Bird became only the third player in NBA history to win three titles in a row. Head-to-Head Regular Season Stats. In Birds rookie season in the league, he helped lead the Boston Celtics all the way into the Eastern Conference Finals. Larry Bird (Larry Legend; The Hick from French Lick) Position: Forward 6-9, 220lb (206cm, 99kg) School: Indiana State (Men) Draft: Boston Celtics, 1st round (6th pick, 6th overall), 1978 NBA draft. After the tournament, both entered the NBA in the 1979-80 season with high . Two superstars, Magic and Larry, and the two most iconic teams in the leagues history, the Lakers and the Celtics. And, as if that wasn't enough, Bird found success after hanging up his sneakers. 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. Larry Bird had a winning record in NBA Finals games and series. Larry Bird averaged 23.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and 6.0 assists in 31 games in the NBA Finals in his career. Thanks for signing up. The Houston Rockets were led by their Twin Towers, Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson.
Jayson Tatum passed Larry Bird for the most 30 point games Larry Bird won the NBA Finals MVP two times. Answer (1 of 6): Larry Bird (basketball player) was 3-2 in the NBA Finals. The Pacers had two pretty comfortable series to begin the 1998 post season with wins over the Cavaliers and the Knicks. Both teams could have easily succeeded in taking the Eastern Conference Finals. He made the Finals five times in his thirteen-year career, winning the championship in 1981, 1984, and 1986. While Bird did not have the finals success of a Jordan or Russell, he still had a better record than greats including LeBron and Wilt. The Cs turned up the D and Bird was everywhere. October 9, 2019. Even with Jordan exploding, only game two was close at 135-131. The Larry Bird Finals Record is a statistic of the player who most often wins the NBA Finals. In his first season as Pacers coach, Indiana finished third in the east, having finished tenth the prior season. This series prompted Bird to quote, Thats God disguised as Michael Jordan. Michael averaged 43 points through the three-game series. Bird had a good series in other categories, but did not score at his normal rate. Larry Bird won three championships as a player, but did not win any as a coach. During that year Lesley Visser, Stockton's wife, became the first woman to cover the NBA Finals for CBS. 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. 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. The Celtics made short work of the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals, winning in five games. Unfortunately for the Pacers and Larry Bird, the Lakers were just too much for the Pacers.
Reliving the almost-perfect championship series stint authored by Larry Hakeem was no slouch, averaging the most points and rebounds in the NBA playoffs. Stockton, the play-by-play announcer for the series, was joined by Tom Heinsohn, and the duo would call the next four NBA Finals until 1987.
Larry Bird: Career retrospective | Yardbarker Both these players were representing teams from their home States, adding extra spice to the whole thing. This series was an eye-opener into how good the Celtics were this season. Marques Johnson and Sidney Moncrief led the Bucks. The Houston Rockets were mostly a completely different team from the Moses Malone-led Rockets of the 1981 Finals. The Larry Bird Finals Record was first recorded by Bill Simmons in his book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. Jordan averaged an insane 43.7 points, 5.7 assists and 6.3 rebounds for this. Bird won Finals MVP in 1984 when his Celttics defeated the Lakers in seven games. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Amazing! Referee Hugh Evans became dehydrated and fainted at one point in the first half. . Larry Bird's NBA Finals record is 3-2.
How Larry Bird was robbed of the 1981 NBA playoff and - CelticsBlog Larry Bird Net Worth. Furthermore, Johnson and Bird earned five of the 10 MVP awards handed out during the 1980s. The Celtics ended up shedding the ghosts of the last season and convincingly won 4-1. SI examines the rivalry between the basketball hall of famers and how they changed the landscape of the NBA. Simmons says that he got the idea from watching basketball and looking at player statistics. At 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 metres), Erving played forward and was noted for his fast breaks, balletic leaps toward the basket . 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. What are the abbreviations on the NBA table. With a new head coach in KC Jones and plenty of uncertainties, Carr said their motto for the season was Dont be denied. 6-9 , 220lb (206cm, 99kg) More bio, uniform, draft, salary info. The three finals victories are outlined above, but Bird also had two finals losses. us, College: Sadly, after that Finals loss, Bird never made it into another Finals series. The Bucks, coached by Celtics legend Don Nelson, won the Central Division title in 1984. Finally, lets discuss the NBA Finals. The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. Hey, it's enough to make Allen Iverson burn his Celtics throwbacks. Johnson and Bird met at the NBA Finals three times in 1984, 1985 and 1987. 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. It gave Bird his first finals loss in his third appearance. The NBA Playoffs saw some change this year, with the tournament expanding to 16-teams and the four-round knockout we see today. Chicago Bulls 4-1, 1981 Eastern Conference Final: Celtics def.
