larry bird finals record larry bird finals record

Aside from stats, Larry Bird was a winner, bringing home multiple championship rings during his time with the Celtics. Ruland, a center, averaged 22 points and 12 boards for the season. Below you can see the playoff results for all of Birds Celtics teams. Finally, lets discuss the NBA Finals. Maxwell later claimed he said something like that but not quite so family friendly. The following year, the NBA Finals format was changed to 232 after Red Auerbach complained about the constant travelling during the Finals. Both times it was to his rival dating back to college: Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers. They beat the Rockets twice and the Lakers once to win NBA titles. Indiana took Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Larry led the way with an average of 25 points per game. Despite the changes, it did not stop the Lakers from finishing with the best record (5428) in the Western Conference, powered by their one-two punch of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson. We are compensated for referring traffic and business to Fanatics.com and other companies linked to on this site. Atlanta Hawks 4-1, 1986 Eastern Conference Final: Celtics def. He averaged 27.4 points, 14.0 boards and 3.6 assists per game for the series. At the macro level, the famous won three titles with the Boston Celtics. Bird is a universally known NBA legend and is often credited with the NBAs explosion of popularity in the 1980s. 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. Boston Celtics, 1st round (6th pick, 6th overall), 1978 NBA Draft, Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 1998 (Full List), More Larry Bird pages at Sports Reference. A superstar. Which Player has Played in the Most NBA Finals Games? Larry Joe Bird (Larry Legend, The Hick from French Lick, Kodak, The Great White Hope) Position: Small Forward and Power Forward Shoots: Right 6-9, 220lb (206cm, 99kg) . This struggle did not deter Bird. Bird's 3 wins came against the Rockets (1981 & 1986) and the Lakers (1984). Despite this, Bird did not win any championships during his college career. In the first two NBA matchups between Bird and Magic . Before the season began, the Lakers traded long-time guard Norm Nixon to the San Diego Clippers in exchange for the draft rights to Byron Scott. The Celtics snuck past the Philadelphia 76ers in 7 games after the Sixers had taken a 3-1 lead to open the series. inWest Baden,Indiana 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. He was one member of the greatest rivalry in the leagues history between himself and Los Angeles Lakers superstar Magic Johnson. Cedric Maxwell, Larry Birds teammate, was awarded Finals MVP with 18-9-3. 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. 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. Data runs from 1946-47 to present unless otherwise noted. Despite getting swept in the 1983 NBA Finals by the Philadelphia 76ers, the Lakers entered the season among the favorites to win the title. The Celtics were led by Bird, who won his first MVP award, and was complemented by 1981 Finals MVP Cedric Maxwell, first-time all-star and Sixth Man Award winner Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Gerald Henderson and Danny Ainge. . The Lakers then inbounded the ball and Magic Johnson inexplicably dribbled the clock out during regulation time. Check out stats on every National Basketball Association Finals MVP winner on ESPN.com. 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. Instead of battling fatigue and exhaustion from their grueling Semi-Finals series, they went on to beat the Milwaukee Bucks in five games. (the Lakers) learned a valuable lesson. 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. In MVP voting, Bird dominated the competition as he took home his third straight MVP award. 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. James has as many series losses in the Finals as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Larry Bird combined. With Kareem ageing, the Celtics hoped that they could win the finals. 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. If you remember, there was Kevin McHales hit on Kurt Rambis, and there was Larry Bird bumping Michael Cooper out of bounds. It was the same matchup with pretty much the same teams. Larry Bird won the NBA Finals MVP two times. 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. Indiana State University, High School: In the game the Lakers answered the Celtics' rough tactics when Laker forward James Worthy shoved Cedric Maxwell into a basket support. The Lakers fell in the Western Conference finals to a new team that sprung up seemingly out of nowhere. The Bucks took them to seven games before they were able to advance and the Pistons took them to seven in the Conference Finals. In 1979, Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird faced off for the first time in the NBA. 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. Bird and the Celtics lined up against the Los Angeles Lakers who took them to seven games. The #1 and #2 seeds were set to face off in the Conference Finals. 1984: Larry Bird: Boston Celtics: No stats available. He was the NBA Finals MVP in 1981, and the . He worked the first half, but was replaced by John Vanak for the second half. Peak, Bird was better imo The first series matched Boston up with the Chicago Bulls. J Erving, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. "Wilt . Bernard Cardinal Law, Larry Bird and Mayor Raymond L. Flynn. This was a fantastic series overall. 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 . Throughout the season, he showed that he was the reigning MVP and had an excellent statistical season. Birds great performances in games one and six helped lead the Celtics to the title and Bird claimed his first NBA Championship in 1981. Larry Bird was a star. There are so many different titles that Bird has. Washington Bullets 3-1, 1984 Conference Semis: Celtics def. 