The Celtics & Lakers met three times in the mid-80s to determine NBA supremacy, and here are five of the greatest moments from that rivalry.
Between 1984 and 1987 the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics met three times to determine the NBA champion. It was a great era in NBA basketball and is looked back upon with reverence by many fans. There were many moments to remember, but these five left an indelible mark in my mind.
5. 1985 Finals, Game 1
It was dubbed the "Memorial Day Massacre" as Boston defeated L.A. 148 - 114. Though all my friends were concerned with hockey, I raced home from school to turn on the TV and find the Celtics beating the Lakers like a drum. I was not really a Lakers fan, but I despised Boston so much that when my favourite squad was eliminated, my new favourite team became any team that was playing the Celtics. As I watched, I thought, "Is this possible?" Scot Wedman lighting it up; Greg Kite getting a standing ovation from the crowd as he made life uncomfortable for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. As a side note, eight years later, in 1993, I happened to be placed in a foursome with Kite at a charity golf tournament in Sun Valley Idaho and all he would do is smile when I asked him about that game. The Lakers would eventually come back to win the series and when Dr. Jerry Buss clenched the championship trophy and said that the most odious curse in the history of sport, or words to that effect, had been broken, it sent me scurrying for a dictionary.
4. 1984 Finals, Game 2
With the Lakers leading the series 1-0 after a win in Boston, Los Angeles was ready to take a stranglehold on the series. They led Game 2 113-111 and had possession of the ball with less than 20 seconds to go. It was going to be a foul shooting contest, or so I thought until James Worthy tried to make a cross-court pass and Gerald Henderson, yes the father of current Duke University's player by the same name, picked it off and drove in for a layup to tie the game. Boston eventually won 124-121 in overtime. In my eyes, that one play changed the series as the Celtics won the title in six games.
3. 1984 Finals, Game 4
Undaunted by the Worthy gaffe in Game 2, the Lakers and their "Showtime" offence put on a dunking display in Game 3 as they returned to the Forum. Los Angeles blew out Boston 137-104. After the game, Larry Bird called out his teammates as he talked about Boston having great players that were playing like, "Sissies." Danny Ainge would later tell the story about the team discussing the Lakers win during a stretching session for the next game and saying the "dunkfest" had to stop. Well it did when Kevin McHale ran down Los Angeles banger Kurt Rambis and administered the now infamous flying tackle as Rambis was about to go airborne for a layup. The game got ugly as the Celtics threw the Lakers off their game. Kareem and Bird jawed at one another, Bird pushed his defensive nemesis Michael Cooper into the stands at one point and eventually Boston won in overtime, 129-125. I've talked to him many times and he's been pleasant to deal with, but it really hurt to see towel-waving M.L. Carr get into the game, make a key steal and dunk to tie the score late in the game. I have never asked Pat Riley this (and maybe it's all in my mind) but I strongly feel that was the day that Riley turned "Showtime" into "Slowtime", a philosophy he still subscribes to today. He loves to have the big man and play the power game, and words like "force" (used often when he went to the Knicks) and "matching an opponent's intensity" became staples of the Riley vernacular.
2. 1985 Finals, Game 4
It was the first time the NBA went to the 2-3-2 format and the Lakers had responded from the "Memorial Day Massacre" to send the series back to Los Angeles tied at one game apiece. After easily winning Game 3, 136-111, everybody was thinking that it could be a five-game series win for the Lakers. Bird was playing poorly as Cooper, with his high socks and draw strings hanging out of the front of his shorts, was all over Bird like a cheap suit. But Boston found a way to come up with a win. With the score tied at 105 and time running down, Larry "Legend" passed to a guy he called the best player he ever played with - Dennis Johnson. "D.J." knocked down a jumper from about 18 feet out that just beat the buzzer and the Celtics had tied the series. I remember watching at home with my brother, my dad and a couple of close friends, stunned at what had happened. As we were all rooting for the Lakers, my dad just shook his head and in his Jamaican accent said, "That's bad business." (The intimation being that Boston had regained home-court advantage and the Lakers were done.) But my dad's mutterings were premature as the odious sentence would later be removed. As a side note, with all due respect to broadcasters, international players and even some coaches in the Basketball Hall of Fame, why has the late Dennis Johnson not been voted in as a member? It's a pure, unadulterated travesty!!
1. 1987 Finals, Game 4
The series was 2-1 Lakers, but this was the second of the three games in Boston. Los Angeles had run Boston off the floor at the Forum but Game 3 saw the Celtics fight back for a win. Game 4 was hanging in the balance with the Lakers leading late in the fourth quarter when Boston brought the ball up court looking to tie the game. This one play that stays with me proves Larry Bird's mental toughness and his ability to concentrate and perform under pressure. Bird literally shook free from Worthy, who must have been instructed not to help or leave Bird under any circumstances. "Big Game" James Worthy was literally holding on to Bird's jersey to prevent him getting away. I vividly remember seeing the CBS replay of Bird fading to the left corner of the floor in front of the Lakers bench, in the three-point pocket between the sideline and the arc with his jersey almost falling off him, catching the ball and knocking down a three-pointer to give Boston a two-point lead with about 10 seconds left in the contest. What happened next is what every NBA fan has seen countless times on NBA highlight reels but it was something to behold on TV that night. Following Abdul-Jabbar making one of two free throws and the Celtics fumbling the rebound out of bounds, Magic took the inbound pass from the baseline on the left side and as James Worthy said in the NBA at 50 Documentary, "You could see Magic was going to take the last shot." Johnson used a stutter dribble and then drove across the lane. He lofted a hook shot over the outstretched arms of Robert Parish and Kevin McHale to give L.A. a 107-106 lead with two seconds left. There was silence in the Boston Garden as I jumped up in my basement. The crowd went quiet and I can still hear P.A. announcer Andy Jick crediting the basket in an elongated understated tone to "Ma-gic John-son" (where are you Dan Gladman?). I can remember CBS broadcaster Tom Heinson talking about Magic's "junior sky-hook." But it wasn't over as Bird, after a Boston timeout, used a simple "V-cut" and rode his defender up the floor, broke to the corner and caught the ball in almost the exact spot he had hit a shot moments earlier to give Boston the lead. This time he missed and as Dick Stockton called it, "the Lakers danced off the floor" with the win. Magic was interviewed after the game in the tunnel outside the locker room. But if you listen carefully next time the game is run on classic TV you can hear in the background Celtic patriarch "Red" Auerbach berating an official. At one point, Magic loses his train of thought in the interview and looks over as Auerbach becomes more bellicose.
What great memories! Hopefully this series provides one or two more for the next generation of NBA fans.
