Other Well-known Calls
Most is known for three other calls. As in the "Havlicek stole the ball!" call, these three were also in games played at the Boston Garden:
- Game 7 of the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals, saw the Celtics tied with the Philadelphia 76ers late in the 4th quarter, Darryl Dawkins of the 76ers after being double teamed missed the shot, the Celtics' Larry Bird drove the length of the court and...
| “ | The shot off the glass is good!! Boston leads 91-89! | ” |
But Philadelphia was down 91-90 and had one more chance to win the game when...
| “ | Bobby Jones is gonna put the ball into play and the pass hits the top of the backboard and it's over! They won 3 in a row, they came from 3 and 1 down and they have won the series!!! It's all over!!! | ” |
- Game 2 of the 1984 NBA Finals, had the Celtics trail the Los Angeles Lakers 113–111 with 15 seconds remaining.
| “ | And it goes quickly in now to Magic, back over to Worthy and it's picked off! Goes to Henderson and he lays it up and in!! It's all tied up! A great play by Henderson!! | ” |
The Celtics forced overtime following the miscommunication between Johnson and Worthy, and eventually, won the game to tie the series, going on to win the title in seven games. Gerald Henderson then commented:
| “ | For a minute I could hear Johnny Most going, 'Henderson steals the ball!' | ” |
His comments recall the John Havlicek steal in 1965 and Most's best-known call.
- 1985 regular season game against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Down 127-126, the Celtics had 2 seconds left on the clock in the 4th quarter. Dennis Johnson inbounds to Larry Bird when...
| “ | ...Bird upfakes, Bird takes the shot...it's good! It's good!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!! IT IS GOOD FROM THE CORNER! OH MY!!! WHAT A MAGNIFICENT FINISH TO THIS BALLGAME! BIRD!!! BIRD FROM THE CORNER!!! BIRD DID IT!!! | ” |
- Game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons, the series tied at 2.
Detroit had a 107-106 lead with 5 seconds left and needed to inbound the ball to secure the victory and take a 3–2 series lead with Game 6 on their home court. (Then, as now, the conference finals followed a 2-2-1-1-1 format.) Isiah Thomas was inbounding the ball to Bill Laimbeer, who was in the backcourt. But...
| “ | And......Now there's a steal by Bird! Underneath to DJ who lays it in!!...Right at one second left!! What a play by Bird! Bird stole the inbounding pass, laid it up to DJ, and DJ laid it up and in, and Boston has a one-point lead with one second left! OH, MY, THIS PLACE IS GOING CRAZY!!! | ” |
Johnny Most was also the track announcer at the now defunct Norwood (Mass.) Arena race track south of Boston. It was great fun hearing him call the races and take shots at some of the competitors . . . for example: "There's Bobby Melnick out there in the "Colt 45" car . . . nice new paint job on it . . . wonder how long it's going to last."
Read more about this topic: Johnny Most
Famous quotes containing the words well-known and/or calls:
“It is a well-known fact that we always recognize our homeland when we are about to lose it.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“But that a joy past joy calls out on me,
It were a grief, so brief to part with thee.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)