Larry Bird's 1984 post-season run

[SHAQisGOAT]

[B]I typed this for that other thread but while I was doing it I realized it deserved a thread of its own because Larry Bird's 1984 Playoffs run gets underrated like crazy...

People overlook it much but while Bird was going ham, the vast majority of the other Celtics were playing well below their standards, for a team that had gone 62-20 in the regular-season (mostly because of Larry though)...

-Parish scored 4 less PPG on 7% less from the field, playing 2 more MPG and only with 0.1 RPG more
-McHale scored 3.6 less PPG on 5% less from the floor
-DJ scored 3 more PPG on 3% less from the field, playing 3 more MPG
-Maxwell played more minutes but only scored the same and on 3% less from the floor
-Henderson scored 1 more ppg but on 4% less FG%
......
Bird raised his PPG and overall efficiency CONSIDERABLY, even his RPG, SPG and BPG.
Larry scored 11 more PPG than the Celtics' next best scorer, which was DJ shooting 40.4% from the field.

During those Playoffs, Bird led the team in:
-PPG (4th in the league)
-RPG (5th in the league)
-APG
-SPG
-MPG
-total points (1st in the league)
-total rebounds (1st in the league)
-total assists (2nd in the league)
-total steals (1st in the league)
-FG%
-FT%
-TS%
-eFG%
-PER (2nd in the league)
-ORtg
-DRtg
-OWS (1st in the league)
-DWS (1st in the league)
-WS (1st in the league)
-WS/48 (1st in the league)

And was 3rd in blocks and in 3P% with more 3's taken.

:applause: :bowdown: :eek:

You can say all you want about the minutes played and whatnot, but be reminded that he was out there most of the time in some really physical/gruelsome series... That's tough af, especially still having the most and better productivity.


Looking at some advanced stats between Bird and the 2nd best Celtic:

TS%
Bird - .607
Maxwell - .604

eFG%
Bird - .532
McHale - .504

ORtg
Bird - 120
McHale/Maxwell - 118

DRtg
Bird - 103
Parish - 105

OWS
Bird - 3.0
McHale - 1.4

DWS
Bird - 1.7
Parish - 1.3

WS
Bird - 4.7
McHale - 2.1

WS/48
Bird - .236
Carr - .145

PER
Bird - 26.3
McHale - 16.3


As far as FG%:

Bird - 52.4%
DJ/Parish/McHale/Henderson/Maxwell combined (ones scoring over 10 ppg) - 46.9%
All of the Celtics' players combined, excluding Bird - 45.8%


In the Finals it was more of the same, yet recently someone made a list of the top10 most valuable Finals performances and didn't even include him :facepalm
Shit was like Dirk's 2011 Finals on steroids, yet not romanticized nearly as much :rolleyes:

Bird outplayed and outscored, on better efficiency, a peak Bernard King, while having one of the GOAT game7's, against the Knicks.
He destroyed a 50W Bucks team with the 2nd best defense, while the C's quickly went past them mostly because of him.
In the Finals against a crazy stacked team, better on paper expected to win, with Kareem, Magic, Worthy, Cooper, McAdoo, Rambis, Wilkes... Larry was killing them while being guarded by Cooper and Worthy, getting most attention, led them to the title.

Not saying it was the worst supporting championship cast or something like that but people only tend to look at names (plenty that Bird made) while neglecting the level of a player at a certain time, what that player was doing before or without his best teammate (Larry), injuries, so on...
That 1984 squad is not even comparable to, say, the 1986 one, and while most of his teammates were playing pretty sub-par, Bird was tearing shit up and leading them to a title against some extremely tough competition.

---------------------

Some of his games highlights...

G6 loss vs the Knicks, Bird with a great game though, hitting 9 shots in a row
>35/11 (14/28 FG, 7/8 FT)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsSXmQUSjpQ

One of the GOAT game7's, putting the Knicks away, majorly outplaying and even outscoring Bernard King like happened for the whole series
>39/12/10/3 (13/24 FG, 12/12 FT)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWr5JLVZV-E

Bird vs Magic in game2 of the Finals, C's won in OT, Larry not with his best game but was clutch
>27/13/3 (8/22 FG, 11/15 FT)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJqElkoGFYw

After Bird called his teammates for being ******* to light a fire under them, they came out very agressive as did Larry... C's won in OT, Bird hit the gamewinner over Magic
>29/21 (9/24 FG, 10/10 FT)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLIxAAJa7no

"Heat Game", temperature in the Garden at 98

[SHAQisGOAT]

If you have "issues" with the bold...

