Jordan scored an all-time playoff record in game 2: 63 points. Hey, it's enough to make Allen Iverson burn his Celtics throwbacks. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Adding one more hall of famer, Bill Walton, put this team over the top. 1984: Larry Bird: Boston Celtics: No stats available. Fox believes the Westbrook is the most scrutinized player in the NBA, while also stating that everyone inside the league loves Westbrook, regardless of what the outside perception may be, Arenas believes that the Grizzlies should ignore Morant's actions because every other team would and he's a productive player for them, Tim Hardaway told his favorite Run TMC story involving Don Nelson which resulted to an unforgettable moment for the group. Top 15 Worst NBA Finals Performances by a Star - TheSportster Julius Erving, in full Julius Winfield Erving II, byname Doctor J, (born February 22, 1950, Roosevelt, New York, U.S.), American collegiate and professional basketball player who was one of the most colourful and exciting figures in the game during the 1970s and '80s. Things werent as cheerful from this point forward for Boston though. 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. 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. The Larry Bird Finals Record is a statistic of the player who most often wins the NBA Finals. Celtics-Lakers Rivalry | Basketball Wiki | Fandom Some of the greats Bird defeated in the playoffs include Moses Malone, Julius Dr. 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. In addition to Nique, the Hawks starred Kevin Willis. He shone as a head coach and executive for the Indiana Pacers; in fact, hes the only man in history to win Rookie of the Year, MVP, Finals MVP, All-Star MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year. The Celtics-Lakers rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. Keep reading to learn more about each championship win, the series leading up to the finals, and each Larry Bird championship season. Stephen Curry is now a career 21-4 (.840) in playoff series - Reddit Larry Bird said there were 'obvious' differences between himself and Magic Johnson. The Celtics then took the series lead for the first time by winning Game 5 but the thoroughbred Lakers sent the series to a Game 7 with their own double-digit win. You can't tell the story of the 1980s without Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Larry Bird - 1981 Finals (All Points + Passing & Rebounding) he guided the Pacers to a 58-24 record, which was the best in franchise history at the time. The Celtics played in two other Finals series with Bird, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in '85 and '87. Larry Birds finals record was 3-2. Larry averaged 27-10-6. In 1985, the Lakers beat the Celtics behind FInals MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In 1979, Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird faced off for the first time in the NBA. Larry Bird. So lets look at the 1984 NBA season. Despite just reaching the finals, Bird stuck to his word and resigned shortly after the finals, taking up the role of Pacers president of basketball operations in 2003. Marques Johnson and Sidney Moncrief led the Bucks. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Larry Bird Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more Cedric 'Cornbread' Maxwell speaks out on GOAT, today's NBA, Larry Bird Bird won two finals against very different Houston Rockets teams and one against the Showtime Lakers featuring Kareem and Magic. Head-to-Head Regular Season Stats. LeBron James' teams have met or exceeded expectations in NBA Finals The 1984 championship series scored high TV ratings. Also, Bird pushed Michael Cooper to the baseline following the inbound play during the second quarter. There were three Larry Bird championships with the Boston Celtics: in 1981, 1984 and 1986. Birds Celtics beat three pretty different teams in their Finals victories despite two of them being the Houston Rockets. Here are some of Larry Bird's notable career achievements and statistics: Three-time NBA champion (1981, 1984, 1986) . Despite getting swept in the 1983 NBA Finals by the Philadelphia 76ers, the Lakers entered the season among the favorites to win the title. Sample Searches for learning more about the power and flexibility of Stathead. . If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this. It did not slow Bird down as he won a title the next season with the now legendary 86 Celtics. Despite this, Bird did not win any championships during his college career. Between 1980 and 1989, there were only two seasons that ended with someone other than Johnson or Bird winning the title. Bird's Boston Celtics won the NBA championship three