Atlanta Hawks 4-1, 1986 Eastern Conference Final: Celtics def. All rights reserved. Larry Bird | Bio-married, divorce, affair, children - Playerswiki NY Knicks 4-3, 1984 Eastern Conference Final: Celtics def. The first two meetings of the season between Cleveland and Boston took OT, but the Celtics were able to sneak a 117-113 win at home. 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. Magic led the team in scoring this time but was still joined by the same stars: Kareem, James Worthy, Byron Scott and Michael Cooper. The Bucks swept the Nets in the first round then took seven games to get by a tough Sixers squad starring a young. He was pre-knee injury at this point and averaged 26 per game in the regular season and 29 per game in this series. The famous forward might not have been the most athletic man ever to hit the hardwood, but that wasnt a problem. In the Finals, Bird dropped a triple-double on the Rockets in a series-clinching Game 6, giving the Celtics another ring. Larry Bird's Famous Wife Not Everyone Knows - msn.com Net Worth, Salary & Earnings of Larry Bird in 2023. Do you have a sports website? The Lakers drew first blood but Boston evened the series in Game 2. Bird vs. Magic: Stats, Rings & Head-to-Head Record | Heavy.com Larry Bird's Celtics made the Finals in 1985 and 1987 but lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. 0:00. As of 2023, Larry Bird's net worth is around $80 million; he has different income sources. Larry Bird beat iconic NBA players on his way to three NBA championships including Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Hakeem Olajuwon. The Celtics again saw their Eastern Conference rivals matching up against the Milwaukee Bucks. After that the series was all Lakers, they won four of the next five games to end the series in six and hand Larry his first Finals loss. Magics Michigan State team won the game 75-64, preventing Bird from winning a title for Indiana State. Larry Bird: Biography. He was still one to wear what he wanted, enjoy the simple pleasures of life, and, in this case, refuse to hype up his own accomplishments. He has been an NBA champion in 1981, 1984 and 1986 out of which he was the NBA Finals MVP in 1984 and 1986. Though just looking at his record can get a bit confusing. Larry averaged 23-13-7 on his way to a four-game sweep. Larry Bird | Net Worth, Salary, And Career Earnings The Indiana-born was the highest-paid rookie of the year, with $3.25 million an average of $650,000 a year in a 5-year contract with the Celtics.Bird had played 879 games in his career until his retirement in 1992.. He won his second NBA Finals MVP. Larry Bird - Stats, Age & Height - Biography As the reigning rookie of the year, Bird led the Celtics to the finals, beginning with a sweep of the Bulls. However, this changed in the 1979 season when Birds Indiana State qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. Larry Bird (Larry Legend; The Hick from French Lick) Position: Forward 6-9, 220lb (206cm, 99kg) School: Indiana State (Men) Draft: Boston Celtics, 1st round (6th pick, 6th overall), 1978 NBA draft. Which NBA Team had the Most Hall of Famers for one Season. From a statistical perspective, he also averaged 24.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 6.3 assists across his career. Larry Bird reached 5 NBA Finals, wining 3 and losing 2, he played his entire career with the Boston Celtics. The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Lakers in 1983 and the Detroit Pistons snuck by the Lakers in 1989. Larry Bird Championship #1: 1981 Boston Celtics, 1981 Conference Semis: Celtics def. This site is a participant in the Impact Affiliate Platform which is an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Fanatics.com . BIrd averaged 27.4 points, 10.0 rebounds and 6.0 assist per game for the series. In terms of individual honors, he won the 1979-80 Rookie of the Year title, claimed three MVP crowns, and earned two NBA Finals MVP nods. The Celtics eventually prevailed in overtime 124-121, thanks to Scott Wedman's game-winning shot from the baseline with 14 ticks left. October 9, 2019. Trailing in game 4, Kevin McHale clothes lined Kurt Rambis to spark the Cs to victory. Larry Bird always showed up at the highest level when the Celtics needed him most. Bird and the Celtics lined up against the Los Angeles Lakers who took them to seven games. The Bucks now featured a young Terry Cummings along with Paul Pressey and Sidney Moncrief. Houston had a tough road to the Finals: they beat the defending champion Lakers featuring both. AP Was There: Bird beats Magic in 1st Finals showdown - USA Today . * Larry Bird was injured and missed the playoffs in 1989. His individual performance was recognised all across the NBA as he helped Boston to a then record breaking 67-15 regular season record. After the tournament, both entered the NBA in the 197980 season with high expectations. What is Larry Birds Record in the NBA Finals? 