I typed this for that other thread but while I was doing it I realized it deserved a thread of its own because Larry Bird's 1984 Playoffs run gets underrated like crazy...

People overlook it much but while Bird was going ham, the vast majority of the other Celtics were playing well below their standards, for a team that had gone 62-20 in the regular-season (mostly because of Larry though)...

-Parish scored 4 less PPG on 7% less from the field, playing 2 more MPG and only with 0.1 RPG more
-McHale scored 3.6 less PPG on 5% less from the floor
-DJ scored 3 more PPG on 3% less from the field, playing 3 more MPG
-Maxwell played more minutes but only scored the same and on 3% less from the floor
-Henderson scored 1 more ppg but on 4% less FG%
......
Bird raised his PPG and overall efficiency CONSIDERABLY, even his RPG, SPG and BPG.
Larry scored 11 more PPG than the Celtics' next best scorer, which was DJ shooting 40.4% from the field.

During those Playoffs, Bird led the team in:
-PPG (4th in the league)
-RPG (5th in the league)
-APG
-SPG
-MPG
-total points (1st in the league)
-total rebounds (1st in the league)
-total assists (2nd in the league)
-total steals (1st in the league)
-FG%
-FT%
-TS%
-eFG%
-PER (2nd in the league)
-ORtg
-DRtg
-OWS (1st in the league)
-DWS (1st in the league)
-WS (1st in the league)
-WS/48 (1st in the league)

And was 3rd in blocks and in 3P% with more 3's taken.

:applause: :bowdown: :eek:

You can say all you want about the minutes played and whatnot, but be reminded that he was out there most of the time in some really physical/gruelsome series... That's tough af, especially still having the most and better productivity.


Looking at some advanced stats between Bird and the 2nd best Celtic:

TS%
Bird - .607
Maxwell - .604

eFG%
Bird - .532
McHale - .504

ORtg
Bird - 120
McHale/Maxwell - 118

DRtg
Bird - 103
Parish - 105

OWS
Bird - 3.0
McHale - 1.4

DWS
Bird - 1.7
Parish - 1.3

WS
Bird - 4.7
McHale - 2.1

WS/48
Bird - .236
Carr - .145

PER
Bird - 26.3
McHale - 16.3


As far as FG%:

Bird - 52.4%
DJ/Parish/McHale/Henderson/Maxwell combined (ones scoring over 10 ppg) - 46.9%
All of the Celtics' players combined, excluding Bird - 45.8%


In the Finals it was more of the same, yet recently someone made a list of the top10 most valuable Finals performances and didn't even include him :facepalm
Shit was like Dirk's 2011 Finals on steroids, yet not romanticized nearly as much :rolleyes:

Bird outplayed and outscored, on better efficiency, a peak Bernard King, while having one of the GOAT game7's, against the Knicks.
He destroyed a 50W Bucks team with the 2nd best defense, while the C's quickly went past them mostly because of him.
In the Finals against a crazy stacked team, better on paper expected to win, with Kareem, Magic, Worthy, Cooper, McAdoo, Rambis, Wilkes... Larry was killing them while being guarded by Cooper and Worthy, getting most attention, led them to the title.

Not saying it was the worst supporting championship cast or something like that but people only tend to look at names (plenty that Bird made) while neglecting the level of a player at a certain time, what that player was doing before or without his best teammate (Larry), injuries, so on...
That 1984 squad is not even comparable to, say, the 1986 one, and while most of his teammates were playing pretty sub-par, Bird was tearing shit up and leading them to a title against some extremely tough competition.

---------------------

Some of his games highlights...

G6 loss vs the Knicks, Bird with a great game though, hitting 9 shots in a row
>35/11 (14/28 FG, 7/8 FT)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsSXmQUSjpQ

One of the GOAT game7's, putting the Knicks away, majorly outplaying and even outscoring Bernard King like happened for the whole series
>39/12/10/3 (13/24 FG, 12/12 FT)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWr5JLVZV-E

Bird vs Magic in game2 of the Finals, C's won in OT, Larry not with his best game but was clutch
>27/13/3 (8/22 FG, 11/15 FT)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJqElkoGFYw

After Bird called his teammates for being ******* to light a fire under them, they came out very agressive as did Larry... C's won in OT, Bird hit the gamewinner over Magic
>29/21 (9/24 FG, 10/10 FT)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLIxAAJa7no

"Heat Game", temperature in the Garden at 98

[That_Admiral]

Birds the word.

