In 1976, Westphal helped the Suns reach their first-ever Finals appearance, where they played the Celtics. Game 5 of that series is often called "the greatest game ever played"[1][2][3][4] in NBA history.
With time winding down in regulation and the Suns trailing 94–91, Westphal poked the ball away from Jo Jo White, took a long pass from Dennis Awtrey, and hit a breakaway layup. He was fouled on the play and hit the free throw to tie it at 94–94.
In the second overtime, with 15 seconds left and the Suns trailing 109–108 after just making a basket, Westphal stole the ball from John Havlicek after Havlicek received the inbounds pass. This began a chain of events that culminated with Curtis Perry hitting a jumper to give the Suns a 110–109 lead.
After the Perry basket and a Celtics timeout, Havlicek got the ball with five seconds left and hit a bank shot to put the Celtics up 111–110. The buzzer sounded and Celtic fans poured on the floor, thinking the Celtics had won. However, referee Richie Powers correctly ruled that Havlicek's shot went through the basket with two seconds left on the clock. After one second was placed back on, Westphal, sensing that the Suns could get a better shot off if the ball was inbounded at halfcourt, called a timeout that the Suns didn't have while preparing to inbound the ball from under the Celtics' basket. A technical foul was assessed; the Celtics made the subsequent free throw and increased their lead to 112–110. The resulting timeout call allowed Phoenix to inbound the ball at midcourt, rather than go the full length of the court. (As a result of this play, the NBA changed the rules prior to the following season.) Garfield Heard then made a shot for the Suns that sent the game into triple-overtime.[5]
With 20 seconds left in the third overtime and the Celtics seemingly in control at 128–122, Westphal scored two quick baskets to cut it to 128–126 and nearly made a steal at midcourt after the second, but failed and the Celtics ran out the clock to the victory.
