larry bird finals record

Sadly for Bird, the Pacers lost the series in six games. Legends profile: Larry Bird | NBA.com (Larry Legend, The Hick from French Lick, Kodak, The Great White Hope) Position: Small Forward and Power Forward Shoots: Right. Philadelphia 76ers 4-3, 1981 NBA Finals: Celtics def. 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. 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. The Bulls had swept the Knicks 2-0 in a best-of-three first round. Trailing in game 4, Kevin McHale clothes lined Kurt Rambis to spark the Cs to victory. The Sixers took an 89-82 lead with five+ minutes to go. Larry Bird Championships: He Defeated the Best! 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. Atlanta Hawks 4-1, 1986 Eastern Conference Final: Celtics def. Also, Bird pushed Michael Cooper to the baseline following the inbound play during the second quarter. Noise Group Limited is a UK registered company. All rights reserved. Larry Bird could do it all on the basketball court. How many games did Larry Bird field goal miss a season due to injury? 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. Why did David Stern Veto the Chris Paul to the Lakers Trade? . The Celtics took seven games to defeat Bernard Kings Knicks in the conference semifinals. Magic vs. Bird: Reliving rivalry 40 Years after first NBA matchup Tree had famously bit Danny Ainge in a playoff fight three seasons prior. James has as many series losses in the Finals as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Larry Bird combined. Amazing! Larry Bird - Wikipedia Larry Joe Bird. Bird: "So you're overpaid.". Im kind of country, she explained. He finished 1986 with averages of 25-10-7. The series was not a close one: the Cs took a 3-0 lead before Milwaukee won their second home game to stay alive. New York also featured Bill Cartwright and Rory Sparrow. He made the Finals five times in his thirteen-year career, winning the championship in 1981, 1984, and 1986. Reflecting back on the series, Magic Johnson said ". In the Western Conference Finals the Rockets handled the defending champion Lakers in five games. Sadly, after that Finals loss, Bird never made it into another Finals series. While everyone has their own favorite NBA players, its impossible to argue with Larry Birds position in the all-time basketball pantheon. So for an entire decade, the NBA Finals included one of the two marquee franchises. Copyright 2023 Sporting News Holdings Limited. Milwaukee Bucks 4-0, 1986 NBA Finals: Celtics def. SI examines the rivalry between the basketball hall of famers and how they changed the landscape of the NBA. If you click and purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. That's the first time the (80's) Lakers ever encountered that, someone stronger minded. Even when he found fame and fortune, the NBA star never forgot his humble roots. Have the Phoenix Suns ever won the NBA title? On May 16, 1985 the off-day between Games 2 and 3 of . But does that record provide a fair verdict on James' performance in the NBA Finals? 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. . 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. * 1981: Boston Celtics def. The Celtics and Lakers met in the NBA Finals in 1984, 1985, and 1987 with Bird and Cooper going at it. 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. Big Names Off the Bench: Jerry Sichting, Bill Walton and Scott Wedman. The Celtics entered the next season off a high, cruising into the NBA playoffs and sweeping Cleveland in the opening series. His back suffered major issues, as he injured it building on his farm. Larry Bird Had a Perfectly Understated Response While Discussing His All-NBA First-Teamers NOT in the Hall of Fame, Basketball Positions 101: Understanding the Different Roles on the Court, The Best NBA Players to NOT Make the Hall of Fame, The Best All-Defensive Team in NBA History, The All-Time Worst NBA Finals Performances by a Superstar by Position. No matter which side of the aisle you find yourself on, though, Larry Bird has you covered. After the game, Larry Bird said his team played like "sissies" in an attempt to light a fire under his teammates. It's an era thing. M.L. Carr on Lakers vs. Celtics 1984 Finals being epic - Basketball Answer (1 of 43): To start by answering the question, I'd say - yes. Michael Cooper Explains What Made Larry Bird 'Larger Than Life' - MSN 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. . He stayed loyal to the Celtics throughout his entire career and they were the team that reaped the benefits of his five NBA Finals appearances and three NBAchampionships. Bird averaged 22.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game for the series. During that year Lesley Visser, Stockton's wife, became the first woman to cover the NBA Finals for CBS. 1956 He and Chauncey Billups are the only two retired players to win Finals MVP but not to make the Hall of Fame. 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. Celtics forward Larry Bird averaged 27 points and 14 rebounds a game during the series, earning the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP). Magic Johnson Finals Record Vs Larry Bird | StatMuse Larry pushed the Celtics out of the second round with an easy 4-1 series win over the Atlanta Hawks, led at the time by Dominique Wilkins. In Game 6, the Lakers evened the series with a 119-108 victory. Then came the championship series. Houston Rockets 4-2, Larry Bird Championship #2: 1984 Boston Celtics, 1984 First Round: Celtics def. Larry, to his credit, was phenomenal. Top 15 Worst NBA Finals Performances by a Star - TheSportster The Celtics ended up shedding the ghosts of the last season and convincingly won 4-1. Boston entered the new decade by winning the 1981 NBA Finals. Sadly for Bird, Michigan State were just too much for him as the Spartans