Cazzie Russell’s Perfect H-O-R-S-E Round vs. Mickey Johnson (1978)
21January 22, 1978 - Former University of Michigan superstar Cazzie Russell wasted no time in putting Chicago's Mickey Johnson through a shooting clinic in the NBA's 1977-78 season-long game of H-O-R-S-E. Russell, the last member of the Lakers to wear No. 32 before Magic Johnson arrived on the scene,
One year following a season-long dunk contest (won by Darnell Hillman), the NBA moved on to their next big idea for the 1977-78 campaign: a season-long H-O-R-S-E contest. As for why these events were season-long: the tourney-style format usually hinged on waiting until the teams of individual matchups met each other in the regular season. It was the "we'll play whenever we get around to it" technique.
Interestingly, there was no official H-O-R-S-E championship, with an injury knocking Pete Maravich out of the finals, leading to Paul Westphal winning by burying a blindfolded free throw during halftime of Game 4 of the 1978 NBA Finals to defeat "The Unknown Bag Man" (it was Rick Barry). • Paul Westphal - Rick Barry - John Havlicek...