times during his career (1981 and '86 vs. the Houston Rockets, '84 vs. the Los Angeles Lakers), and Bird won Finals MVP in '84 and '86. Magic beat Larry in their college showdown, but Bird made sure he got his revenge in 1984. In the game, the Lakers rallied to cut a 14-point-deficit to three with one minute remaining when Cedric Maxwell knocked the ball away from Magic Johnson. It featured the first time that Larry Bird met Magic Johnson in the NBA Finals, their first head-to-head championship meeting since the 1979 NCAA title game. The series was not a close one: the Cs took a 3-0 lead before Milwaukee won their second home game to stay alive. Hakeem was no slouch, averaging the most points and rebounds in the NBA playoffs. What Was Michael Jordans Playoff Record? Bird finished second in the MVP voting to Malone and was unable to lead the Celtics back to the Conference Finals. Larry Bird then married Dinah Mattingly on September 30, 1989, who he met while studying at the Indiana State University. Some of Johnson's notable performances against Bird: As for some of Bird's notable performances against Johnson: Johnson and Bird played against each other 19 times in the playoffs over the course of three NBA Finals. 0:00. BIrd averaged 27.4 points, 10.0 rebounds and 6.0 assist per game for the series. Johnson was called "Tragic Johnson" by Celtics fans due to the two crucial errors he committed in Game 4 (the Parish steal, followed by two botched free throws in OT). His team mate Cedric Maxwell won MVP. Larry Bird's Celtics made the Finals in 1985 and 1987 but lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. I write about games, players and seasons from the past. The Lakers were coming off a four-game sweep by the Philadelphia 76ers in the previous year's finals. Bird won their first meeting in seven games, winning the NBA Finals MVP. Larry Bird was named MVP of the series. Magic led the team in scoring this time but was still joined by the same stars: Kareem, James Worthy, Byron Scott and Michael Cooper. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this. They quickly swept the Chicago Bulls, then marched down and knocked off the 76ers in a revenge series that wound up going into seven games. Larry wouldnt have been a controversial choice, but Cedric Maxwell was the emotional center of the Celtics and meant so much to the teams culture. Required fields are marked *. The 1987 Finals was the culmination of Magic and Bird's decade-long rivalry that dominated the NBA. Bird has four siblings' all brothers named Mike . The 1984 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 198384 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. A superstar. The Celtics had lost to the Lakers in the finals the previous year, but this time their opposition was the Houston Rockets. Find out more. Larry Birds Finals record is in the lower half of the list of all-time greats below. Copyright 2023 Sporting News Holdings Limited. But it was in 1986 when the Celtics faced the Houston Rockets for the championship when Bird . The seeds of the 1984 Finals were first sown five years earlier, during the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Isn't 15.3 points, 15.3 rebounds and 7 assists per game one of the coolest statlines for an NBA playoff series ever?A quote from Larry Bird's book "Drive" co. Between the two players, they won eight NBA titles, five Finals MVP awards, six league MVP . Data runs from 1946-47 to present unless otherwise noted. And, to be clear, he came by it honestly. Seriously, check out his Basketball Reference page. I am fully convinced that anyone under the age of 40 will never admit Larry Bird was a better player than Stephen Curry. How Many Championships did Larry Bird win? They lost twice to the same team: the Los Angeles Lakers. I have been a Boston sports fan for more than forty years. The 1981 Finals MVP Cedric Maxwell led the team in scoring after saying something like Get on my back boys before the game. These performances earned Bird his second MVP award. 1984 was against the Los Ange. Bird only averaged 15 points per game throughout the series but he did drop a series high 27 points in Game 6 to officially send the Rockets packing, as Bird won his first chip. Featured Image Photo Credit: Adapted from:Bernard Cardinal Law, Larry Bird and Mayor Raymond L. FlynnbyBoston City Archivesis licensed underCC BY 2.0. Fast forward a couple of seasons and Bird marched his team back into the 1984 postseason. The Bucks, coached by Celtics legend Don Nelson, won the Central Division title in 1984. The Celtics entered the next season off a high, cruising into the NBA playoffs and sweeping Cleveland in the opening series. Indiana took Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. 