Larry Bird Reacts to Eastern Conference Finals MVP Trophy Named After As with many teams in the 1990s, the Pacers were stopped by the Chicago Bulls, losing the series in seven games as the Bulls did not lose a home game in the series. Below you can see the playoff results for all of Birds Celtics teams. Isn't 15.3 points, 15.3 rebounds and 7 assists per game one of the coolest statlines for an NBA playoff series ever?A quote from Larry Bird's book "Drive" co. 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. 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. Sample Searches for learning more about the power and flexibility of Stathead. 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. The seeds of the 1984 Finals were first sown five years earlier, during the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.In the final game of the tournament, Larry Bird and his erstwhile unbeaten Indiana State Sycamores lost to Magic Johnson and his Michigan State Spartans by the score of 75-64. Larry Bird's Career Record vs. NBA Legends: He Beat Michael Jordan 23 Times, But Magic Johnson Won The Head-To-Head Matchups . The Cs were heavily favored and had won 10 straight vs the Rockets, but Houston put up more of a fight than expected. Washington Bullets 3-1, 1984 Conference Semis: Celtics def. In addition to Nique, the Hawks starred Kevin Willis. Michael Jordans Prime: The Greatest of All Time, Who has the most rings in the NBA? One of the most feared competitors during the 1980s was Larry Bird, who won three championships with the Celtics during the decade, destroying teams through his versatile style and killer, lights-out shooting.
What is Larry Bird's Record in the NBA Finals? While that body of work would give anyone the right to too their own horn, Larry Legend took a different course of action. Teaming with players like Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, Maxwell was an essential player on Boston teams that won NBA championships in both 1981 and 1984. Regardless, Johnson and Bird are widelyregarded as beingtwo of thegreatest players to have ever played the gameand they made for one of the greatest rivalries, one that will never be forgotten. If you are thinking of buy an NBA jersey then check out the official retailers of the NBA below. Larry Bird's 1986 Playoff Stats . Bill suffered through injuries for much of his career but appeared in 80 games for the Celtics. 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 Los Angeles Lakers won both games in the regular season series: The Lakers opened the series with a 115-109 victory at Boston Garden. If you click and purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Larry Bird | Net Worth, Salary, And Career Earnings The Indiana-born was the highest-paid rookie of the year, with $3.25 million an average of $650,000 a year in a 5-year contract with the Celtics.Bird had played 879 games in his career until his retirement in 1992.. If you click and purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. 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. The Bucks were led in the series, as they had been in the regular season, by wing Marques Johnson and Hall of Fame guard Sidney Moncrief. 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. 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. Tree had famously bit Danny Ainge in a playoff fight three seasons prior. The Cs closed it out with a lopsided victory in game 5. This was the last NBA Finals to use the 22111 format until 2014. 1981 was against the Houston Rockets where Cedric Maxwell was the NBA Finals MVP. In Birds career with Indiana State he did not ever win a championship. Data runs from 1946-47 to present unless otherwise noted. 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.