1984: Larry Bird: Boston Celtics: No stats available. They lost twice to the same team: the Los Angeles Lakers. Both teams could have easily succeeded in taking the Eastern Conference Finals. 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. . Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? It must have lit a fire underneath Larry because he didnt let anything get in his way during his sophomore season. Larry was no slouch, averaging 15-15-7 in a 4-2 series win. larry bird finals record - josieya Magic gets the edge because he finished his career stronger, he was able to get/maybe steal from Charles Barkley the 1990 MVP, and he got the Lakers to another finals in 91, after 88 and the injuries Boston was done being any kind of serious contender they never got past the second round again for the rest of Larry Bird's time but if you're talkin Peak vs. The 86 Celts, in the conversation for the greatest team of all time, defeated Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest player of all time, in the first round. 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 . Do you have a blog? NAME DATE SEASON SERIES TM OPP REC W% MIN PTS REB AST STL BLK TOV FGM FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3P% FTM FTA FT% PF +/-Magic Johnson: 5/27/1984: 1983-84 . Have the Phoenix Suns ever won the NBA title? The teams traded games throughout the series. How Many Games Did Larry Bird Miss A Season Due To Injury | StatMuse During that year Lesley Visser, Stockton's wife, became the first woman to cover the NBA Finals for CBS. The trade signaled a transition period, as some of the key players from the first two championships gave way to younger talent. The Lakers took an early lead in overtime, but a controversial foul call foul on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with 16 seconds remaining in regulation, had been his 6th foul, and he was out of the game. Birds 2 Finals losses both came against the Lakers and Magic Johnson, 1985 & 1987. Bird averaged 24 points per game as Boston won the series in six to net him his THIRD ring. Bird's Boston Celtics finished 16-15 in NBA Finals games and 3-2 in NBA Finals series. 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. [1] The Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeated the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. Unlike some of the other players that have gone down in NBA History, Larry didnt leave his team whatsoever. 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. He worked the first half, but was replaced by John Vanak for the second half. The Cs won games five and six by two points each to reach game 7. But does that record provide a fair verdict on James' performance in the NBA Finals? The Houston Rockets were mostly a completely different team from the Moses Malone-led Rockets of the 1981 Finals. Larry Bird Vs Magic Johnson : r/nba - Reddit The Celtics-Lakers rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. Larry Bird is 6-9. He banked in a shot with a minute to go to put the Cs ahead for good and they won 91-90. talent just don't get it. The Los Angeles Lakers won both games in the regular season series: The Lakers opened the series with a 115-109 victory at Boston Garden. The 1984 NBA Finals is considered one of the most epic series in league history. The Celtics ended the series shooting 52% from the field while holding the Bucks to 44% shooting. The Boston Celtics were matched up against the Houston Rockets, led by Hall of Famer Moses Malone. Here's when Larry Bird, Magic Johnson learned they have a lot - Yahoo Amazing! Stephen Curry is now a career 21-4 (.840) in playoff series - Reddit How to say Basketball in different languages? Los Angeles Lakers 4-3, Larry Bird Championship #3: 1986 Boston Celtics, 1986 First Round: Celtics def. In Game 7, the heat that was an issue in Game 5 was not as bad (indoor temperatures hovered around 91F (33C) during the game, due to additional fans being brought in to try to cool the air). Larry Bird had a winning record in NBA Finals games and series. Larry Bird could do it all on the basketball court. 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. Scoring the rivalry: How Magic Johnson and Larry Bird played in their Below you can see the playoff results for all of Birds Celtics teams. Celtics Starters: Tiny Archibald, Chris Ford, Larry Bird, Cedric Cornbread Maxwell and Robert Parish. Larry Bird's continuing influence on the game of basketball crossed a new threshold . It was one of the most dominant playoff runs that we had ever seen in basketball at this time and it was hard to imagine them as anything other than favorites entering that series against the Rockets, a team that they already beat in the championship before. He was a monster, averaging 22-16 in this Finals series. How Does Larry Birds Finals Record Compare to Other Great NBA Players? We are compensated for referring traffic and business to Fanatics.com and other companies linked to on this site. Bostons setbacks didnt end on the basketball court. Larry Bird's Stats For Each Season: Consistency Was The Key, He What Was Michael Jordans Playoff Record? 