June 9, 1985, 40 years ago: After 8 losses to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers finally beat them.
The teams had first met in the NBA Finals in 1959, when the Lakers were still in Minneapolis. The Celtics won, and beat them again in 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968 and 1969. The Lakers finally won an NBA Championship in Los Angeles in 1972, but it was against the New York Knicks. They won again in 1980 and 1982, in each case against the Philadelphia 76ers. They played the Celtics in the Finals again in 1984, but lost.
That 1984 Finals was the 1st between Larry Bird, who had led the Celtics to the 1981 title over the Houston Rockets; and Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who had starred as a rookie in the 1980 Finals and again in 1982. They had played each other in the 1979 NCAA Tournament Final, with Johnson's Michigan State beating Bird's Indiana State.
Game 5 of the '84 Finals was a classic example of New England teams' cheating: The Celtics turned off the air conditioning in the visiting team's locker room at the Boston Garden. It was 97 degrees inside the old barn, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 37 years old, was seen on the bench, taking in air from an oxygen tank. Referee Hugh Evans got dehydrated, and fainted in the 1st half, and had to be replaced by reserve referee John Vanak. The Celtics won, 121-103, and took Game 7 at home, 111-102.
The 1985 Finals would be redemption for the Laker franchise, and for Kareem in particular. Not at first: Because the Celtics had a slightly better regular-season record, 63-19 to the Lakers' 62-20, the Celtics would have the home court for Games 1 and 2, and, if necessary, Games 6 and 7. And Game 1, on May 27, Memorial Day, was a 148-114 smackdown by the Celtics. It became known as the Memorial Day Massacre, and it seemed to be setting up yet another Celtic Finals win over the Lakers.
And yet, the series was nearly all Lakers the rest of the way. The Lakers won Game 2 at the Boston Garden, 109-102. At The Forum in Inglewood, the Lakers took Game 3, 136-111. The Celtics won Game 4, barely, 107-105. In Game 5, Kareem scored 36, and the Lakers won, 120-111, so they needed to win only 1 of 2 in Boston.
Game 6 was tied at halftime, 55-55. But the Lakers outscored the Celtics in the 3rd quarter, 27-18. When it was over, the Lakers had won, 111-100. Only once before had the Celtics been eliminated from a Playoff series on the famed parquet floor of the Boston Garden, and that was by the 1973 New York Knicks. But this was in the Finals, and it would be the only time the Celtics ever lost a Finals-clinching game at the Boston Garden.
Kareem scored 29 points in the clincher, and was named the Most Valuable Player of the Finals. He was 38 years old, and was still one of the top 3 players in the NBA, behind his teammate, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, and the Celtics' Larry Bird.
To put that in perspective: At age 38:
* LeBron James was resting from games for "load management."
* Kobe Bryant retired.
* Johnson had been retired, for the last time, for 1 year.
* Bird had been retired for 2 years.
* Wilt Chamberlain had also been retired for 2 years.
* Bill Russell had been retired for 3 years.
* Michael Jordan had just come out of his 2nd retirement, to make a comeback with the Washington Wizards, which turned out to be ill-advised.
The Celtics won the title in 1986, over the Houston Rockets, who beat the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. In 1987, the Lakers got back to the Finals, and beat the Celtics in 6 games. Although they won Game 4 in Boston, they clinched in Game 6 at home in Inglewood. In 1988, they became the 1st team since the 1968-69 Celtics to repeat as NBA Champions.
UPDATE: In 2022, the Golden State Warriors won the NBA Championship, beating the Celtics in the Finals, clinching in Game 5 at the TD Garden, which replaced the Boston Garden in 1995.
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