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. I write about games, players and seasons from the past. This Finals had everything. It was Boston's worst playoff defeat in franchise history to that date. Boston entered the new decade by winning the 1981 NBA Finals. Bird, who was selected 6th in the 1978 NBA draft but committed back to Indiana State for his senior season, was named Rookie of the Year after leading the Celtics to a 32-game turnaround from the previous year, going from 29 to 61 wins. home/away, monthly, etc More Larry Bird Basketball Reference pages, Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Saturday, March 4, 6:46PM. Michael Jordans Prime: The Greatest of All Time, Who has the most rings in the NBA? Despite the similarities, the Lakers won the series in six games. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this. The Celtics had hope they could avenge the loss of two years prior. May 12, 2022. Larry was no slouch, averaging 15-15-7 in a 4-2 series win. Remember, Boston selected Larry in the 1978 draft but decided to return to Indiana State for his senior season. But what is Larry Birds record in the NBA Finals? He averaged 23.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and 6.0 . 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 expected CelticsLakers finals, however, never happened. She reported on the Celtics' sideline while Pat O'Brien reported on the Lakers' sideline. [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. All three broke into laughter, led by Russell's infamous cackle. Larry Bird won Finals MVP in 1984 & 1986, the trophy would go to his teammate Cedric Maxwell in 1981. Despite good performances from Bird, Magic Johnson outplayed him as the jumbo sized Lakers guard won finals MVP. The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. Bird: "So you're overpaid.". So lets look at the 1984 NBA season. Allen Iverson Jersey Mitchell and Ness: A Complete Guide. Carr. The Cs closed it out winning game four by 3 points. The Cs won in a blowout in game 3 in Houston before Houston tied it up with a tight win in game 4. Birds Boston Celtics finished 16-15 in NBA Finals games and 3-2 in NBA Finals series. The seeds of the 1984 Finals were first sown five years earlier, during the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Larry, to his credit, was phenomenal. Larry Bird. They beat the Rockets twice and the Lakers once to win NBA titles. The Celtics blew out Houston in game 5 behind a big effort from Cedric Maxwell and then took a big lead and held on to win in game 6. Karl Malone believes LeBrons greatness is there to appreciate, not to hate. Chicago Bulls 4-1, 1981 Eastern Conference Final: Celtics def. Who Did Larry Bird Defeat in the NBA Finals? In the Western Conference Finals the Rockets handled the defending champion Lakers in five games. 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. Bird does not have any titles outside of the NBA, despite making the NCAA tournament final in 1979. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. Larry averaged 27.4 points, 14 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per game in this series. 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 . That went to Birds teammate. Tatum and the rest of his team are eager to avenge the loss in the Finals . The Cs won a couple home games to start the series then lost a close one on the road. Bird averaged 24 points per game as Boston won the series in six to net him his THIRD ring. 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 sports website? Magics Michigan State team won the game 75-64, preventing Bird from winning a title for Indiana State. During that year Lesley Visser, Stockton's wife, became the first woman to cover the NBA Finals for CBS. Your email address will not be published. Coopers. In Birds rookie season in the league, he helped lead the Boston Celtics all the way into the Eastern Conference Finals. Bird scored 53 points against the Indiana Pacers, which broke Sam Jones' record set in 1965. Larry Bird was named MVP of the series. Springs Valley in French Lick, Indiana, Draft: The first round was a 3-1 victory over the Washington Bullets. Join our linker program. Johnson and Bird met at the NBA Finals three times in 1984, 1985 and 1987. Game 4 of the 1984 Finals marked the last Finals game to go into overtime until Game 2 of the 1990 NBA Finals. After the tournament, both entered the NBA in the 197980 season with high expectations. I wrote about his record in the NBA Finals here. 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. It seemed like it should be an easy series for the Celtics, with game one and two victories by double digits, but the Knicks home crowd helped their team to win all their series home games. So for an entire decade, the NBA Finals included one of the two marquee franchises. If you are interested in Larry Bird Championships, you might be interested in checking out some of these posts I have written about Larry Legend. Even when he found fame and fortune, the NBA star never forgot his humble roots. 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. But it is also quite possible even probable that Larry Bird cost the Celtics the 1985 NBA championship.". This cost the Lakers valuable depth, as James Worthy, a key contributor off the bench, would now have to start in Wilkes' place. 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. Jayson Tatum passed Celtics legend Larry Bird (1987-88) last night with his 34th 30-point game of the 2022-23 season. Celtics forward Larry Bird averaged 27 points and 14 rebounds a game during the series, earning the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP). From a statistical perspective, he also averaged 24.