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. Larry Bird was one of the most polished rookies to enter the league and was great for the Celtics right from game one. If you were wondering about his career numbers while we wrap this up, he averaged 24.3 points, 10 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.8 blocks per game. This was a fantastic series overall. His accolades are countless, with the former Indiana State man being an NBA legend. What Was Michael Jordans Playoff Record? This was the last NBA Finals to use the 22111 format until 2014. Head-to-Head Regular Season Stats. The Celtics won the third and final title of the Bird era with a victory over the twin towers of the Houston Rockets. J Erving, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Larry Bird. As weve mentioned, all these players were inducted into the Hall of Fame. 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. He averaged 30.3 points, 13.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game across his three seasons, winning Naismith College Player of the Year in 1979. 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. Larry averaged 27-10-7 and led the Celtics with 36 points in a game-five win that saw the Celtics beat the Hawks by 33 points. Johnson won 11 of those games, posting averages of 19.4 points, 11.5 assists and 6.8 rebounds in their head-to-head matchups compared to 21.7 points, 10.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game for Bird. In his career, Larry Bird won three NBA regular season MVP awards. 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. . 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. December 7, The NBA Finals series was closer than either of the Conference Finals. Only the strong survive. His performances helped to take the Celtics to 62 wins in the regular season, topping the NBA. She reported on the Celtics' sideline while Pat O'Brien reported on the Lakers' sideline. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its clubs. Big Names Off the Bench: Kevin McHale, Danny Ainge, Quinn Buckner, Scott Wedman. In Birds rookie season in the league, he helped lead the Boston Celtics all the way into the Eastern Conference Finals. This was Birds last season with Indiana State as he had been drafted by the Celtics in 1978, but chose to play out one final year with his college instead of going straight to the NBA. The Celtics struggled to slow down finals MVP Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bird struggled compared to his incredibly high standards. Between 1980 and 1989, there were only two seasons that ended with someone other than Johnson or Bird winning the title. Springs Valley in French Lick, Indiana, Draft: [2] It was also the last time that a team with home court advantage in the NBA finals played Game 5 on its own floor until 2014. Indiana took Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Traditional Jayson Tatum passed Larry Bird for the most 30 point games One of the ongoing debates within the world of sports centers around how you define greatness. Some notable games between the two of them: At least when it comes to how they fared in theirhead-to-head matchups. Magic beat Larry in their college showdown, but Bird made sure he got his revenge in 1984. Finally, lets discuss the NBA Finals. The 1984 championship series scored high TV ratings. Michael Cooper Explains What Made Larry Bird 'Larger Than Life' - MSN NBA Awards - Finals MVP - National Basketball Association - ESPN So lets look at the 1984 NBA season. Larry Bird - College Basketball At Sports-Reference 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. You can only imagine how fiery this rivalry was, with two consecutive seven-game series in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics were led by Cedric Maxwell who had 24 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as they came away with a 111-102 victory. The top 31 players and coaches, The Bulls featured Reggie Theus and Artis Gilmore (. New York also featured Bill Cartwright and Rory Sparrow. Keep reading to learn more about each championship win, the series leading up to the finals, and each Larry Bird championship season. 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. In the playoffs, the team went 15-3 en route to winning the championship. Sadly for Bird, the Pacers lost the series in six games. NAME. Maxwell later claimed he said something like that but not quite so family friendly. Despite home wins in games three and five, the Pacers lost the series in six games, with Shaq and Kobe just being too much for Indianas stars. By: HoopsHype. Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He averaged 15.3 points, 15.3 rebounds and 7.0 assists for the series. The Detroit Pistons took two games off them in the second round but it didnt matter, Bird averaged 28 points per game as they won in six. Funny story about that series, Boston was actually down 3-1 entering Game 5, and Bird ended up dropping 32, 25 and 23 points in each of those games to rally off three straight wins and advance his team to the Finals. The Celtics then knocked the 76ers off once again, this time in five games and advanced to the Finals for the second time in as many years. In Game 6, the Lakers evened the series with a 119-108 victory. The first round was a 3-1 victory over the Washington Bullets. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Those same Lakers defeated Bird in both his finals losses. He was one member of the greatest rivalry in the leagues history between himself and Los Angeles Lakers superstar Magic Johnson. In their professional careers, Bird played for the Boston Celtics and Magic played for the Los Angeles . The Hawks also still had good rebounder Tree Rollis. 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. Hakeem was no slouch, averaging the most points and rebounds in the NBA playoffs. "Wilt . Right, Born: Hey, it's enough to make Allen Iverson burn his Celtics throwbacks. While Bird did not have the finals success of a Jordan or Russell, he still had a better record than greats including LeBron and Wilt. 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. The Lakers were coming off a four-game sweep by the Philadelphia 76ers in the previous year's finals. Birds Celtics beat three pretty different teams in their Finals victories despite two of them being the Houston Rockets. 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. Meanwhile, the Clydesdales, AKA the Celtics, were coming off a season where they went 56-26 and were swept by the Milwaukee Bucks in round 2 of the playoffs. You can't tell the story of the 1980s without Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. M.L. Carr on Lakers vs. Celtics 1984 Finals being epic - Basketball He made the Finals five times in his thirteen-year career, winning the championship in 1981, 1984, and 1986. Aside from stats, Larry Bird was a winner, bringing home multiple championship rings during his time with the Celtics. Home; Tickets; Schedule. Finals stats: 19.4 points, 11.7 assists and 7.9 rebounds in 50 games Finals rank: . Despite this, Bird did not win any championships during his college career. Despite a back injury in the 1985 offseason, Bird averaged 25.8 points, 9.8 rebound and 6.8 assists per game and for the third straight season, the Celtics finished top of the Eastern Conference. The first happened in 1985, a year after the Celtics had defeated the Lakers in the finals. Larry Birds NBA Finals record is 3-2. The Celtics made short work of the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals, winning in five games. Magic led the Lakers to victory at home in game 6, setting the stage for a Boston Garden Game 7. Who Did Larry Bird Lose To In the NBA Finals? The Laker momentum was stalled, and Larry Bird came up with a crucial jumper over Magic Johnson with 16 seconds remaining in overtime, then M.L. They easily won their first round series against the Washington Bullets as they were named at that time, then advanced and knocked off the New York Knicks in a seven-game series. The seeds of the 1984 Finals were first sown five years earlier, during the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Certain completely unbiased fans, like myself, rank him very highly in that top ten. Bird was named Finals MVP after averaging 27.4 points, 14.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game in the series. The Lakers took game 1 in Boston and looked like they made take a commanding 2-0 lead when Gerald Henderson stole the ball and the series. Larry Bird Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more He won his second NBA Finals MVP. Larry Bird's Career Record vs. NBA Legends: He Beat Michael Jordan 23 Despite getting swept in the 1983 NBA Finals by the Philadelphia 76ers, the Lakers entered the season among the favorites to win the title. Boston's most crucial addition was Dennis Johnson, whom they acquired from the Phoenix Suns in the offseason in hopes of addressing their porous back-court defense. FTA complete back to 1948-49. I wrote about his record in the NBA Finals here. 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. In the game the Lakers answered the Celtics' rough tactics when Laker forward James Worthy shoved Cedric Maxwell into a basket support. This series was an eye-opener into how good the Celtics were this season. Birds Pacers swept the Bucks and the Sixers in the first two rounds of the playoffs and looked likely to make it to the finals as they came up against the eight seed New York Knicks in the conference finals. Your default site has been set for 7 days, Scoring the rivalry: How Magic Johnson and Larry Bird played in their legendary head-to-head matchups. The Pacers had two pretty comfortable series to begin the 1998 post season with wins over the Cavaliers and the Knicks. Bird has four siblings' all brothers named Mike .
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