After dispatching MJ, the Cs cruised by Dominique Wilkins and the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Semis. Larry Bird Playoffs Game Log | Basketball-Reference.com Bill Walton needed a change of scenery when he was in San Diego and Red Auerbach provided that for him in Boston. The Lakers destroyed the Cs in their first home game 137-104 in game 3. Celtics Starters: Gerald Henderson, Dennis Johnson, Larry Bird, Cedric Maxwell and Robert Parish. LeBron James' teams have met or exceeded expectations in NBA Finals He finished 1986 with averages of 25-10-7. In the first two NBA matchups between Bird and Magic . Thanks in main to two close overtime wins, Boston won the series in seven games despite Bird struggling in the deciding game. Ruland, a center, averaged 22 points and 12 boards for the season. The games were closer than youd expect for a 1 seed vs 8 seed series. As weve mentioned, all these players were inducted into the Hall of Fame. In 1986, they failed a third straight NBA Finals meeting (it was later accomplished 31 years later by the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors), as the Lakers were eliminated in the Conference Finals by the Houston Rockets. After the game a Laker fan threw a beer at Celtics guard M.L. Things werent as cheerful from this point forward for Boston though. However, this was not the case. The three finals victories are outlined above, but Bird also had two finals losses. Of the subsequent finals, Basketbawful writes, "the Lakers played great and the Boston bench sucked. Bird was Finals MVP in the teams victories over the Houston Rockets in 1986 and the Los Angeles Lakers in 1984. Both teams could have easily succeeded in taking the Eastern Conference Finals. NBA Finals: Ranking the top Finals performers in NBA history - HoopsHype The Cs were heavily favored and had won 10 straight vs the Rockets, but Houston put up more of a fight than expected. They lost twice to the same team: the Los Angeles Lakers. You have to really understand the circumstances in each Finals run and see how he ended up with the record that he has right now. Despite excellent performances in his first two seasons, Indiana State had very little success. He made the Finals five times in his thirteen-year career, winning the championship in 1981, 1984, and 1986. The game after setting an NBA finals record for made threes with eight in game 2 against the Lakers in 2010, Ray Allen . Larry Bird is one of the few basketball players in history that are widely recognized even by people who dont even know the sport. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. FTA complete back to 1948-49. Maxwell later claimed he said something like that but not quite so family friendly. SI examines the rivalry between the basketball hall of famers and how they changed the landscape of the NBA. Here are some of Larry Bird's notable career achievements and statistics: Three-time NBA champion (1981, 1984, 1986) . Bird's 2 Finals losses both came against the Lakers and Magic Johnson , 1985 & 1987. The Celtics won game 2 at home but lost two games in Philly to fall behind 3-1. One of the most feared competitors during the 1980s was Larry Bird, who won three championships with the Celtics during the decade, destroying teams through his versatile style and killer, lights-out shooting. The 86 Celtics are in the conversation for best team ever with Bill Walton joining Bird, Robert Parish and. So lets look at the 1984 NBA season. Houston had gone 40-42 in the 1980-81 regular season compared to Boston's 62-20 season under second-year Celtics sensation Larry Bird you may have heard of him. Even with Jordan exploding, only game two was close at 135-131. In Game 7, the Celtics got 24 points from Cedric Maxwell and 22 from DJ with Bird scoring 20 as they won the game 111-102 and the series for Bostons 15th NBA title. Same ammount of titles, Lebron has more MVP's and FMVP's, played longer etc. Boston had lost the previous two matchups to the Cavs and they were hungry for revenge last night. Bird won two finals against very different Houston Rockets teams and one against the Showtime Lakers featuring Kareem and Magic. Nobody thought that the Celtics would beat the Lakers in 1984. Michael Jordans Prime: The Greatest of All Time, Who has the most rings in the NBA? Magic vs. Bird: Reliving rivalry 40 Years after first NBA matchup The Celtics had Larry Bird as their centerpiece and posted a record of 67-15, including an NBA record 40 wins at home. This series prompted Bird to quote, Thats God disguised as Michael Jordan. Michael averaged 43 points through the three-game series. That's the first time the (80's) Lakers ever encountered that, someone stronger minded. Larry Bird: College basketball stats, best moments, quotes But it was in 1986 when the Celtics faced the Houston Rockets for the championship when Bird . Maybe you lived through the glory days of the 1980s Celtics but you cant quite remember how Bird got his rings. Safe to say he absolutely dominated in every facet of the game for that second ring. Featured Image Photo Credit: Adapted from:Bernard Cardinal Law, Larry Bird and Mayor Raymond L. FlynnbyBoston City Archivesis licensed underCC BY 2.0. Michael Jordans First Championship: An Epic Run! The Bullets featured Jeff Ruland a really good, likely underrated, player who was at his peak. 2 NBA Finals MVP (1984, 1986) 3 NBA Most Valuable Player (1984-1986) . Bernard Cardinal Law, Larry Bird and Mayor Raymond L. Flynn. Boston won two close ones to start the series before Washington stole game three by 3 points. Bird: "So you're overpaid.". I am fully convinced that anyone under the age of 40 will never admit Larry Bird was a better player than Stephen Curry. Nevertheless, it is rare to see a player dominate in so many areas of the game, theres no wonder why the Celtics made multiple deep playoff runs. Larry Bird was a star. Larry led the team to a Game 7 victory while averaging 26-13-5, putting up a great stat line of 23-11-5 with 5 steals in the deciding Game 7. Bird averaged 28.