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 6.3 assists across his career. After the game, Larry Bird said his team played like "sissies" in an attempt to light a fire under his teammates. Born in Indiana in 1956, Larry Bird began playing basketball at a young age. Larry Bird, the former basketball player for NBA's Boston Celtics, is a true icon in the world of basketball. Dennis Johnson responded by sinking two free throws to seal the victory. This series was an eye-opener into how good the Celtics were this season. Both teams could have easily succeeded in taking the Eastern Conference Finals. The 1987 NBA Finals again saw the Los Angeles Lakers up against Birds Celtics. They lost twice to the same team: the Los Angeles Lakers. Required fields are marked *. Born: December 7, 1956 in West Baden, Indiana us College: Indiana State University High School: Springs Valley in French Lick, Indiana However, despite sweeping the Bulls in the first round again, they had serious issues the next few. The Celtics beat the Lakers 4-3, winning by nine points in the deciding Game 7. 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 86 Celtics are in the conversation for best team ever with Bill Walton joining Bird, Robert Parish and. 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 Celtics had lost to the Lakers in the finals the previous year, but this time their opposition was the Houston Rockets. Aside from the two stars, the teams were among the most stacked in history. 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. December 7, Is it tied to championships? It must have lit a fire underneath Larry because he didnt let anything get in his way during his sophomore season. Im kind of country, she explained. You have to really understand the circumstances in each Finals run and see how he ended up with the record that he has right now. Larry Bird Owns Many Records, But Only One Unique One Bird owns a unique NBA record. No stats available. Larry Bird is one of the few basketball players in history that are widely recognized even by people who dont even know the sport. How to say Basketball in different languages? Amazing! Carr stole James Worthy's inbounds pass followed by a dunk to seal the win. 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 1984 NBA Finals is considered one of the most epic series in league history. New York also featured Bill Cartwright and Rory Sparrow. We had Larry Bird, Kevin Mchale, Robert Parish, and Dennis Johnson on the Celtics. Some notable games between the two of them: At least when it comes to how they fared in theirhead-to-head matchups. Bird averaged 22.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game for the series. Bird retired from the NBA in 1992 and immediately took up an advisory role with the Boston Celtics. Head to Head: Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson. Larry Bird had a winning record in NBA Finals games and series. Which NBA Team had the Most Hall of Famers for one Season. 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. Birds college career as a whole was exceptional. Only the strong survive. 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. Larry Joe Bird. Larry Legend also sank 42 of 47 foul shots in the pressure-packed series (89.4 . Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. FGA, TRB, AST, PF, GS over 99% complete back to 1975-76. So as it seems unlikely for Bird to ever coach again, Larry Bird has never won a championship as a coach. Sadly for Bird, the Pacers lost the series in six games. There's always a mystique about players that played before the 90's because we don't have all the data, stats etc as we have to. Nevertheless, it is rare to see a player dominate in so many areas of the game, theres no wonder why the Celtics made multiple deep playoff runs. 2 NBA Finals MVP (1984, 1986) 3 NBA Most Valuable Player (1984-1986) . He averaged a career-high 29.9 points that year, falling just five points . Boston finished with a 62-20 regular season record and got their revenge on the Bucks, whom they beat 4-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals. Get the latest news on Larry Bird, biographical info . Larry Bird won three championships as a player, but did not win any as a coach. Magic led the Lakers to victory at home in game 6, setting the stage for a Boston Garden Game 7. 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. NAME. Better than MJ, LeBron, Kareem, Larry and Magic.If you take out Steph's games with an NBA75 teammate (KD), Steph's Playoff Win% is 48-26 (.649), which is still better than Duncan, Kobe and Larry Bird's with all their NBA75 teammates. In Game 7, the Celtics got 24 points from Cedric Maxwell and 22 from DJ with Bird scoring 20 as they won the game 111-102 and the series for Bostons 15th NBA title. 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. He banked in a shot with a minute to go to put the Cs ahead for good and they won 91-90. You can't tell the story of the 1980s without Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Michael Jordans First Championship: An Epic Run! Referee Hugh Evans became dehydrated and fainted at one point in the first half. This series prompted Bird to quote, Thats God disguised as Michael Jordan. Michael averaged 43 points through the three-game series. Bird averaged 27.2 points, 9.6 boards and 7.0 assists for the series. 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 . . After . The Houston Rockets were mostly a completely different team from the Moses Malone-led Rockets of the 1981 Finals. Houston Rockets in 6 games (4 wins, 2 losses) * 1984: Boston Celtics def. . What are the abbreviations on the NBA table. He was the only NBA Rookie of the Year, MVP, Finals MVP, All-Star MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the . Im not a guy that talks about my past because I always look to the future, but you really sit down and look at it, Ive been involved in a lot, its pretty nice, the forward simply explained. The 1984 championship series scored high TV ratings.