Many years ago in Indianapolis, Calvin Murphy laughed and told me that I was ... Willis Reed’s first shot from Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals. Man, I cannot believe I got to write that paragraph.

Case in point: Rockets Calvin Murphy and Rudy Tomjanovich way back ... the deal when the lights are brightest. Because, in the NBA, winning starts long before the buzzer.

Twenty-five points against the Thunder also vaulted Irving up the all-time scoring list (NBA + ABA combined) from 86th to 83rd, passing Lou Hudson, Calvin Murphy, and World B. Free with 17,961 points.