Larry Bird's 1986 Playoff Stats . * Larry Bird was injured and missed the playoffs in 1989. Stephen Curry is now a career 21-4 (.840) in playoff series. Bird won three titles with the Celtics in 1981, 1984 and 1986, earning Finals MVP honors in the latter two. . His teams overall record in finals games was 16-15. Washington Bullets 3-1, 1984 Conference Semis: Celtics def. She reported on the Celtics' sideline while Pat O'Brien reported on the Lakers' sideline. Bill suffered through injuries for much of his career but appeared in 80 games for the Celtics. SI examines the rivalry between the basketball hall of famers and how they changed the landscape of the NBA. Despite playing for another five seasons after his last title, Bird would retire with three NBA championships. 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. After the tournament, both entered the NBA in the 1979-80 season with high . Aside from the two stars, the teams were among the most stacked in history. The Celtics snuck past the Philadelphia 76ers in 7 games after the Sixers had taken a 3-1 lead to open the series. The Lakers were coached by Pat Riley and also featured defensive ace Michael Cooper, a young. The Celtics star received 52 first placed votes, with second place Bernard King only getting eleven. [1] The Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeated the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. Birds missed game winner in game four turned out to be vital in the series as the Lakers did not let their 3-1 lead slip, winning the series in six games. Featuring prime Larry Legend, apex Kevin Mchale, Robert Parish, and Dennis Johnson. Larry Bird reached 5 NBA Finals, wining 3 and losing 2, he played his entire career with the Boston Celtics. I write about games, players and seasons from the past. 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. Some notable games between the two of them: At least when it comes to how they fared in theirhead-to-head matchups. Adding one more hall of famer, Bill Walton, put this team over the top. 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. Celtics forward Larry Bird averaged 27 points and 14 rebounds a game during the series, earning the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP). Larry Joe Bird. 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. Is it tied to championships? In Game 5, the Celtics took a 3-2 series lead with a 121-103 victory, as Larry Bird scored 34 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. 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). Simmons says that he got the idea from watching basketball and looking at player statistics. 1981 was against the Houston Rockets where Cedric Maxwell was the NBA Finals MVP. Join us for a March Madness Webinar on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm ET. The first series matched Boston up with the Chicago Bulls. After the game, Larry Bird said his team played like "sissies" in an attempt to light a fire under his teammates. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. Despite good performances from Bird, Magic Johnson outplayed him as the jumbo sized Lakers guard won finals MVP. Aside from stats, Larry Bird was a winner, bringing home multiple championship rings during his time with the Celtics. Donovan Mitchell and Jayson Tatum were carrying their teams on the offensive [] Magic Johnson had an 11-8 record in the NBA Finals versus Larry Bird in his career. Larry Bird's continuing influence on the game of basketball crossed a new threshold . Maybe you lived through the glory days of the 1980s Celtics but you cant quite remember how Bird got his rings. While everyone has their own favorite NBA players, its impossible to argue with Larry Birds position in the all-time basketball pantheon. Cedric Maxwell, Larry Birds teammate, was awarded Finals MVP with 18-9-3. Key Names off the Bench: Kevin McHale, Gerald Henderson, Rick Robey and M.L. He and Chauncey Billups are the only two retired players to win Finals MVP but not to make the Hall of Fame. Despite excellent performances in his first two seasons, Indiana State had very little success. Larry Bird's NBA Finals record is 3-2. They lost twice to the same team: the Los Angeles Lakers. In their professional careers, Bird played for the Boston Celtics and Magic played for the Los Angeles . From a statistical perspective, he also averaged 24.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 6.3 assists across his career. Los Angeles Lakers 4-3, Larry Bird Championship #3: 1986 Boston Celtics, 1986 First Round: Celtics def. He instead enrolled at the smaller Indiana State University. The Eastern Conference Finals were much more difficult. Background. 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. Summary: Larry Bird's Finals Record. The Celtics beat the Lakers 4-3, winning by nine points in the deciding Game 7. He averaged 27.4 points, 14.0 boards and 3.6 assists per game for the series. Bird is a universally known NBA legend and is often credited with the NBAs explosion of popularity in the 1980s. 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. Larry Bird Owns Many Records, But Only One Unique One Bird owns a unique NBA record. 