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. Unfortunately, the team was defeated by the Philadelphia 76ers in five games and they were sent home. Copyright 2023 Sports Nostalgia HQ | Powered by Astra WordPress Theme, By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. (Larry Legend, The Hick from French Lick, Kodak, The Great White Hope), Position: Larry, to his credit, was phenomenal. The Eastern Conference Finals were much more difficult. While he didnt change who he was if anything, the Hick from French Lick was remarkably consistent he had an incredibly low-key take when it came to his own legacy. The top 31 players and coaches, In 1981, the Celtics beat a Houston Rockets team featuring, In 1984, Birds Celtics beat the Showtime Lakers featuring, In 1986 the Celtics defeated a pretty different Houston Rockets squad. We present them here for purely educational purposes. With Kareem ageing, the Celtics hoped that they could win the finals. The NBA Finals series was closer than either of the Conference Finals. At the end of the season, Bird was named Coach of the Year. Bird: "So you're overpaid.". He won his second NBA Finals MVP. Have the Phoenix Suns ever won the NBA title? Noise Group Limited is a UK registered company. Larry Bird - College Basketball At Sports-Reference The following year, the NBA Finals format was changed to 232 after Red Auerbach complained about the constant travelling during the Finals. Larry was no slouch, averaging 15-15-7 in a 4-2 series win. It was yet again against the Lakers and they split the first two games 1-1. Birds college career as a whole was exceptional. 1979-80 Bird 1980-81 Bird 1981-82 Bird 1982-83 Bird 1983-84 Bird 1984-85 Bird 1985-86 Bird 1986-87 Bird 1987-88 Bird 1988-89 Bird 1989-90 Bird 1990-91 Bird 1991-92 Bird 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 82 82 77 79 79 80 82 74 76 6 75 60 45. Magic beat Larry in their college showdown, but Bird made sure he got his revenge in 1984. Bernard Cardinal Law, Larry Bird and Mayor Raymond L. Flynn. Featuring prime Larry Legend, apex Kevin Mchale, Robert Parish, and Dennis Johnson. However, its the only individual award Cedric Maxwell won in his career. The Lakers fell in the Western Conference finals to a new team that sprung up seemingly out of nowhere. Birds Celtics also defeated a very different Rockets team in 1981. Bird became only the third player in NBA history to win three titles in a row. Birds third and final NBA championship came in 1986. He swept through the Bulls the next year, then beat the Atlanta Hawks in five games, then swept the Bucks. May 12, 2022. In the Celtics 1981 Championship, Bird did not win Finals MVP. This included a Game six victory where a hostile Boston crowd booed Ralph Sampson, sapping his confidence to the point he only had 8 points on 3-12 shooting. The Hawks also still had good rebounder Tree Rollis. Bird averaged 22.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game for the series. Magic Johnson Finals Record Vs Larry Bird | StatMuse Larry Bird Q&A: Being a white player in the NBA, trash - Andscape 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. The Lakers were indeed the thoroughbreds that year. 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. Bird's Pacers fell in the East finals in '98 and '99, then came up short in the NBA Finals in 2000 against the Los Angeles Lakers. What is Larry Bird's record in the NBA Finals? - Quora Larry Bird NBA Finals Stats | StatMuse Sadly for Bird, the Pacers lost the series in six games. Bird won three in a row between 1983 and 1986, whereas Johnson closedthe decade out with a pair ofMVP awards. In the Finals, Bird dropped a triple-double on the Rockets in a series-clinching Game 6, giving the Celtics another ring. He averaged 15.3 points, 15.3 rebounds and 7.0 assists for the series. He was pre-knee injury at this point and averaged 26 per game in the regular season and 29 per game in this series. Despite the similarities, the Lakers won the series in six games. Join us for a March Madness Webinar on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm ET. Regular Season Record: 62-20 (The Celtics tied with 76ers for 1st in the Atlantic Division, Eastern Conference and the NBA but the Cs got the #1 seed in a tiebreaker by winning the last game of the season vs the Sixers). Those other two times? Carr as he left the floor, causing him to label the series "all-out-war.". In his second season with the Celtics, Boston finished first in the East as they had done the previous year. His first MVP award was in 1984. Larry Bird was a star. Who Did Larry Bird Defeat in the NBA Finals? They did make the playoffs the year after and many thought that they would easily repeat at first. He finished 1986 with averages of 25-10-7. