Game #1 5/13/75 @Louisville

The Colonels prevailed in Game 1 as they blew it open late. They held the lead throughout the 1st half, but Indiana rallied behind George McGinnis’ 18 3rd quarter points. The Colones score 38 points off the fastbreak & 28 2nd chance points. They got a big lift off the bench from Marv Roberts who came in for Wil Jones after Jones got into foul trouble trying to guard McGinnis. Artis Gilmore picked up his 6th personal foul & Kentucky coach Hubie Brown elected to remove Gilmore from the game. The score was 89-84 with under 9 minutes to play. In the next 90 seconds, Kentucky got 2 free throws from Dan Issel and layups from Ted McClain, Louie Dampier & Ron Thomas to make it a 97-84 Colonels lead. Kentucky got runouts on 2 of the 3 layups as the Pacers did not get back on defense much to Coach Bob Leaonard’s dismay. In the last 8 ½ minutes, Kentucky outscored Indiana 31-10 with Gilmore on the bench. The fans got a free burger for a local fast food franchise for holding the Pacers under 100 points.

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Game #2 5/15/75 @Louisville

The Colones were in control again, 43-35, late in the 2nd quarter when Pacers coach Leonard inserted veteran Roger Brown into the line-up. This sparked a 15-2 Pacers run to close the half. McGinnis picked up his 4th foul early in the 3rd period and sat on the bench. Dampier sparked Kentucky with 6 straight points to put the Colonels back on top 65-64. The teams fought back and forth all the way down to the wire. Marv Roberts hit 2 free throws that gave Kentucky a 93-89 lead with 1:54 to play. Brown answered with a lay-up to cut it to 93-81 with 1:32 left. Indiana then tied the game at 96, when McGinnis scored on a drive at the 46 seconds mark, despite being guarded by Roberts & Thomas. After Kentucky missed a couple of chances, Indiana got the ball back. McGinnis tried to drive again but lost the ball out of bounds under pressure by Roberts with 0:10 left. Don Buse blanketed Dampier & McGinnis had Issel covered so Kentucky had to go elsewhere on their final possession. Gilmore converted a 4-foot hook with 0:02 on the clock. Out of timeouts, Darnell Hillman inbounded the ball to Billy Keller. Keller then spun around Dampier, took 2 dribbles and launched a 40-foot shot that went in for an apparent game-winning 3-point shot. However, officials Norm Drucker & Ed Rush disallowed the basket saying that it had come after the buzzer. Indiana immediately lodged an official protest with the league.

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Game #3 5/17/75 Indianapolis

Whie still awaiting the ruling on Indiana’s protest, the teams took the court for a pivotal game 3. The Pacers suffered a blow when McGinnis sprained his ankle in a 2nd quarter collision with Issel. He also was saddled with severe foul troubke throughout the game. Kentucky seemed to be in control with a 64-59 lead in the 3rd period & McGinnis sitting on the bench. However, led by Hillman & rookies Billy Knight and Len Elmore, the Pacers went on a 20-5 run that gave them a 79-69 lead late in the 3rd quarter. Hubie Brown then switched to a pressing defense led by Dampier & Ted “Hound Dog” McClain. Kentucky rallied in the 4th behind the scoring of Gilmore and Issel who had 11 and 10 points in the final quarter. Still, Indiana led 97-94 with under 5 minutes to play. A driving layup by Dampier drew a foul on Elmore. The free throw tied the game at 97 with 4:21 to play. Gilmore scored 7 of Kentucky’s next 8 points as they led 105-99 after an 11-2 run. Gilmore would score 8 of Kentucky’s last 12 points. His 41 points also equaled his career high.

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Game #4 5/19/75 @Indianapolis

The day after Game 3, the protest was head at the offices of WTTV in Indianapolis where league officials reviewed tapes of Game 2. The league denied the Pacers protest & left Kentucky 1 win from their 1st ABA title. The Colonels led by 3 at the half, but had missed a great opportunity to blow the game open. Kentucky shot only 37% from the floor, made 17 turnovers and was outrebounded by 6 in the opening half. The two teams fought to a standoff in the 3rd period & Kentucky still led by 1, 72-71, early in the 4th. The Pacers then scored on an Elmore jumper, two hoops by Knight & 2 free throws by Elmore to lead 79-72 with 7:30 left in the game. After 2 Colonel hoops closed the gap, Keller hit a 3-ponter and then a side-arm, fall away baseline jumper to make it Indiana 84 Kentucky 76 with 5:18 to play. Leonard had juggled his line-up for Game 4 by starting Keller & Elmore instead of Joyce & Buse. He moved Knight to guard as he had done in the semis vs. Denver. Keller hit a jumper with 1:19 to play that gave Indiana its biggest lead of the series, 92-81.

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Game #5 5/22/75 @Louisville

Kentucky led for most of the game, but Indiana fought tooth & nail throughout. The Pacers only led briefly late in the 1st quarter and early in the 3rd quarter. A 17-foot jumper from Dampier gave Kentucky the lead for good at 60-58 with 8:38 left in the 3rd period. However, the Colonels could not shake their rivals. A Knight shot made it a 3-point game, 100-97 late. Roberts answered with a 12-footer to push the lead back to 5. McClain then claimed his record 15th steal of the series and Gilmore converted a 10-foot hook to give Kentucky a 104-97 lead. Knight again stepped up by hitting a bank shot, but Gilmore found McClain for an 8-footer that made it 106-99. A Roberts 10-footer seemed to seal the deal at 108-99 with 0:57 left. McGinnis would score to cut the lead to 7, but it seemed to late. Dampier missed a free throw line jumper with 0:23 left & Indiana converted it into points when Knight sank 2 free throws. After forcing a turnover, Knight hit a 13-foot shot to suddenly make it a 108-105 game with 0:14 left. Gilmore would hit 2 clutch free throws to seal if after Indiana was forced to foul.

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