The longest games

For a while, I thought last Wednesday’s Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) game between Purefoods and Talk ‘N’ Text would extend to a fourth overtime period at the Araneta Coliseum.

Since its inception in 1975, there has never been a quadruple overtime game in the PBA. The record now shows eight triple overtime contests, including the Chunkee Giants’ 109-103 marathon the other night. The previous triple overtime game happened two years ago when Red Bull outlasted Sta. Lucia Realty, 124-118, in Bacolod.

Three overtimes mean a maximum of 63 total minutes for a player. A regulation game accounts for 48 minutes or 12 minutes each quarter and every overtime is five minutes long.

Last Wednesday, Purefoods’ Kerby Raymundo logged 61 minutes, resting only a minute in the first half and another minute in the third period. He played without relief starting the fourth period until the end of the third overtime. Raymundo wound up with a career-high 31 points, 18 rebounds and five assists.

Others who played at least 50 minutes were Raymundo’s teammates Roger Yap (56) and James Yap (54) and Phone Pals’ forward Jay Washington (53). Talk ‘N’ Text’s Asi Taulava fouled out in the second overtime and Don Allado, in the third.

Three Giants played at least 50 minutes apiece, compared to only one for Talk ‘N’ Text, indicating a deeper Phone Pals lineup because of the more even distribution of playing time. Six Phone Pals logged at least 35 minutes each, compared to only four from Purefoods.

Raymundo, Pingris, the Yaps, Washington, Jimmy Alapag, Mark Cardona and Harvey Carey played the entire three-overtime stretch.

Talk ‘N’ Text got off to a hot start and erected a 20-point cushion at 38-18 in the second quarter. But Purefoods clawed back into the game behind a trapping full-court defense that disrupted the Phone Pals’ offensive flow and fueled a searing fastbreak attack.

The Phone Pals finished with 25 turnovers to Purefoods’ 18 and the change of possessions and the Giants’ 68-63 rebounding edge led to eight more field goal attempts. So it didn’t matter that Talk ‘N’ Text shot slightly better from the field, .396 to .385, because the Giants had two more connections, 40-of-104 to 38-of-96.

Although severely outsized, Purefoods (whose team is ironically called the Giants) refused to be intimidated by the bigger Phone Pals and carved out the hard-earned victory with heart, quickness and smarts.

The outcome could’ve been different if Taulava and Allado didn’t foul out and if RenRen Ritualo didn’t sit out the last 19 minutes of the game because of a bruised rib. But those are the breaks.

It was almost as if the game wouldn’t end because none of the players gave up until the final buzzer. That’s how intense the competition is in the PBA. Nobody dares to give an inch because there are many waiting in the wings, ready to take over a playing job once it becomes available. Every game is a test for each player and as the saying goes, you’re only as good as your last outing.

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By the way, the longest game in National Basketball Association (NBA) history was the Indianapolis Olympians’ 75-73 six overtime win over the Rochester Royals at the Edgerton Sports Arena in Rochester, New York, on Jan. 6, 1951. The contest lasted nearly four hours and the crowd of 3,300 went home past midnight.

Ralph Beard sank a layup off an outlet pass from Alex Groza a split second before the buzzer to break the tie and lift Indianapolis to a two-point victory in the sixth overtime.

There was still no 24-second shot clock in the pros so the Olympians took their time freezing the ball. The Royals also weren’t in a hurry as both teams played a cautious, slow-down tempo. The stall was so effective that neither team scored in the second and fourth overtimes.

In NBA Finals history, the longest game was the Boston Celtics’ 128-126 triple overtime win over the Phoenix Suns in Game 5 of the best-of-7 series on June 4, 1976. The series was tied at two wins apiece so Game 5 was crucial.

Before a wildly-cheering hometown crowd, the Celtics raced to a 32-12 lead but the Suns stormed back behind Paul Westphal and Alvan Adams. The score was tied, 95-all, at the end of regulation and it was still even, 101-all, after the first overtime.

In the second extension, the Celtics led by three with 15 seconds left. Dick Van Arsdale scored for Phoenix then Westphal stole the ball to feed Curtis Perry for a jumper that put the Suns on top, 110-109. John Havlicek sank a running one-hander to put Boston back in the lead, 111-110, with a second to go.

Westphal called a timeout although Phoenix had none left. Jojo White knocked down the technical free throw for Boston on the excessive timeout then Phoenix inbounded from midcourt and Gar Heard miraculously buried a corner howitzer on a catch-and-shoot to send it into a third overtime.

Celtics reserve Glenn McDonald, who would later play in the PBA, was the hero in the third overtime as he powered Boston to victory after midnight. Heard played 61 of the 63 possible minutes — a feat that Raymundo duplicated the other night.

Boston rode on the momentum of the triple overtime win and went on to trounce Phoenix, 87-80, in Game 6 to wrap up the title on the road.

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In hoop history, the longest game ever was the Boone Trail Pioneers’ 56-54 13-overtime decision over the Angier Bulldogs in the championship finals of the Harnett County North Carolina high school tournament at Campbell College’s Carter Gymnasium in Buies Creek on Feb. 29, 1964. The game was played under unique time limits — eight minutes a quarter and three minutes in each overtime. So with 13 overtimes, the maximum playing time for each player was 71 minutes.

Both teams failed to score in nine of the 13 extensions. The game mercifully ended after three hours and 25 minutes, including timeouts, intermission and a 10-minute interruption where the referees consulted officials of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association by telephone if they should call off the contest after the eighth overtime. It started at 8:30 p.m. on a Saturday and ended five minutes before midnight.