Alonzo Mourning的33號球衣，今天被熱火隊退休了。
身為塞爾蒂克的球迷，也許你會記得1993年季後賽第一輪第四戰，Zo的致勝一投，那也是Reggie Lewis的最後一個球季，他在這個系列戰第一場昏厥在場上，三個月後的7月27日，因為心臟病過世。這場球也是Kevin McHale的最後一場比賽，他上場了33分鐘，得了19分6籃板。
Published: Thursday, May 6, 1993
PRO BASKETBALL; Hornets Oust Celtics In Down-to-Wire Style
By MALCOLM MORAN
The embattled Boston Celtics, already reeling from the potentially career-ending heart condition of Reggie Lewis, suffered a final, bitter defeat of their season when Charlotte's 104-103 victory gave the Hornets a three-games-to-one triumph in the franchise's first playoff series.
Alonzo Mourning made a 17-foot jump shot with 0.4 seconds to play, after a quick inbounds pass from Dell Curry along the left baseline, to overcome Boston's desperate rally from a 19-point deficit. Mourning, who scored 33 points and blocked 6 shots, took one dribble to his right and lifted the shot just beyond the late lunge of Celtics forward Xavier McDaniel.
The Hornets, whose chances of even making the playoffs were in doubt until they won 9 of their final 12 regular-season games, became the first of the four recent expansion teams to advance beyond the first round. Charlotte will meet the Knicks or Indiana in the second round, possibly beginning as soon as Sunday. McHale's Career Ends
Boston, seven years removed from its 16th National Basketball Association championship, endured its third first-round elimination in five seasons and the seventh in team history.
Kevin McHale, 35, whose 13-year career came to an end tonight, stood silently next to Robert Parish as the Hornets piled atop Mourning and the crowd of 23,698 celebrated.
But the clock, which had apparently expired, was reset to 0.4 seconds, and some of the Celtics were called back from the dressing room for one desperate chance.
That last hope -- an inbound lob from McHale at midcourt to Dee Brown along the right baseline, ended in failure and Celtic rage. Brown was met in the air by Kendall Gill. The attempt to redirect the pass into the basket appeared to be deflected, leading the Celtics to maintain that goaltending should have been called.
"The ball was definitely in," Brown said. "I thought it was goaltending all the way. I laid the ball in the rim, so I know it was goaltending. If it wasn't goaltending, then I think there should have been a foul called."
Charlotte had been held without a point for more than 3 minutes 22 seconds before Mourning's game-winning shot. The Celtics, whose 30-point loss in Game 3 was the third-worst defeat in the club's playoff history, were trying to extend the three-of-five-game series to a decisive game Sunday at Boston Garden despite the loss of Lewis, a captain who had led the team in points, minutes, field goals and free throws before he collapsed during Game 1 last Thursday night in Boston. A Furious Boston Rally
Tonight Boston trailed by 19 points four times, the latest with 1:17 to go in the third period, before making 14 of 17 fourth-quarter shots. Charlotte, which made only 6 of 22 in the quarter, failed to score on five consecutive possessions while Boston scored 10 straight points. The Celtics took a 103-102 lead, their first lead of the game, on Sherman Douglas's steal from Larry Johnson and layup with 42.7 seconds to play.
After a Charlotte timeout, Gill missed a 16-foot shot. Parish grabbed the rebound and the Celtics called timeout, apparently in control, with 24.9 seconds left.
But Rick Fox was called for a decisive 10-second violation when he could not advance his dribble beyond midcourt in time and chose not to call timeout.
Johnson, who scored 20 points, was isolated against McDaniel and missed a shot in the lane with eight seconds to go. The ball caromed out of bounds with 3.3 seconds left and belonged to the Hornets. Curry's pass and Mourning's shot then suddenly became the most electric moment in the five-year history of the franchise.
At the end, the dramatic comeback reduced Boston's season -- and McHale's career -- to a shot that went in and a desperate attempt that did not. As the players left the court through the noise, Mourning hugged McHale and praised him and Parish.
"With all they've accomplished, done for the league, it was just an honor to be on the floor with them," Mourning said.
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