[buddha]

could you also post it in italic?

[Nowitness]

People forget he had no D. Next to Dirk as the only title winner to be named FMVP and be the worst defender on the starting 5.

[SHAQisGOAT]

People forget he had no D. Next to Dirk as the only title winner to be named FMVP and be the worst defender on the starting 5.


:facepalm Go throw that ignorance around somewhere else, child :oldlol:

Just in 1984, Bird led the league in DWS and was 2nd in DRtg (and he was doing that "stuff" before Parish, McHale or DJ even got there), obviously/easily leading the team as well.

On that Celtics team, apart from Bird, only Dennis Johnson was named to the all-defensive team (both 2nd team) and from a team stand-point Larry was the most impactful defender on the Celtics that year (and some others as well) despite not being the best 1on1 on-ball defender.

Oh, and: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpEAZMT5t_U

Take that ether and keep quiet while the big-boys are talking about basketball, with actual knowledge.


Again, go troll somewhere else :rolleyes:

[finchyyy]

Was named to some All-Defensive teams, he wasn't that bad. Much better than Magic ever was.

[LeBird]

Great post :applause:, it's hilarious to watch people criticise Bird's postseasons. As if, other than being perfect, there was no other option. As you point out to, it shows how much effect Bird had on the Celtics. People can talk about stacked this and that as much as they want; Bird was leading them in so many categories it's ridiculous. This is why I say that if Bird had been drafted to the Lakers, they win even more rings. He was doing so much heavy lifting in a tougher conference, year on year.

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

People forget he had no D. Next to Dirk as the only title winner to be named FMVP and be the worst defender on the starting 5.
Magic was the worst defender of the starting 5

Theres no way in hell Jason Terry was ever a better defender

Bird was never worse than Ainge or Maxwell

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

[QUOTE=SHAQisGOAT][B]I typed this for that other thread but while I was doing it I realized it deserved a thread of its own because Larry Bird's 1984 Playoffs run gets underrated like crazy...

People overlook it much but while Bird was going ham, the vast majority of the other Celtics were playing well below their standards, for a team that had gone 62-20 in the regular-season (mostly because of Larry though)...

-Parish scored 4 less PPG on 7% less from the field, playing 2 more MPG and only with 0.1 RPG more
-McHale scored 3.6 less PPG on 5% less from the floor
-DJ scored 3 more PPG on 3% less from the field, playing 3 more MPG
-Maxwell played more minutes but only scored the same and on 3% less from the floor
-Henderson scored 1 more ppg but on 4% less FG%
......
Bird raised his PPG and overall efficiency CONSIDERABLY, even his RPG, SPG and BPG.
Larry scored 11 more PPG than the Celtics' next best scorer, which was DJ shooting 40.4% from the field.

During those Playoffs, Bird led the team in:
-PPG (4th in the league)
-RPG (5th in the league)
-APG
-SPG
-MPG
-total points (1st in the league)
-total rebounds (1st in the league)
-total assists (2nd in the league)
-total steals (1st in the league)
-FG%
-FT%
-TS%
-eFG%
-PER (2nd in the league)
-ORtg
-DRtg
-OWS (1st in the league)
-DWS (1st in the league)
-WS (1st in the league)
-WS/48 (1st in the league)

And was 3rd in blocks and in 3P% with more 3's taken.

:applause: :bowdown: :eek:

You can say all you want about the minutes played and whatnot, but be reminded that he was out there most of the time in some really physical/gruelsome series... That's tough af, especially still having the most and better productivity.


