Now it's time for Game 1 of the 1968 ABA Finals from the Met Center in Minneapolis. The date is Thursday, April 18:
1st Quarter: Small forward Doug Moe scored four straight points for the Bucs to break a 2-2 tie a little over a minute into the contest. The Muskies fought back to tie the game 9-9 at the 8:58 mark, as guards Donnie Freeman and Ron Parry worked a nifty give-and-go, with Perry getting the deuce.
The first major run of the game began at the 6:20 mark, as the Buccaneers reeled off nine in a row to break a 13-13 deadlock. Power man Jack Moreland was the catalyst; he was fouled while making a wide-open hook shot and converted the old-fashioned three-pointer, then drained a fifteen-footer off of the sweet dish from Moe. He finished the run by sinking two free throws at the 4:12 mark. The lead reached eleven at 26-15 on a slam from shooting guard Jimmy Jones, and Moe closed out the scoring with a fifteen-foot jumper at the 1:30 mark. A troubling pattern developed at the end of the period, as the Bucs missed their last four field goal attempts. Nonetheless, they led the Muskies 28-17 after twelve minutes of action.
2nd Quarter: The New Orleans lead reached thirteen when forward Jesse Branson swished a fadeaway shot from eight feet less than a minute in, then fourteen when Gerald Govan made one of two from the line. An old-fashioned three from Moe made it 35-20 at the 9:06 mark, and the Met Center was deathly silent. The Muskies whittled the lead down to ten at 36-26 on Freeman's turnaround jumper at 7:38, but the Bucs successfully kept their advantage in double digits, extending it to 42-27 at 4:53 on a bank off the glass from Red Robbins.
The Muskies then came to life, as they went on a 12-2 run to end the half. It started when Perry found center Mel Daniels for a nice-looking left wing jumper. Shooting guard Sammy Smith made one of two free throws, then his replacement Terry Kunze let one go from the left wing with a man in his face. It dropped, and the Muskies were back within ten. Power forward Errol Palmer canned a jumper to bring the Minnesota deficit into the single digits, then banked one in from the free throw line to make it 42-36 with 1:40 left in the half. Moe broke the run temporarily with a deuce, but Daniels hit one of two from the line, then closed the half with a rim-rattling dunk off of a Freeman feed. The Met Center cheered its heroes, who had not only gone on a run, but held the Bucs to just one bucket in the last 4:53. Unfortunately, the Bucs still held the halftime advantage, 44-39.
3rd Quarter: The Muskies got to within 45-43 in the first minute on Perry's scoop shot off the glass, but couldn't get over the hump, as the Bucs scored the next two baskets. A jumper by point guard Dick Clark (no relation to the host of Pyramid and American Bandstand). made it 52-47 at the 8:34 mark, but Robbins immediately answered with a jumper from nine feet away. He then made two free throws, and Moreland dunked off of a turnover rom Hunter to get the New Orleans lead back into double digits at 58-47 with 6:20 left.
Then Perry went on an eight-point run of his own, which included the game's first outside three pointer to get the home squad to within 60-55. Future Hall of Famer Larry Brown immediately answered with the Bucs' first outside three, but Freeman's traditional three brought the Muskies back to within 63-60 at 3:42. Once again, the Bucs had the answer, as Moreland made three the hard way. The Muskies kept digging, and Skip Thoren's reverse layup cut their deficit to two at 2:13. The teams traded buckets for the next minute, and the Muskies finally tied the game at seventy-two on Thoren's layup with 1:13 to play. Small forward Jesse Branson reclaimed the lead for New Orleans on its next possession, and Jones made two free throws to close out the quarter. After three, it was New Orleans 76, Minnesota 72.
4th Quarter: The lead bounced back and forth between two and four for the first couple of minutes, Jones made two free throws at the nine-minute mark to put the Bucs up 86-80, then fed Giovan for a one-handed swish to put the visitors up by eight. Moreland' jumper from eleven feet put the Bucs up 92-82 with 7:51 to play, and Moe's old-fashioned three at 7:32 expanded the lead to twelve. and Brown followed with a jumper to out the Bucs up by fourteen at 97-83. Point guard Leland Mitchell made two free throws at 4:04 to put the visitors in triple digits, and they called off the dogs from there. The final was 108-89, and the Bucs lead the best-of-seven series one game to none.
Due to technical difficulties, I used more than one sim to complete this report, so there are no stats and no Player of the Game.
The series will continue with Game 2 on Thursday night here at the Met Center.
Next: We look at Game 2.
Thoughts?