Yes, John Havlicek stole the ball at the most opportune time to end the 1965 Eastern Conference finals, but that is not the choice here for the best Celtics game. Instead, it’s another game in which Havlicek starred, one widely considered the greatest game in the history of the NBA: Game 5 of the 1976 Finals against the Suns, a 128-126 victory in triple overtime.
So much happened in this game that is part of Celtics and NBA lore — Havlicek’s go-ahead bank shot at the end of the second overtime, Suns forward Gar Heard’s banner-scraping turnaround jumper to tie it again, little-used Celtic Glenn McDonald’s heroics in double overtime.