The first series matched Boston up with the Chicago Bulls. He won his second NBA Finals MVP. Answer (1 of 6): Larry Bird (basketball player) was 3-2 in the NBA Finals. BIrd averaged 27.4 points, 10.0 rebounds and 6.0 assist per game for the series. 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. The East's award is named after Larry Bird and the West's after Magic Johnson. Then came the championship series. Though just looking at his record can get a bit confusing. However, this was not the case. Larry Bird went 3-2 in his five NBA Finals appearances. Larry Bird won his first NBA Finals MVP. Data runs from 1946-47 to present unless otherwise noted. Safe to say he absolutely dominated in every facet of the game for that second ring. Larry Bird averaged 24.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game for the series. Find out more. The Lakers destroyed the Cs in their first home game 137-104 in game 3. The games were not much closer than the series itself. Traditional Click the links to read up on the Finals records of the best players in league history. 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. Larry Birds Finals record is in the lower half of the list of all-time greats below. Karl Malone believes LeBrons greatness is there to appreciate, not to hate. Magics Michigan State team won the game 75-64, preventing Bird from winning a title for Indiana State. Birds 3 wins came against the Rockets (1981 & 1986) and the Lakers (1984). The Lakers, no slouch themselves, had Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthey, and Bob McAdoo. In Birds career with Indiana State he did not ever win a championship. Game 4 of the 1984 Finals marked the last Finals game to go into overtime until Game 2 of the 1990 NBA Finals. the Celtics posted a 61-21 record and defeated the Houston Rockets to take the first NBA . Larry Birds First NBA Championship 1981. The Bucks swept the Nets in the first round then took seven games to get by a tough Sixers squad starring a young. Net Worth, Salary & Earnings of Larry Bird in 2023. One of the ongoing debates within the world of sports centers around how you define greatness. In the Western Conference Finals the Rockets handled the defending champion Lakers in five games. The 1987 Finals was the culmination of Magic and Bird's decade-long rivalry that dominated the NBA. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Birds 2 Finals losses both came against the Lakers and Magic Johnson, 1985 & 1987. The Larry Bird Finals Record was first recorded by Bill Simmons in his book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. Larry Bird Playoffs Game Log. Magic beat Larry in their college showdown, but Bird made sure he got his revenge in 1984. He won his second NBA Finals MVP. Former Celtics player M.L. The Lakers were coming off a four-game sweep by the Philadelphia 76ers in the previous year's finals. Since then Bird won a championship in 1981, then Magic led the Lakers to the finals in 1982 and 1983, winning in the former. The expected CelticsLakers finals, however, never happened. Small Forward and Power Forward Dennis Johnson responded by sinking two free throws to seal the victory. Washington Bullets 3-1, 1984 Conference Semis: Celtics def. The Celtics and Lakers met in the NBA Finals in 1984, 1985, and 1987 with Bird and Cooper going at it. 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. Birds Boston Celtics finished 16-15 in NBA Finals games and 3-2 in NBA Finals series. 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. In the 198384 season, the Celtics won 62 games to lead the league. Noise Group Limited is a UK registered company. Amazing! Both these players were representing teams from their home States, adding extra spice to the whole thing. Nobody thought that the Celtics would beat the Lakers in 1984. In 1985, the Lakers beat the Celtics behind FInals MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. After . Featured Image Photo Credit: Adapted from:Bernard Cardinal Law, Larry Bird and Mayor Raymond L. FlynnbyBoston City Archivesis licensed underCC BY 2.0. After going 33-0, Bird led his team to the final of the tournament where he faced off against Magic Johnson and Michigan State. Bird won their first meeting in seven games, winning the NBA Finals MVP. 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. The Celtics won the series, with Bird getting a triple double in the deciding game six. Below you can see the playoff results for all of Birds Celtics teams. The #1 and #2 seeds were set to face off in the Conference Finals. 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. 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. Larry Bird Stats and news - NBA stats and news on Boston Celtics Forward Larry Bird. Trailing in game 4, Kevin McHale clothes lined Kurt Rambis to spark the Cs to victory. A superstar. 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. At the macro level, the famous won three titles with the Boston Celtics. Both teams could have easily succeeded in taking the Eastern Conference Finals. . Maybe you lived through the glory days of the 1980s Celtics but you cant quite remember how Bird got his rings. Los Angeles Lakers in 7 games (4 wins, 3 losses) * 1985: Los Angeles Lak. Bill suffered through injuries for much of his career but appeared in 80 games for the Celtics. The kick-off of one of the greatest rivalries of all time. There were three Larry Bird championships with the Boston Celtics: in 1981, 1984 and 1986. 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 . The three finals victories are outlined above, but Bird also had two finals losses. Coming off the back of a disappointing loss to the Lakers in the finals, many people saw Bird taking a step back going into the 1985-86 season. . 