Phoenix Suns: What If...the Suns had won 'The Greatest Game Ever Played'?

Time. Space. Reality.

It’s more than a linear path. It’s a prism of endless possibility. Where a single choice can branch out into infinite realities, creating alternate worlds from the ones you know.

I am the Suns Watcher. I am your guide through these vast, new realities. Follow me, and ponder the question: What if?

Long before John Paxson, Mario Elie, Robert Horry or Ron Artest, the 1976 NBA Finals provided the first source of traumatizing playoff grief for Phoenix Suns fans. As the underdogs facing the mighty Boston Celtics in the championship round, Phoenix had fought resiliently to even the series at two games apiece heading into a pivotal Game 5 at the Boston Garden.

Led by Paul Westphal, rookie sensation Alvan Adams, Curtis Perry and the original Sun, Dick Van Arsdale, the Suns found themselves locked in a clash of titans in Game 5, which would come to be known as “The Greatest Game Ever Played.”

In your universe, at least.

Because you see, in such an unforgettable game riddled with controversy and memorable moments, there are dozens of offshoots to parallel universes where the end result turned out quite different. As Game 5’s clock ticked closer and closer to oblivion, the established timeline began to splinter, branching off into myriad directions with each new twist.

The first, of course, came at the end of regulation.

WHAT IF THE OFFICIALS HAD PUT THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF TIME ON THE CLOCK FOR THE PHOENIX SUNS?

With the Suns leading 95-94, John Havlicek had a chance to put the Celtics back on top at the free-throw line with 19 seconds left. He made the first shot before missing the second, but he got his own rebound. Thankfully for the Suns, he made an uncharacteristically bad decision to fire up a jump shot with eight seconds left. Phoenix rebounded his misfire and called timeout with 5 seconds left.

Unfortunately for the Suns of this reality, the timeout wasn’t signaled until there were only 3 seconds left. Instead of correcting that clock error, the officials left 3 seconds on the board.

The Suns inbounded the ball from half-court, trying to force a cross-court pass that was tipped and picked off by the Celtics. The clock ran out, resulting in overtime.

But in the parallel universe where the officials fixed the remaining time on the clock and gave the Suns five seconds to work with, they didn’t need to launch the ball across the court. They had more time to work with. They could be more methodical, rather than desperate and rushed. Phoenix drew up a play for Paul Westphal, their leading scorer, who would win them game in dramatic fashion. That victory gave the Suns — who had now stunned Boston with three straight wins — a monumental 3-2 lead with the series shifting back to Phoenix for an elimination Game 6.

That reality provides the Suns with their first NBA championship in franchise history, erasing the 45 years of title drought that followed in your universe. But this isn’t even the most interesting alternate timeline that stems from “The Greatest Game Ever Played”….

WHAT IF PAUL SILAS HAD BEEN GRANTED HIS TIMEOUT?

That Celtics steal on the inbounds pass forced overtime, but it opened up another wormhole where the Suns actually won their first title. Immediately after Boston came up with the ball, Celtics guard Paul Silas tried to call a timeout.

The issue? Boston was out of timeouts. Calling a timeout without having any would’ve granted the Suns a technical free throw with one second remaining.

Referee Richie Powers was standing directly in front of Silas, looking right at him…but did not grant him the timeout.

Years later, Silas himself admitted the outcome would’ve been different if he had. Legend has it someone in the Suns organization even heard Powers tell a Phoenix golf professional that he ignored Silas’ signal because he didn’t want the championship to be decided on a technicality.

But in another dimension, Powers did the right thing, turning Paul Silas into the first Chris Webber by giving the Celtics guard a tech for calling a timeout his team didn’t have. Westphal, an 83 percent free-throw shooter, made the freebie, and the Suns prevented “The Greatest Game Ever Played” from coming into existence with a 96-95 win in regulation.

Once again, riding the momentum of three consecutive wins, that plucky Phoenix squad returned home for a decisive Game 6. They beat a discouraged Celtics squad, put a stopper on an NBA dynasty and hoisted the Larry O’Brien trophy for the first time.

And yet…there’s still one more, lesser-known universe where the Suns came out on top that cannot be ignored.

WHAT IF CHARLIE SCOTT, DAVE COWENS AND PAUL SILAS HADN’T FOULED OUT?

In the established timeline, Celtics guard Charlie Scott fouled out in the final minute of regulation. Star Dave Cowens fouled out in the last minute of the second overtime, and Paul Silas joined him in the third extra period. Boston losing three of its starters figured to be a good thing for the Suns.

Until it wasn’t.

Because in the current reality, rarely-used reserve Glenn McDonald — a guy who averaged 5.6 points in 13.6 minutes per game all season long — checked in and caught Phoenix off-guard, racking up 8 points in just 13 minutes of action, including 6 points in the third overtime. That unsung hero ultimately proved to be the difference, as the Celtics won the final extra period 16-14.

But what if Cowens (55 minutes), Silas (44 minutes) and Scott (33 minutes) had not fouled out, thereby preventing McDonald from randomly stepping in and playing the role of unexpected hero? What if fatigue had gotten to Cowens, who only shot 9-of-23 in Game 5? What if Scott, who shot 3-for-14, had been allowed to continue firing up bricks?

In that scenario, the Celtics never take a 128-122 lead, which they ultimately held onto in the 128-126 victory. McDonald never comes off the bench to shock the Suns with 6 points in the third overtime, Phoenix steals a dramatic victory on the road in “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” and after such a resounding win, they return home to close the Celtics off in six.

In the Phoenix Suns Cinematic Universe, Game 5 of the 1976 NBA Finals may as well be a Nexus event.

As for me? These are my stories. I observe all that transpires here, but I do not, cannot, will not interfere. For I am…the Suns Watcher.