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and 6.6 assists across the regular season as the Celtics once again topped the eastern conference. Stephen Curry is now a career 21-4 (.840) in playoff series. Why did the Philadelphia 76ers trade Charles Barkley to the Phoenix Suns? Paul George: 'I still believe we're gonna be a tough team to beat in seven games', Gilbert Arenas on Ja Morant: 'When we young, we do stupid sh**', Shai Gilgeous-Alexander not on injury report, Erik Spoelstra refuses to comment on when Kyle Lowry will return, Stephen Curry, Andre Iguodala probable for Sunday against Lakers, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Larry Bird is 6-9. Bird won their first meeting in seven games, winning the NBA Finals MVP. You can't tell the story of the 1980s without Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Michael Cooper Explains What Made Larry Bird 'Larger Than Life' Cedric 'Cornbread' Maxwell speaks out on GOAT, today's NBA, Larry Bird It was Boston's worst playoff defeat in franchise history to that date. Larry Bird picked up the 1984 MVP award and led his Celtics to the first seed in the Eastern Conference with a 62-20 overall record. In their professional careers, Bird played for the Boston Celtics and Magic played for the Los Angeles . That might seem unbelievable this is coming from a man who famously asked his Three-Point Contest peers who was coming in second but it largely fits within Birds character. Boston finished with a 62-20 regular season record and got their revenge on the Bucks, whom they beat 4-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics stayed unbeaten all-time in home Game 7s with a clear cut 111-102 victory. James Posey shared the culture that made the 2008 Boston Celtics experience so unique. Its surprising that he wasnt able to win at least one more, though three championships nowadays is something that is wildly difficult to do, its no feat to be taken lightly. The seeds of the 1984 Finals were first sown five years earlier, during the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.In the final game of the tournament, Larry Bird and his erstwhile unbeaten Indiana State Sycamores lost to Magic Johnson and his Michigan State Spartans by the score of 75-64. The series was the eighth time in NBA history that the Celtics and Lakers met in the NBA finals, with Boston winning each time, and the first championship that the Celtics claimed at home since 1966. Jayson Tatum passed Celtics legend Larry Bird (1987-88) last night with his 34th 30-point game of the 2022-23 season. Peak, Bird was better imo BOSTON (AP) June 12, 1984: The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers 111-102 in Game 7 in the first NBA Finals between Boston's Larry Bird and Los Angeles' Magic Johnson . The 1984 NBA Finals is considered one of the most epic series in league history. The game was also marked by Celtic forward Kevin McHale's clothesline take-down of Laker forward Kurt Rambis on a breakaway layup which triggered the physical aspect of the rivalry. In his first trip to the NBA Finals, Tatum averaged 21.5 points, seven assists and 6.8 rebounds, but the Celtics came up short. Right, Born: 1956 In Game 4, the Lakers had a five-point game lead with less than a minute to play, but made several execution errors, including Magic Johnson's bad pass to Robert Parish late in the fourth quarter, and missing two crucial free throws in OT as the Celtics tied the game and then came away with a 129-125 victory in overtime. The seeds of the 1984 Finals were first sown five years earlier, during the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. His career was cut dramatically short by injury. He was one member of the greatest rivalry in the leagues history between himself and Los Angeles Lakers superstar Magic Johnson. The Lakers were coached by Pat Riley and also featured defensive ace Michael Cooper, a young. Larry Bird's Famous Wife Not Everyone Knows - msn.com 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, "Here Are Some Final Facts on NBA Playoffs", Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs, The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1984_NBA_Finals&oldid=1141615206, 20th century in Los Angeles County, California, Basketball competitions in Inglewood, California, May 1984 sports events in the United States, June 1984 sports events in the United States, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, No. Or write about sports? Reliving the almost-perfect