Mike Breen Pulls Back His Signature ‘Bang’ Call as Sam Merrill’s Game 1 Dagger Rolls Out for the Cavaliers
Mike Breen does not waste a “bang.” That is the rule. The veteran ABC and ESPN play-by-play voice has been calling NBA games for three decades and the signature call is the most disciplined catchphrase in sports broadcasting. He saves it for daggers. He loads it the second a shooter rises up. And on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, he had to choke it back mid-word.
Sam Merrill almost killed the New York Knicks. He almost made Mike Breen the soundtrack to the moment. Then the shot rolled in, rolled out, and Cleveland lost in overtime.
The setup was perfect. Cavaliers and Knicks tied at 101 with the closing seconds of regulation ticking down in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. James Harden got the rock at the top, the Knicks doubled him with five seconds left, and he kicked out to Merrill who was open at the top of the key.
Merrill is Cleveland’s best spot-up shooter. The release looked clean. Breen knew it. Watch the broadcast. He gets the “ban” out of his mouth before the ball does the awful slow rim-out and forces him to swallow the rest of the word.
Hoop Central caught it. The clip went everywhere within minutes. “Mike Breen almost said ‘bang'” with the laughing emojis became the most-shared replay of the night.
That is the version of the night that hurts the Cavs the most. Merrill’s miss does not just go down as a missed game-winner. It is the moment the Knicks survived a possession where everything broke right for Cleveland, and then carried that momentum into overtime to put away a 115-104 win.
Jalen Brunson did the rest. After dropping 15 of his 38 in the fourth quarter to drag New York back from a 22-point deficit, he came out in overtime and finished the job. The MSG crowd, which spent most of the third quarter sitting on its hands, was deafening for the final eight minutes of basketball.
Brunson did not earn a “bang” from Breen, but he probably earned a few thousand votes if he ever wants to run for mayor. New Yorkers will remember that fourth quarter forever.
For the Cavs, the missed shot is going to play in their heads for the next two days. So is the fact that Kenny Atkinson did not even call a timeout to set up the final possession. The franchise’s best spot-up shooter rose up wide open on a play that was not even really a play. He rolled it.
The “bang” call has a long history. Breen has called daggers from Ray Allen, Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, and a few hundred other players who have hit shots that mattered. Half a “bang” goes on the list now too, in the worst possible way for the Cavaliers and the best possible way for Knicks fans, who will rewatch it on a loop until tipoff in Game 2.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