ran out 75-64 winners. Chicago Bulls 4-1, 1981 Eastern Conference Final: Celtics def. What Was Michael Jordans Playoff Record? Michael Jordans First Championship: An Epic Run! That went to Birds teammate. The Celtics played in two other Finals series with Bird, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in '85 and '87. These performances earned Bird his second MVP award. After going 33-0, Bird led his team to the final of the tournament where he faced off against Magic Johnson and Michigan State. The Bulls lost Michael Jordan for most of this season to a foot injury and they were mostly terrible, finishing 4th in the Central Division. Another book that demonstrated the competitive drive amongst athletes was, Magic/ Bird written by Eric Simonson. The Pacers had two pretty comfortable series to begin the 1998 post season with wins over the Cavaliers and the Knicks. His teams overall record in finals games was 16-15. Everything you wanted to know about Indiana legend Larry Bird The teams traded games throughout the series. As for their averages, Johnson posted 20.7 points, 13.5 assists and 7.5 rebounds per game in their head-to-head matchups in the Finals compared to Bird's 25.3 points, 11.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists. There were three Larry Bird championships with the Boston Celtics: in 1981, 1984 and 1986. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. In the Celtics 1981 Championship, Bird did not win Finals MVP. Those other two times? 0:00. Larry Bird Owns Many Records, But Only One Unique One Bird owns a unique NBA record. The Larry Bird Finals Record was first recorded by Bill Simmons in his book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. BIrd averaged 27.4 points, 10.0 rebounds and 6.0 assist per game for the series. 1983: Moses Malone: C: Larry Bird | Bio-married, divorce, affair, children - Playerswiki 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. The Cs were heavily favored and had won 10 straight vs the Rockets, but Houston put up more of a fight than expected. If you click and purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. They snuck into the playoffs because of a weak Central division. Even with Jordan exploding, only game two was close at 135-131. In his career, Larry Bird won three NBA regular season MVP awards. The Celtics had Larry Bird as their centerpiece and posted a record of 67-15, including an NBA record 40 wins at home. Bird won Finals MVP in 1984 when his Celttics defeated the Lakers in seven games. Key Names off the Bench: Kevin McHale, Gerald Henderson, Rick Robey and M.L. the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. Coopers. So lets look at the 1984 NBA season. Pretty good matchup between he and MJ. 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. Things werent as cheerful from this point forward for Boston though. Larry Birds First NBA Championship 1981. Scoring the rivalry: How Magic Johnson and Larry Bird played in their The last four games all came down to the last shot, with all the games being decided by two points or less. (Larry Legend, The Hick from French Lick, Kodak, The Great White Hope), Position: Bird averaged 24.2 points,10.1 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game in the 1983-84 season. Whether he makes an All-Defense team this season remains to be seen, but few wings in the association deserve more recognition than McDaniels this campaign. 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. The Pacers got their revenge on the Knicks, winning the eastern conference finals in six games to go up against the Lakers. At 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 metres), Erving played forward and was noted for his fast breaks, balletic leaps toward the basket . 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. Bird won the first Finals meeting between them in 1984 and Johnson won the two others; one in 1985, the other in 1987. Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.He is the only person in NBA history to be named Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, Finals . Stephen Curry is now a career 21-4 (.840) in playoff series - Reddit 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 . Bird and the Celtics lined up against the Los Angeles Lakers who took them to seven games. His team mate Cedric Maxwell won MVP. 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. Birds Celtics also defeated a very different Rockets team in 1981. Julius Erving | Biography, Stats, & Facts | Britannica Keep reading to learn more about each championship win, the series leading up to the finals, and each Larry Bird championship season. 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. In total, Larry Bird went to five NBA finals in his career. Thanks in main to two close overtime wins, Boston won the series in seven games despite Bird struggling in the deciding game. Larry Bird won three championships as a player, but did not win any as a coach. Michael Cooper Backs Larry Bird and Blasts JJ Redick, Calling Him a Poor Mans Danny Ainge. The Celtics won the Finals convincingly 4-2. * Larry Bird was injured and missed the playoffs in 1989. Larry Bird is 6-9. Tatum and the rest of his team are eager to avenge the loss in the Finals . The Lakers were coming off a four-game sweep by the Philadelphia 76ers in the previous year's finals. October 9, 2019. A year later, the Pacers would not have to worry about Michael Jordan as they returned to the playoffs, this time as the second seed in the east. In MVP voting, Bird dominated the competition as he took home his third straight MVP award. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. In 1987-88, Bird was the first Celtic ever to record a 40-20 game, with a 42-point, 20-rebound effort against Indiana.

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