championship series stint authored by Larry The Celtics ended up shedding the ghosts of the last season and convincingly won 4-1. Bird's Boston Celtics finished 16-15 in NBA Finals games and 3-2 in NBA Finals series. Bird became only the third player in NBA history to win three titles in a row. Tree had famously bit Danny Ainge in a playoff fight three seasons prior. Bird, who was selected 6th in the 1978 NBA draft but committed back to Indiana State for his senior season, was named Rookie of the Year after leading the Celtics to a 32-game turnaround from the previous year, going from 29 to 61 wins. Larry Legend also sank 42 of 47 foul shots in the pressure-packed series (89.4 . Larry Bird's Celtics made the Finals in 1985 and 1987 but lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Rockets fought back to win handily in game 5 at home but the Celtics closed out the series in game 6 in the Boston Garden to take their third title of the Bird era. The Bucks now featured a young Terry Cummings along with Paul Pressey and Sidney Moncrief. inWest Baden,Indiana The following year, the NBA Finals format was changed to 232 after Red Auerbach complained about the constant travelling during the Finals. Net Worth, Salary & Earnings of Larry Bird in 2023. Averaging 30-10-7 with 3 steals. Dennis Johnson responded by sinking two free throws to seal the victory. Larry led the way with an average of 25 points per game. What Was Michael Jordans Playoff Record? Despite good performances from Bird, Magic Johnson outplayed him as the jumbo sized Lakers guard won finals MVP. 1983: Moses Malone: C: Despite the similarities, the Lakers won the series in six games. Larry averaged 27-10-6. Larry Birds First NBA Championship 1981. The Celtics took four games to get by the Bullets in the first round best-of-five series. How Does Larry Birds Finals Record Compare to Other Great NBA Players? The series was not a close one: the Cs took a 3-0 lead before Milwaukee won their second home game to stay alive. The Knicks had slipped past a young Detroit Pistons team featuring Kelly Tripucka, Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer in five games in the first round. The games were reasonably close if the series was not. In the Celtics 1981 Championship, Bird did not win Finals MVP. As someone who watched Bird play and has now researched and written more than a half dozen articles about his career, I can help you out. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird's rivalry - Sportskeeda This Rockets team still had Robert Reid but now also featured Rodney McCray. The game was known as the "Heat Game", as it was played under 97F (36C) heat, and without any air conditioning, at Boston Garden. Larry Bird. Learn more and register, International Stats at Basketball-Reference.com, College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com, Scores from any date in BAA/NBA or ABA history, Frequently Asked Questions about the NBA, WNBA and Basketball, Basketball-Reference.com Blog and Articles, Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREE. The Celtics took seven games to defeat Bernard Kings Knicks in the conference semifinals. . Also, Bird pushed Michael Cooper to the baseline following the inbound play during the second quarter. When discussing his legacy with Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press (h/t the Daily Hampshire Gazette), Bird didnt take much time to sing his own praises. The Bucks were led in the series, as they had been in the regular season, by wing Marques Johnson and Hall of Fame guard Sidney Moncrief. Larry Birds Celtics lost two NBA Finals. Its pretty easy to forget how many times Bird has been in the NBA Finals with all of the many accolades and unbelievably, but true, stories about him. Hey, it's enough to make Allen Iverson burn his Celtics throwbacks. New York also featured Bill Cartwright and Rory Sparrow. Simmons says that he got the idea from watching basketball and looking at player statistics. The Cs won in a blowout in game 3 in Houston before Houston tied it up with a tight win in game 4. Washington Bullets 3-1, 1984 Conference Semis: Celtics def. His performances included scoring 60 points against the Hawks which is still a Boston record to this day. No stats available. Then head coach Bill Fitch resigned as head coach despite having the second-best coaching record in the NBA during his four-year stint in Boston. Tatum and the rest of his team are eager to avenge the loss in the Finals . The Boston Celtics legend is one of three players in NBA history to win three straight MVPs, and he helped the C's win three championships in the 1980s.. Bird, along with Los Angeles Lakers point guard Magic Johnson, helped take the NBA to another level. Larry Bird Championship #1: 1981 Boston Celtics, 1981 Conference Semis: Celtics def. Click the links to read up on the Finals records of the best players in league history. It was the beginning of one of the most legendary basketball rivalries in the history of the NBA, with Bird and Magic Johnson facing off against each other for the first time. He instead enrolled at the smaller Indiana State University. Larry Bird and Earvin Magic Johnson helped define the modern NBA with their individual brilliance and team success in the 1980s. Larry Bird | Boston