eventually shrinking the Finals into a small corner box while Tom Brokaw narrated the pursuit, muting Marv Albert's commentary.
The crossover became one of the strangest moments in sports broadcast history. Al Cowlings later said Simpson, gun to his head, asked him to drive slower so he could catch the end of the game on the radio.
Sources: Sports Illustrated, Sportico, Fox News.