6-9 , 220lb (206cm, 99kg) More bio, uniform, draft, salary info. Houston Rockets in 6 games (4 wins, 2 losses) * 1984: Boston Celtics def. Finals stats: 19.4 points, 11.7 assists and 7.9 rebounds in 50 games Finals rank: . Larry Bird won the NBA Finals MVP two times. Bird won the first Finals meeting between them in 1984 and Johnson won the two others; one in 1985, the other in 1987. Bird averaged 25.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.0 assists per game for the series. The first happened in 1985, a year after the Celtics had defeated the Lakers in the finals. 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. He led the Cs to a Conference Finals appearance once or twice in the ensuing years but the team just wasnt nearly as competitive anymore and it was obvious that Larry was getting up there in age. Bird created a very good team. Do you have a blog? The first round was a 3-1 victory over the Washington Bullets. Peak, Bird was better imo 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. The Lakers were indeed the thoroughbreds that year. Bird scored 53 points against the Indiana Pacers, which broke Sam Jones' record set in 1965. Houston had a tough road to the Finals: they beat the defending champion Lakers featuring both. 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. Boston entered the new decade by winning the 1981 NBA Finals. The top 31 players and coaches, The Bulls featured Reggie Theus and Artis Gilmore (. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. In MVP voting, Bird dominated the competition as he took home his third straight MVP award. How to say Basketball in different languages? He made the Finals five times in his thirteen-year career, winning the championship in 1981, 1984, and 1986. 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. 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. After altering wins with the Lakers, the Celtics won Game 7 and the series with a score of 111102. 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. he guided the Pacers to a 58-24 record, which was the best in franchise history at the time. 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 cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. As the reigning rookie of the year, Bird led the Celtics to the finals, beginning with a sweep of the Bulls. In addition to Nique, the Hawks starred Kevin Willis. We are compensated for referring traffic and business to Fanatics.com and other companies linked to on this site. It must have lit a fire underneath Larry because he didnt let anything get in his way during his sophomore season. Should individual honors and scoring records take precedence? The kick-off of one of the greatest rivalries of all time. The Lakers drew first blood but Boston evened the series in Game 2. Bird retired from the NBA in 1992 and immediately took up an advisory role with the Boston Celtics. J Erving, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 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). Fans gave Bird a standing ovation when he was introduced. In 1979, Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird faced off for the first time in the NBA. Boston won two close ones to start the series before Washington stole game three by 3 points. After a tough seven game series in the conference finals against the Sixers, Boston advanced to the finals to face the Rockets. 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. The games were closer than youd expect for a 1 seed vs 8 seed series. In retirement, though, Larry Legend managed to take things down a notch. Larry Bird: Biography. The 1987 NBA Finals again saw the Los Angeles Lakers up against Birds Celtics. 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. MUMBAI, India Twenty-seven years after Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and the "Dream Team" made the world fall in love with the game of basketball in 1992, India showed its adoration for the Boston Celtics great during the first NBA India Games last week. 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 was the only NBA Rookie of the Year, MVP, Finals MVP, All-Star MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the . His performances helped to take the Celtics to 62 wins in the regular season, topping the NBA. Larry Bird won Finals MVP in 1984 & 1986, the trophy would go to his teammate Cedric Maxwell in 1981. Larry Bird Net Worth. The Houston Rockets were led by their Twin Towers, Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson. Data runs from 1946-47 to present unless otherwise noted. The Celtics ended up shedding the ghosts of the last season and convincingly won 4-1. 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. 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. After the tournament, both entered the NBA in the 197980 season with high expectations. 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. Larry led the way with an average of 25 points per game. He was one member of the greatest rivalry in the leagues history between himself and Los Angeles Lakers superstar Magic Johnson. 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. Copyright 2023 Sports Nostalgia HQ | Powered by Astra WordPress Theme, By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. Bird won their first meeting in seven games, winning the NBA Finals MVP. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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. Same ammount of titles, Lebron has more MVP's and FMVP's, played longer etc. Bird had a good series in other categories, but did not score at his normal rate. home/away, monthly, etc More Larry Bird Basketball Reference pages, Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 6:46PM. Larry Bird went 3-2 in his five NBA Finals appearances. 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. Magic beat Larry in their college showdown, but Bird made sure he got his revenge in 1984. He worked the first half, but was replaced by John Vanak for the second half. The Boston Celtics were matched up against the Houston Rockets, led by Hall of Famer Moses Malone. Bird does not have any titles outside of the NBA, despite making the NCAA tournament final in 1979. Magic Johnson had an 11-8 record in the NBA Finals versus Larry Bird in his career. Noise Group Limited is a UK registered company. How Many Finals MVPs Does Larry Bird Have? In the playoffs, the team went 15-3 en route to winning the championship. This struggle did not deter Bird. Join our linker program. Answer (1 of 6): Larry Bird (basketball player) was 3-2 in the NBA Finals. Malone is an underrated player, not as well-known as he should be. Los Angeles Lakers in 7 games (4 wins, 3 losses) * 1985: Los Angeles Lak. 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 . Larry is a three time NBA MVP consecutively from 1984-86, which is still a record. 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. Larry Bird's Career Record vs. NBA Legends: He Beat Michael Jordan 23 Times, But Magic Johnson Won The Head-To-Head Matchups . He was named NBA Head Coach of the Year in 1998. In Birds rookie season in the league, he helped lead the Boston Celtics all the way into the Eastern Conference Finals. Please check your email for a confirmation. That's the first time the (80's) Lakers ever encountered that, someone stronger minded. Those other two times? Bird was very honest when taking up the role saying he would only coach the team for three years. Even when he found fame and fortune, the NBA star never forgot his humble roots. 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. Bird poured in 39 in game 7 to lead the Cs to 30.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 7.1 assists for the series. Birds great performances in games one and six helped lead the Celtics to the title and Bird claimed his first NBA Championship in 1981. Birds 3 wins came against the Rockets (1981 & 1986) and the Lakers (1984). He made the Finals five times in his thirteen-year career, winning the championship in 1981, 1984, and 1986. 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. 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. But does that record provide a fair verdict on James' performance in the NBA Finals? 2022-23 Season Schedule; His individual performance was recognised all across the NBA as he helped Boston to a then record breaking 67-15 regular season record. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this. Tatum and the rest of his team are eager to avenge the loss in the Finals . Reflecting back on the series, Magic Johnson said ". . Some of the greats Bird defeated in the playoffs include Moses Malone, Julius Dr. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this. At the macro level, the famous won three titles with the Boston Celtics. Here are some of Larry Bird's notable career achievements and statistics: Three-time NBA champion (1981, 1984, 1986) . 0:00. Data Provided By 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. 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. Bird scored almost 26 points per game in winning his third-straight MVP award. The Celtics entered the next season off a high, cruising into the NBA playoffs and sweeping Cleveland in the opening series. The trade signaled a transition period, as some of the key players from the first two championships gave way to younger talent. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Larry averaged 23-13-7 on his way to a four-game sweep. Get the latest news on Larry Bird, biographical info . As of 2023, Larry Bird's net worth is around $80 million; he has different income sources. He won his second NBA Finals MVP. 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. This Finals had everything. After dispatching MJ, the Cs cruised by Dominique Wilkins and the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Semis. He scored 27 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, dished out 3.6 assists and had 2.1 steals per game. The Celtics ended the series shooting 52% from the field while holding the Bucks to 44% shooting. The Celtics had lost to the Lakers in the finals the previous year, but this time their opposition was the Houston Rockets. His back suffered major issues, as he injured it building on his farm. Larry Bird's Celtics made the Finals in 1985 and 1987 but lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. Bird's 2 Finals losses both came against the Lakers and Magic Johnson , 1985 & 1987. This series was a rematch of the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics after their rivalry was revived in 1979 with the Magic JohnsonLarry Bird pair entering the league. Celtics Starters: Gerald Henderson, Dennis Johnson, Larry Bird, Cedric Maxwell and Robert Parish. Milwaukee Bucks 4-0, 1986 NBA Finals: Celtics def. cand intra pensiile pe card la banca transilvania 2021,
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