Looking at some advanced stats between Bird and the 2nd best Celtic:

TS%
Bird - .607
Maxwell - .604

eFG%
Bird - .532
McHale - .504

ORtg
Bird - 120
McHale/Maxwell - 118

DRtg
Bird - 103
Parish - 105

OWS
Bird - 3.0
McHale - 1.4

DWS
Bird - 1.7
Parish - 1.3

WS
Bird - 4.7
McHale - 2.1

WS/48
Bird - .236
Carr - .145

PER
Bird - 26.3
McHale - 16.3


As far as FG%:

Bird - 52.4%
DJ/Parish/McHale/Henderson/Maxwell combined (ones scoring over 10 ppg) - 46.9%
All of the Celtics' players combined, excluding Bird - 45.8%


In the Finals it was more of the same, yet recently someone made a list of the top10 most valuable Finals performances and didn't even include him :facepalm
Shit was like Dirk's 2011 Finals on steroids, yet not romanticized nearly as much :rolleyes:

Bird outplayed and outscored, on better efficiency, a peak Bernard King, while having one of the GOAT game7's, against the Knicks.
He destroyed a 50W Bucks team with the 2nd best defense, while the C's quickly went past them mostly because of him.
In the Finals against a crazy stacked team, better on paper expected to win, with Kareem, Magic, Worthy, Cooper, McAdoo, Rambis, Wilkes... Larry was killing them while being guarded by Cooper and Worthy, getting most attention, led them to the title.

Not saying it was the worst supporting championship cast or something like that but people only tend to look at names (plenty that Bird made) while neglecting the level of a player at a certain time, what that player was doing before or without his best teammate (Larry), injuries, so on...
That 1984 squad is not even comparable to, say, the 1986 one, and while most of his teammates were playing pretty sub-par, Bird was tearing shit up and leading them to a title against some extremely tough competition.

---------------------

Some of his games highlights...

G6 loss vs the Knicks, Bird with a great game though, hitting 9 shots in a row
>35/11 (14/28 FG, 7/8 FT)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsSXmQUSjpQ

One of the GOAT game7's, putting the Knicks away, majorly outplaying and even outscoring Bernard King like happened for the whole series
>39/12/10/3 (13/24 FG, 12/12 FT)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWr5JLVZV-E

Bird vs Magic in game2 of the Finals, C's won in OT, Larry not with his best game but was clutch
>27/13/3 (8/22 FG, 11/15 FT)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJqElkoGFYw

After Bird called his teammates for being ******* to light a fire under them, they came out very agressive as did Larry... C's won in OT, Bird hit the gamewinner over Magic
>29/21 (9/24 FG, 10/10 FT)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLIxAAJa7no

"Heat Game", temperature in the Garden at 98

[SuperCereal]

Amazing post, Bird was the man!:applause:

[IllegalD]

8/22

9/24

6/18

Ouch. :eek:

He would get killed on the twittersphere for that these days. :no:

:roll: at you bringing up "key rebounds and FTs" to try to polish a turd. Hmmm.. kinda sounds like some other stans I know...

[BoutPractice]

The headline is impressive enough: 27, 11 and 6 on 61 TS%, leading his team to the title winning against the Showtime Lakers (Kareem, Magic, Worthy, McAdoo, Wilkes, Rambis, Scott...) in 7 hotly contested games after going through the tougher conference in the East.

[K Xerxes]

8/22

9/24

6/18

Ouch. :eek:

He would get killed on the twittersphere for that these days. :no:

:roll: at you bringing up "key rebounds and FTs" to try to polish a turd. Hmmm.. kinda sounds like some other stans I know...

The only players that are not allowed bad games are Kobe and Lebron. Everything is scrutinised in this social media era. But compare them to pretty much any other all time great in history, and bad games happen from time to time, even in pivotal moments.

[SHAQisGOAT]

8/22

9/24

6/18

Ouch.

He would get killed on the twittersphere for that these days. :no:

:roll: at you bringing up "key rebounds and FTs" to try to polish a turd. Hmmm.. kinda sounds like some other stans I know...

That's what you take from that whole post? :wtf: You must be dumb af :oldlol:

Keep checking just FG% on some selected games :rolleyes: ****ing stat geeks :facepalm
(for example, Dirk went 9/27 for 21 points in the last game of the 2011 NBA Finals... people on "twittersphere" gave him shit for that and still do, right? :rolleyes: GTFOH)

Polish what? I'm talking about the facts. Watch that game, dummie... That's what he did at the very end and without it they don't win the game :facepalm Kids these days...

27.4 / 14.0 / 3.6 on 59.5 %TS, in the Finals while winning the ring/FMVP against a better team on paper that was expected to win, with his teammates playing below their standards, against a team that would kill your favorite squad... What a "turd" :facepalm :oldlol: And that's just the Finals, not even the whole Playoffs. Don't act silly, child.