WATCH: Every play by Larry Bird in the 1981 NBA Finals vs. the Rockets 1984 NBA Finals - Wikipedia At the macro level, the famous won three titles with the Boston Celtics. Springs Valley in French Lick, Indiana, Draft: 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. In total, Larry Bird went to five NBA finals in his career. he guided the Pacers to a 58-24 record, which was the best in franchise history at the time. inWest Baden,Indiana 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. But it was in 1986 when the Celtics faced the Houston Rockets for the championship when Bird . 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. (the Lakers) learned a valuable lesson. Allen Iverson Jersey Mitchell and Ness: A Complete Guide. [1] The Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeated the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. Jelani Scott. Larry averaged 27.4 points, 14 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per game in this series. . Larry Bird Playoffs Game Log. I wrote about his underrated defense here. Join our linker program. Only the strong survive. They beat the Rockets twice and the Lakers once to win NBA titles. The first series matched Boston up with the Chicago Bulls. Have the Phoenix Suns ever won the NBA title? In the Finals, Bird dropped a triple-double on the Rockets in a series-clinching Game 6, giving the Celtics another ring. L.A. went on to blow out the Celtics in Game 3 but the resilient Celtics responded with a 129-125 OT win in Game 4 which was sealed by Carrs steal at the buzzer. more information Accept. Peak, Bird was better imo So lets look at the 1984 NBA season. The games were closer than youd expect for a 1 seed vs 8 seed series. And they werent. Larry Bird beat iconic NBA players on his way to three NBA championships including Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Hakeem Olajuwon. Birds mother, Georgia, once said that she couldnt fathom he sons NBA salary and, despite his earning power, insisted that she wasnt out buying expensive clothes. Larry Bird was named MVP of the series. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Here are some of Larry Bird's notable career achievements and statistics: Three-time NBA champion (1981, 1984, 1986) . After altering wins with the Lakers, the Celtics won Game 7 and the series with a score of 111102. Bird scored 53 points against the Indiana Pacers, which broke Sam Jones' record set in 1965. Birds great performances in games one and six helped lead the Celtics to the title and Bird claimed his first NBA Championship in 1981. 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). Larry Bird stats . The Philidelphia 76ers were led by NBA Hall of Famer Julius Erving, Andrew Toney, and Darryl Dawkins. Larry Bird's Celtics made the Finals in 1985 and 1987 but lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. Bird won their first meeting in seven games, winning the NBA Finals MVP. You can read up on all three of Larry Birds incredible championships below. What are the abbreviations on the NBA table. 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. Unlike some of the other players that have gone down in NBA History, Larry didnt leave his team whatsoever. The games were reasonably close if the series was not. 1984: Larry Bird: Boston Celtics: No stats available. James Posey shared the culture that made the 2008 Boston Celtics experience so unique. 1st seed in the West, 2nd best league record. This was a fantastic series overall. Not only did he possess the skillset to thrive, but he had more than enough confidence to put any opponent in their place. Carr. Los Angeles Lakers in 7 games (4 wins, 3 losses) * 1985: Los Angeles Lak. The Celtics eventually prevailed in overtime 124-121, thanks to Scott Wedman's game-winning shot from the baseline with 14 ticks left. 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 Bullets were the 8th seed in the East winning only 35 regular season games and finishing last in the Atlantic division. Bird was named Finals MVP after averaging 27.4 points, 14.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game in the series. According to Basketball Reference, Johnson and Bird played against each other 18 times in the regular season throughout their careers. It brought Bird his third and final NBA Championship. The seeds of the 1984 Finals were first sown five years earlier, during the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. No one thought we could beat the Lakers. His back suffered major issues, as he injured it building on his farm. Bird picked up his first Finals MVP honurs. He was pre-knee injury at this point and averaged 26 per game in the regular season and 29 per game in this series. In Game 2, the Lakers led 113-111 with 18 seconds left when Gerald Henderson stole a James Worthy pass to score a game tying layup. How Many Finals MVPs Does Larry Bird Have? 2 NBA Finals MVP (1984, 1986) 3 NBA Most Valuable Player (1984-1986) . Bird averaged 22.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game for the series. They lost twice to the same team: the Los Angeles Lakers. Celtics forward Larry Bird averaged 27 points and 14 rebounds a game during the series, earning the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP). Or maybe youre a younger fan wondering if Bird really deserves his place in the Pantheon of basketball greats. It didnt take the Lakers long to learn, but in that series, it was the element of surprise that we needed. Fox believes the Westbrook is the most scrutinized player in the NBA, while also stating that everyone inside the league loves Westbrook, regardless of what the outside perception may be, Arenas believes that the Grizzlies should ignore Morant's actions because every other team would and he's a productive player for them, Tim Hardaway told his favorite Run TMC story involving Don Nelson which resulted to an unforgettable moment for the group. Donovan Mitchell and Jayson Tatum were carrying their teams on the offensive []
Get to know Larry Bird: Stats, records and more - RSN Malone is an underrated player, not as well-known as he should be. The last four games all came down to the last shot, with all the games being decided by two points or less. We had Larry Bird, Kevin Mchale, Robert Parish, and Dennis Johnson on the Celtics. He made the Finals five times in his thirteen-year career, winning the championship in 1981, 1984, and 1986. In retirement, though, Larry Legend managed to take things down a notch. The Conference Semifinals was a seven-game series against the Knicks, which ended with Boston winning 4-3. I have been a Boston sports fan for more than forty years. The NBA Finals series was closer than either of the Conference Finals.
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