May 10, 1974: The New York Nets beat the Utah Stars, 111-100 at the Nassau Coliseum, in Hempstead (mailing address, Uniondale), Long Island, New York, and win the Championship of the American Basketball Association, in 5 games.
Hail the Champions: Guards Bill Melchionni, "Super" John Williamson, Mike Gale, and Brian Taylor of Perth Amboy, New Jersey; forwards Julius "Doctor J" Erving, Wendell Ladner, Jim O’Brien, Billy Schaeffer and Larry Kenon; and centers Billy Paultz and Willie Sojourner. The head coach was Kevin Loughery.
The Nets won the ABA Championship again in 1976. So, while the Knicks had won 2 titles in 4 seasons, the Nets won 2 out of 3. Overall, over 7 seasons, New York basketball teams made 6 Finals, winning 4 of them.
But no New York Tri-State Area basketball team has won a major league championship since. Not the now-Brooklyn Nets, not the New York Knicks, not the WNBA's New York Liberty.
UPDATE: It wasn't quite true. The New York Stars won the Women's Basketball League title in 1980, but that wasn't exactly major league. The Liberty went 0-4 in WNBA Finals before finally winning in 2024.
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May 10, 1974 was a Friday. Game 6 of the NBA Finals was played that night. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Boston Celtics, 102-101 in double overtime at the Boston Garden. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 34 points for the Bucks, while John Havlicek had 36 for the Celts. All the Bucks had to do to win their 2nd title in 4 years was in Game 7 at home. But they couldn't do it.
Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup Finals were between Games 2 and 3. The Philadelphia Flyers went on to beat the Boston Bruins in 6 games. The World Hockey Association Playoffs were between their Semifinals and their Finals. The Houston Aeros went on to sweep the Chicago Cougars in 4 straight.
And these Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-2 at Shea Stadium, where the Yankees were playing while the original Yankee Stadium was being renovated. The newly-acquired Dick Tidrow started, and went the distance for the win. He would later become better known as a relief pitcher. Thurman Munson went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs.
* The New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Jerry Koosman was the winning pitcher, while Burt Hooton lasted only 2 innings. Dave Schneck went 3-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs for the Mets.
* The Montreal Expos beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Jarry Park in Montreal. Lou Brock went 2-for-4 with 2 stolen bases and an RBI.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt and Willie Stargell each hit a home run.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-4 at Atlanta Stadium (renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium the next year). Garry Maddox went 3-for-6 for the Giants, including singling Bobbby Bonds home with the winning run in the top of the 13th inning. Hank Aaron went 2-for-5 with an RBI.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. An Earl Williams single and a Don Baylor sacrifice fly brought home the winning runs in the top of the 10th inning, making a winning pitcher out of Dave McNally. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3 with a walk. Mark Belanger, the Orioles' great-field-no-hit shortstop, hit a home run, 1 of only 20 he would hit in his career.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 2-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 0-for-2 with 2 walks. Johnny Bench went 1-for-3 with a walk.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-5 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Mickey Lolich ran out of gas in the 9th inning, and was replaced by John Hiller, who gave up a game-tying 3-run home run to Rico Petrocelli. In the bottom of the 9th, Willie Horton and Ben Oglivie doubled, and the Tigers won. Al Kaline, in his last season, went 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-3 with a walk.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 8-7 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Jorge Orta singled Dick Allen home with the winning run in the top of the 14th inning.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 7-5 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Willie McCovey went 0-for-4 with a walk. Dave Winfield went 0-for-4 with an RBI on a groundout.
* The California Angels beat the Kansas City Royals, 2-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Nolan Ryan outpitched Paul Splittorff. Frank Robinson went 0-for-3 with a walk for the Angels. Rookie George Brett went 0-for-2 with a walk.
* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Jim "Catfish" Hunter outpitched Bert Blyleven. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-4. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-4. Rod Carew went 0-for-3, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
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