Take your ignorance elsewhere.

[FrenchDude]

Great post, thanks.

I wish I was here to see him play live. What a treat.

[AnaheimLakers24]

Great post :applause:, it's hilarious to watch people criticise Bird's postseasons. As if, other than being perfect, there was no other option. As you point out to, it shows how much effect Bird had on the Celtics. People can talk about stacked this and that as much as they want; Bird was leading them in so many categories it's ridiculous. This is why I say that if Bird had been drafted to the Lakers, they win even more rings. He was doing so much heavy lifting in a tougher conference, year on year.
hes better than bran

[RoundMoundOfReb]

Drtg and Dws are based off boxscore numbers...they have little to do with actual defensive ability/impact...I don't think Bird was a bad defender but he wasnt as good as those numbers make him seem

[SOD 21]

Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics were fortunate that Magic Johnson and James Worthy wilted in several late game situations early in that series, otherwise it should have been a sweep for the Lakers.

Tragic Johnson and a poor decision by James Worthy with his famed errant pass did the Lakers in in that series.

I am glad those damn Celtics got what they deserved the following year.

[SHAQisGOAT]

Drtg and Dws are based off boxscore numbers...they have little to do with actual defensive ability/impact...I don't think Bird was a bad defender but he wasnt as good as those numbers make him seem

Yea but if you look at the other forwards, across history, doing those type of "things", you'll only find names like Duncan, Pippen, KG, Rodman, Bobby Jones, and maybe a couple more... Bird "did" it constantly, guess that's just a fluke though :rolleyes:

When he comes around, in 1980, and with basically the same roster (and coach Fitch), the Celtics went from a top3 worst defense in the league to a top5 best defense, while Bird led the league in DWS and was 6th in DRtg, no Parish, McHale or DJ yet...
When he came back from injury as a SHELL of his former self, they still went from 20th in DRtg to 12th.
Another fluke(s)? :rolleyes:

Larry had major defensive impact mostly because of his team defense, sadly it gets underrated like crazy these days... Look at some of this to see what I'm talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpEAZMT5t_U

[ProfessorMurder]

Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics were fortunate that Magic Johnson and James Worthy wilted in several late game situations early in that series, otherwise it should have been a sweep for the Lakers.

Tragic Johnson and a poor decision by James Worthy with his famed errant pass did the Lakers in in that series.

I am glad those damn Celtics got what they deserved the following year.

The Lakers were lucky the West was paper thin.

[Kvnzhangyay]

The problem with Bird was that, other than injuries obviously, he had quite a few unspectacular postseason runs in addition to some legendary postseason runs

[LeBird]

New vid of that post-season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCNlrOu2Zu8

Bird: 29/21/2

:lol

[stalkerforlife]

Bird's top 5 all time and better than Lebron.

Why can't people just accept this?

[SHAQisGOAT]

New vid of that post-season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCNlrOu2Zu8

Bird: 29/21/2

:lol

Right on cue :applause:

That game/series was physical as ****. McHale's expression when he clotheslined Rambis always gets me, it's like he's saying that his teammates made him do it :lol

Cooper was pretty strong for his size and just a terrific defensive player but he was getting straight-up bullied in the paint by Larry, during those Finals.
That's the gamble you take with Bird, he's too smart, too crafty and too versatile to settle for jumpers against a considerably smaller player who was a fantastic perimeter defender... Larry did only shoot 39% from mid-range for the series (albeit shooting lots of them), mostly because Coop was all over him like a blanket and the Lakers were throwing a lot at him, but he also was shooting 57% from the paint overall (taking a bit more from there than from mid) and grabbing 14 rebounds per game.
I give props to Coop though because he was the considerably smaller player (than Bird), the mostly perimeter defender, the guard (although he guarded lots of SF's), who defended Bird better down-low... Other all-time great perimeter defenders like Moncrief or Jordan didn't have as much success. Michael knew every little trick in the book, was smart, very agressive, very mobile with extremely active/quick hands, strong for his skinny frame and really long.

Magic had a couple of terrible chokes at the end, during those series... Larry tying that game at FT line, then almost made that game-winning 3 over Cooper at the buzzer, in OT he then did hit the gamewinner though, over Magic.

[Jacks3]

Bird isn't even a top 10 post-season performer TBH.