The Boston Celtics were supposed to win the NBA championship in 1987. They had a team full of talented players, including Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, who was named Rookie of the Year that year. The opponent? The Los Angeles Lakers- with Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Michael Cooper. With 4 minutes left in game 6 of their series against the Lakers- which they lost by 2 points after being within 5 points at one point – Bill Walton famously proclaimed “Boston is going home.”
The “1986 nba finals” was a series of games in which the Boston Celtics were up 3-2 against the Los Angeles Lakers, but ultimately lost 4 straight to lose the NBA Championship.
During the 1987 NBA Finals against the rival Los Angeles Lakers, Larry Bird chastised the Boston Celtics for their lack of mental toughness. Boston just missed a wonderful chance to even the series at two games each in Game 4. Instead, the Celtics were left wondering what could have been had the Lakers not stopped them from repeating.
In the 1980s, Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics were vying for their fourth NBA championship.
During an NBA basketball game at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts in 1987, Kevin McHale of the Boston Celtics shoots over Mychal Thompson of the Los Angeles Lakers. | Getty Images/Focus on Sport
Bird led the Celtics to a championship in just his second season in the NBA, beating the Houston Rockets in the 1981 Finals. From 1984 through 1987, Boston made it to the final round four times in a row, earning trophies in 1984 and 1986. The Celtics faced the Lakers in the 1987 Finals, a team they had beaten in 1984 and lost to in 1985.
Despite losing their first two away games, the Celtics were optimistic about their chances at home, particularly with the 2-3-2 format.
In each of the two games in Los Angeles, Boston lost by double digits, but rebounded in Game 3. Bird and Magic Johnson fought it out before the Celtics won 109-103, cutting Boston’s series deficit to 2-1. Bird had 30 points and 12 rebounds in the game. Johnson scored 32 points to lead all scorers. He also had 11 rebounds and nine assists on the night.
However, it was Game 4 that deflated Bird and the Celtics.
‘Our mental toughness isn’t what it used to be,’ says Larry Bird.
Following the Lakers’ victory over the Celtics in the 1987 NBA Finals, K.C. Jones stopped by to congratulate Pat Riley as Riley was being interviewed by Jim Hill. K.C. makes a great move pic.twitter.com/4Iif8IXx6a
December 26, 2020 — J.A. Adande (@jadande)
The Celtics felt quite comfortable about themselves after winning Game 3. The Celtics believed they could take the series lead with two more games at home and just need to win one game in Los Angeles.
With a 16-point lead against the Lakers in the third quarter, the Celtics seemed to be on their way to tying the series. Then everything started to fall apart.
The Lakers used a strong third-quarter run to come within seven points of the Celtics, who led 85-78 at the half. For the most of the fourth quarter, Boston had a comfortable lead, leading by eight points with 3:30 remaining. The visitors, on the other hand, scored 12 of the game’s 15 points, resulting in a heartbreaking 107-106 defeat for Boston, capped by Johnson’s famed baby skyhook.
“We’ve been beaten here before, but the way we let that one go really stings,” Bird told United Press International before Game 5. “It’s simply that our mental toughness isn’t what it used to be.”
Bird wasn’t the only one who saw how poorly the Celtics had devolved.
Celtics guard Danny Ainge stated, “If we lose this series, that’s the game we’ll remember.”
“It takes the rest of the night and most of the following day to comprehend what you’ve done to yourself,” Celtics guard Dennis Johnson said. “Now we have to win three straight, which is difficult, and it will be three or four times tougher against the Lakers.”
The Celtics’ mindset was affected by their Game 4 setback.
Bird spoke on how tough it would be for the Celtics to come back and win the series after Game 4’s tragedy.
“I thought our chances (for the series) were quite good last night,” Bird remarked. “It would have been a different series if we could have simply gotten that one.” I wanted to win all three games at home and then go out and win two more games because I believe we can win one. However, winning two…
“You would have seen a lot of different players taking different shots if we could have walked out of here with a victory.” When you’re tied down and playing on the road, things change. Magic would have taken a lot more huge shots, and I would have taken a lot more shots. It tells a lot about our leadership style and how we manage our people.”
The Celtics won the last game of the series at home, defeating the Lakers 123-108 and taking a 3-2 series lead.
The Lakers took care of business in Game 6, winning 106-93 to clinch the title and leave the Celtics to ponder their Game 4 meltdown.
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The “lakers 2021” is a blog post that discusses the Boston Celtics and their missed chance at 4th NBA title after demoralizing, series-altering loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1987 Finals. The author of the blog post is not sure if they would have won it all had they beaten the Lakers in 1987.
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