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. Sadly for Bird, Michigan State were just too much for him as the Spartans ran out 75-64 winners. talent just don't get it. Larry is a three time NBA MVP consecutively from 1984-86, which is still a record. 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. Do you have a blog? James Posey shared the culture that made the 2008 Boston Celtics experience so unique. 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. Throughout the season, he showed that he was the reigning MVP and had an excellent statistical season. Bird averaged 26.7 points, 13.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game for the series. The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. 2022-23 Season Schedule; That's the first time the (80's) Lakers ever encountered that, someone stronger minded. 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. 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. Bostons setbacks didnt end on the basketball court. 9 John Vanak (alternate, replaced Evans), This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 23:16. 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. [1] The Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeated the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. This was brought on after Ralph had an altercation with a Boston player in game five. Their rivalry was second to none and saw them meet up in the NBA Finals three times. After the tournament, both entered the NBA in the 1979-80 season with high . We had Larry Bird, Kevin Mchale, Robert Parish, and Dennis Johnson on the Celtics. His career was cut dramatically short by injury. Boston entered the new decade by winning the 1981 NBA Finals. more information Accept. Thanks for signing up. Bird scored 53 points against the Indiana Pacers, which broke Sam Jones' record set in 1965. But what is Larry Birds record in the NBA Finals? Larry Birds Celtics made the Finals in 1985 and 1987 but lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. This was the last of Larrys three straight MVP seasons. Allen Iverson Jersey Mitchell and Ness: A Complete Guide. This series prompted Bird to quote, Thats God disguised as Michael Jordan. Michael averaged 43 points through the three-game series. Fast forward a couple of seasons and Bird marched his team back into the 1984 postseason. After the game a Laker fan threw a beer at Celtics guard M.L. 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. The Celtics snuck past the Philadelphia 76ers in 7 games after the Sixers had taken a 3-1 lead to open the series. This cost the Lakers valuable depth, as James Worthy, a key contributor off the bench, would now have to start in Wilkes' place. This Rockets team still had Robert Reid but now also featured Rodney McCray. Larry Bird always showed up at the highest level when the Celtics needed him most. They were defeated by the Golden State Warriors in six games. Larry led the way and averaged 27-14-4 to lead the team to the championship, along with his first Finals MVP. The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers have met a record 12 times in the NBA Finals, starting with their first . As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It didnt take the Lakers long to learn, but in that series, it was the element of surprise that we needed. As of 2023, Larry Bird's net worth is around $80 million; he has different income sources. Your email address will not be published. Larry Bird said there were 'obvious' differences between himself and Magic Johnson. Why did David Stern Veto the Chris Paul to the Lakers Trade? Tatum and the rest of his team are eager to avenge the loss in the Finals . Thanks in main to two close overtime wins, Boston won the series in seven games despite Bird struggling in the deciding game. Larry Bird was named MVP of the series. Only the strong survive. 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. Jordan scored an all-time playoff record in game 2: 63 points. Bill Walton needed a change of scenery when he was in San Diego and Red Auerbach provided that for him in Boston. The Celtics made short work of the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals, winning in five games. Atlanta Hawks 4-1, 1986 Eastern Conference Final: Celtics def. This was Birds last finals appearance, meaning that he went to five NBA finals overall, winning 3. The number two-seeded Bucks went down in a series sweep, with all five Celtics starters averaging double-digit points. Larry Bird won three championships as a player, but did not win any as a coach. He was the only NBA Rookie of the Year, MVP, Finals MVP, All-Star MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the . The Cs won a couple home games to start the series then lost a close one on the road. Larry Bird's continuing influence on the game of basketball crossed a new threshold . This was a fantastic series overall. Carr stole James Worthy's inbounds pass followed by a dunk to seal the win. The type of player who didnt even care about stats but always seemed to put up the most absurd statlines ever seen. The rules shift was a big factor . Birds Celtics beat three pretty different teams in their Finals victories despite two of them being the Houston Rockets. No one thought we could beat the Lakers. More player info After the tournament, both entered the NBA in the 197980 season with high expectations. The Larry Bird Finals Record is a statistic of the player who most often wins the NBA Finals. The Cs turned up the D and Bird was everywhere. Im kind of country, she explained. Chicago Bulls 3-0, 1986 Conference Semis: Celtics def. 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.