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. NY Knicks 4-3, 1984 Eastern Conference Final: Celtics def. Now, the explanation. Bird does not have any titles outside of the NBA, despite making the NCAA tournament final in 1979. 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. Summary: Larry Bird's Finals Record. 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. But what is Larry Birds record in the NBA Finals? Referee Hugh Evans became dehydrated and fainted at one point in the first half. The Celtics and Lakers met in the NBA Finals in 1984, 1985, and 1987 with Bird and Cooper going at it. In 1987-88, Bird was the first Celtic ever to record a 40-20 game, with a 42-point, 20-rebound effort against Indiana. Regardless, Johnson and Bird are widelyregarded as beingtwo of thegreatest players to have ever played the gameand they made for one of the greatest rivalries, one that will never be forgotten. The Bucks won a five-game series over the Hawks to start the playoffs and got by Darryl Dawkins and his NJ Nets in round 2. Three seasons later, the Celtics were in the finals again and this time they faced the Los Angeles Lakers and Magic Johnson for the first time. Larry Bird News, Biography, NBA Records, Stats & Facts - Sportskeeda If you click and purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. The league had changed the Finals homecourt schedule to the 2-3-2 format that year, allowing the team with the lesser record (LA) to host the middle three games. Another book that demonstrated the competitive drive amongst athletes was, Magic/ Bird written by Eric Simonson. We have seen some teams lose in the NBA Finals off of some injuries and other situations leading up to it that the box score doesnt show, so lets dive into Birds record. The Knicks were led by the explosive scorer Bernard King, who averaged 29-5-3 in the series. Bird vs. Magic: Stats, Rings & Head-to-Head Record | Heavy.com He joined the Celtics a year later. Who Did Larry Bird Lose To In the NBA Finals? Birds great performances in games one and six helped lead the Celtics to the title and Bird claimed his first NBA Championship in 1981. While that body of work would give anyone the right to too their own horn, Larry Legend took a different course of action. Larry Bird Championship #1: 1981 Boston Celtics, 1981 Conference Semis: Celtics def. Amazing! The first round was a 3-1 victory over the Washington Bullets. His teams overall record in finals games was 16-15. At that time, Bird also expressed unhappiness over Mangurians decision to sell the team, and he was one of the players who defended Fitch after they were swept by the Bucks. Bird is a universally known NBA legend and is often credited with the NBAs explosion of popularity in the 1980s. Here are some of the records and historical rankings that Larry Bird achieved at Indiana State: A member of the 2,000-point, 1,000-rebound club: 2,850 points and 1,247 rebounds Indiana State's all . Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Maybe you lived through the glory days of the 1980s Celtics but you cant quite remember how Bird got his rings. J Erving, The Sixers swept a weak Indiana Pacers team in round 1 (2-0) then went seven games to defeat a tough Milwaukee Bucks team starring Bob Lanier, Marques Johnson and. Their rivalry was second to none and saw them meet up in the NBA Finals three times. The next year, the NBA Finals switched to the 2-3-2 format with Game 5 going to the team without home-court advantage, which continued through 2013. Larry Bird Had a Perfectly Understated Response While Discussing His The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Lakers in 1983 and the Detroit Pistons snuck by the Lakers in 1989. 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 7564. . What is Larry Bird's Record in the NBA Finals? In Game 3, the Lakers raced to an easy 137-104 victory as Magic Johnson dished out 21 assists, an NBA Finals record. They beat the Rockets twice and the Lakers once to win NBA titles. It was a tough six game slugfest with the Houston Rockets but Bird and company were just too good. Cedric Maxwell, Larry Birds teammate, was awarded Finals MVP with 18-9-3. The Cs closed it out winning game four by 3 points. 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. I wrote about his underrated defense here. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. By: HoopsHype. The 1984 NBA Finals was the first championship meeting between old rivals Boston and Los Angeles since 1969. How to say Basketball in different languages? Larry Bird Championships: He Defeated the Best! He averaged 27.4 points, 14.0 boards and 3.6 assists per game for the series.
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