‘I should have quit right there’ – Larry Bird’s greatest game saw him drop a triple-double on legendary big man to clinch third NBA championship for Celtics
Larry Bird knows a thing or two about closing out an NBA Finals.
As the 2024 version of the Boston Celtics attempt a gentleman’s sweep of the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals on Monday night, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and co only have to look at Larry Legend’s example for exactly what to do in a pivotal closeout game.In 1986, Bird and the Celtics came up against the Houston Rockets and a young Hakeem Olajuwon in the NBA Finals.Olajuwon was yet to flourish into the dominant center he’d later become while Bird and the Celtics were at the peak of their powers.Bird had won the 1981 Finals – against the Rockets -and led Boston over bitter rivals Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers in 1984.
He was also the league MVP from 1984 to 1986 and was looking to bounce back from a Finals defeat to the Lakers in ’85.
Bird and Boston returned with a vengeance in ’86 after picking up former Clippers big man Bill Walton who was named Sixth Man of the Year in his first season in green and white.
The Celtics’ ‘Big Three’ frontcourt of Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish – frequently ranked among the best frontcourts in NBA history – dominated the league en route to 67 regular season wins.
Bird was a beast, trash-talking Olajuwon at the All-Star Game, winning the inaugural Three-Point Shootout and averaging 25.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 6.8 assists, and 2.0 steals per game to became just the third player in NBA history to win three consecutive MVP Awards.
The Celtics’ juggernaut continued into the postseason and lost just one game in three rounds as they advanced to face the Rockets in the Finals.