On this date in 1986, the Boston Celtics won the last of three NBA championships during the Larry Bird era, beating the Houston Rockets 114-97 at Boston Garden. Bird averaged 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists a game during the six game series.
I watched the game, which was memorable, not so much for the score - the Celtics won easily - but for the atmosphere (as a Celtics fan in those years I watched or listened to a lot of games). The Rockets had won game 5, played at The Summit in Houston, with Bird playing poorly with only 17 points, 7 rebounds, and four assists, but that wasn't the story. In the second quarter Houston center 7'4" Ralph Sampson was ejected for slugging Celtics bench player Jerry Sichting who was 6'1". Game 6 was back in Boston Garden and the crowd was out for blood; Sampson's blood.
We'll let Bill Simmons tell what happened next:
For Game 6 of the Finals in Boston, my father and I were sitting right on the tunnel where the players walked on and off the court. People were holding "SAMPSON IS A SISSY" signs and the entire building was chanting "SAMPSON SUCKS!" even before Houston came out for warm-ups. When Ralph came out to earsplitting boos, there was legitimate hatred in the air. Ralph walked right by us and I remember thinking, That guy's done. He looked rattled. You know the rest — Ralph played terribly, Bird played out of his mind and the Celts blew them out. But Celtics fans never stopped holding a grudge after the Sichting fight — they booed Ralph every time he came to Boston.
The 85-86 Celtics squad was the finest of the Bird years. Bill Walton joined the team that year, squeezing 20 minutes a game out with his damaged feet and establishing a telepathic on-court relationship with Larry. The team went 67-15, winning an incredible 40 of 41 in the Garden during the regular season and all ten of its home games during the playoffs.
Before reaching the finals, the Celtics swept the Milwaukee Bucks in four, beat the Hawks in five games, and in the opening series swept the Chicago Bulls in three. Despite the sweep it was the Bulls series that resulted in the most memorable moment of the playoffs. The Celtics won Game 2 in double overtime, despite second-year player Michael Jordan's 63 points. After the game Bird said:
“I didn't think anyone was capable of doing what Michael has done to us. He is the most exciting, awesome player in the game today. I think it's just God disguised as Michael Jordan."(1)
Bird would go on to have two more great seasons, though the Celtics lost the '87 finals to the Lakers and the '88 conference finals to the hated Pistons.
Early in the 88-89 season, Larry had double Achilles surgery, ending his season. Though he returned for three more years, his chronic back problems, which often required spending nights at the hospital in traction, and having to lay on the floor during games, limited his playing time. Even with those limitations, during his final two seasons, the Celtics were 77-28 when Larry played and only 30-29 when he did not.
Bird had his last memorable playoff outing in the '91 series against the Indiana Pacers. Tied 2-2 in a best of five series, Bird crashed to the floor face-first in the second quarter. It turned out he had fractured his cheek bone, and with a possible concussion was advised by the team doctor to sit out the rest of the game. Instead he returned in the middle of the third quarter and dominated the rest of the game, which the Celtics won.
Bird was a member of the Dream Team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics but his back was so bad he could not play. However, while the Dream Team was training, a bunch of college all-stars was brought in to practice against them leading Jamal Mashburn to tell this very funny story about Larry and Magic Johnson.
And there is no better way to end this post than with a Larry Bird highlight video. Enjoy the passes.
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(1) I can't resist throwing in this quote from Pat Riley:
"If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save a game, I’d choose Michael Jordan. If I had to choose a player to take a shot to save my life, I’d take Larry Bird."
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