Celtics | NBA.com In Game 3, the Lakers raced to an easy 137-104 victory as Magic Johnson dished out 21 assists, an NBA Finals record. The Sixers had an incredible roster featuring three Hall of Famers in Julius Dr. Former Celtics player M.L. As it turned out, Chauncey Billups was right about KG getting in trouble for being too vocal. This was the Celtics' first appearance in The Finals since their 1976 championship winning team against the Phoenix Suns.The Celtics were not quite the same team as five years before, as they added the likes of Larry Bird, Robert Parish, and Kevin McHale, a trio that would come to be known as "The Big Three." M. L. Carr, Cedric Maxwell, and Nate Archibald were also capable players off the . This cost the Lakers valuable depth, as James Worthy, a key contributor off the bench, would now have to start in Wilkes' place. Larry Bird had a winning record in NBA Finals games and series. Which player is ultimately better all-time is a different conversationbecause that includes a lot more than their individual matchups. Trailing in game 4, Kevin McHale clothes lined Kurt Rambis to spark the Cs to victory. Stephen Curry is now a career 21-4 (.840) in playoff series - Reddit Jordan averaged an insane 43.7 points, 5.7 assists and 6.3 rebounds for this. Larry Birds finals record was 3-2. Cedric Maxwell, Larry Birds teammate, was awarded Finals MVP with 18-9-3. By: HoopsHype. Hall of Fame. . Houston Rockets 4-2, who would briefly play with Bird later in his career, the greatest non-final series in NBA history, Bernard Cardinal Law, Larry Bird and Mayor Raymond L. Flynn. I write about games, players and seasons from the past. In his last season as the teams head coach, Birds Pacers were the number one seed in the east and were not really tested throughout the first three rounds of the playoffs. Larry Bird News, Biography, NBA Records, Stats & Facts - Sportskeeda With a new head coach in KC Jones and plenty of uncertainties, Carr said their motto for the season was Dont be denied. Scoring the rivalry: How Magic Johnson and Larry Bird played in their Two-time National Basketball Association champion Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell points to the pillars of the game when it comes to the question, "Who is the greatest NBA player of all time?" "I measure it by those who changed the game," said the former Boston Celtics standout on Sunday afternoon while taking part in the Legends & Stars Sports Expo at Batavia Downs Gaming. Referee Hugh Evans became dehydrated and fainted at one point in the first half. Should individual honors and scoring records take precedence? Reflecting back on the series, Magic Johnson said ". It went back and forth but the Celtics were able to walk away with a massive victory to seal the series. Bird also won Finals MVP in 1986 when he scored 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out 10 assists and had 2.7 steals per game. Larry Bird, the former basketball player for NBA's Boston Celtics, is a true icon in the world of basketball. In 1981, 1984 and 1986, it was Bird who led the Boston Celtics to championships, with him taking home two Finals MVP awards. 0:00. Bird picked up his first Finals MVP honurs. From a statistical perspective, he also averaged 24.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 6.3 assists across his career. The Bullets were the 8th seed in the East winning only 35 regular season games and finishing last in the Atlantic division. In 1987 the Lakers once again beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals. His performances helped to take the Celtics to 62 wins in the regular season, topping the NBA. 1st seed in the West, 2nd best league record. But it is also quite possible even probable that Larry Bird cost the Celtics the 1985 NBA championship.". Larry Joe Bird. Remember, Boston selected Larry in the 1978 draft but decided to return to Indiana State for his senior season. If you remember, there was Kevin McHales hit on Kurt Rambis, and there was Larry Bird bumping Michael Cooper out of bounds. Larry Bird averaged 24.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game for the series. With Kareem ageing, the Celtics hoped that they could win the finals. So for an entire decade, the NBA Finals included one of the two marquee franchises. Bird averaged 27.2 points, 9.6 boards and 7.0 assists for the series. Larry Bird beat iconic NBA players on his way to three NBA championships including Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Hakeem Olajuwon. Bird's 3 wins came against the Rockets (1981 & 1986) and the Lakers (1984). The Cs closed it out with a lopsided victory in game 5. Amazing! Carr revealed that the motto of the 1983-84 Celtics was Dont be denied, and the team ended up winning the championship that no one thought they would win. This Finals had everything. Do you have a sports website? What surprises me more, though, is that former NBA player, 38-year-old JJ Redick, can't admit that the NBA of the 1980s was more physical than the game played today.. Nearly two weeks ago, Redick caused a stir by saying Bird shouldn't be considered . These performances earned Bird his second MVP award. Milwaukee Bucks 4-0, 1986 NBA Finals: Celtics def.

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