Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson - Complete Career Head-to-Head Stats

[dankok8]

79-80 Season

12/28/1979

Magic: 23/8/6/0/4 (7/14, 9/10) W
Bird: 16/4/3 (7/15, 2/3)

Lakers win 123-105.

1/13/1980

Magic: 1/3/2/0/2 (0/2, 1/2) W
Bird: 14/12/1 (7/12, 0/0)

Lakers in 100-98. Kareem has 33/12 game.


81-82 Season

2/14/1982

Magic: 19/10/8 (6/11, 7/9)
Bird: 12/9/9 (4/11, 4/5) W

Celtics win 108-103.


82-83 Season

1/20/1983

Magic: 14/9/10 (5/10, 4/4)
Bird: 21/13/8 (9/22, 3/3) W

Celtics win 110-95.

2/23/1983

Magic: 20/13/10 (9/21, 2/3)
Bird: 32/17/9 (13/23, 4/6) W

Celtics win 113-104.


83-84 Season

2/8/1984

Magic: 20/8/10/?/6 (9/13, 2/2) W
Bird: 29/11/7 (12/19, 5/5)

Lakers win 111-109.

2/24/1984

Magic: 9/8/18/?/3 (4/11, 1/2) W
Bird: 14/11/5/2 (6/12, 2/2)

Lakers win 116-108. Kareem has 31/7/5 game.


'84 Playoffs

Game 1

Magic: 18/6/10/0/4 (7/11, 4/4) W
Bird: 24/14/5 (7/17, 9/11)

Lakers win 115-109. Kareem has 32/8/5 game on 71% shooting in a dominant effort.

Game 2

Magic: 27/10/9/1/0 (10/14, 7/7)
Bird: 27/13/3/2 (8/22, 11/15) W

Celtics win 124-121 in OT. Johnson stupidly burns a timeout and then lets the clock run out at the end of regulation. In OT Celtics use the chance they get to win the game.

Game 3

Magic: 14/11/21/1/1 (4/6, 6/10) W
Bird: 30/7/2/1 (9/16, 12/15)

Lakers win in a huge blowout 137-104.

Game 4

Magic: 20/11/17/0/2 (8/12, 4/7)
Bird: 29/21/2/0 (9/24, 10/10) W

Celtics win 129-125 in OT. Magic and Worthy each miss 2 free throws in the last seconds of regulation. Kareem has a dominant 32/8/6 game with 2 blocks and 4 steals. Lakers choke yet again.

Game 5

Magic: 10/5/13/2/2 (3/9, 4/6)
Bird: 34/17/2/1 (15/20, 2/4) W

In the infamous Heat game in the Boston Garden the Celtics obliterate the Lakers 121-103. Kareem and Worthy visibly struggled to breathe during the game. Bird dominated in the hellish conditions.

Game 6

Magic: 21/6/10/0/1 (10/18, 1/2) W
Bird: 28/14/8/3 (8/11, 12/13)

Lakers force a deciding Game 7 at the Garden winning 119-108. Kareem had another dominant performance with 30/10/5.

Game 7

Magic: 16/5/15/2/4 (5/14, 6/7)
Bird: 20/12/3/1 (6/18, 8/8) W

Celtics in 111-102 to win a championship. Bird wins Finals MVP. Kareem had 29/6/4 in the clincher.

Series Stats

Magic: 18.0 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 13.6 apg, 0.9 bpg, 2.0 spg on 56.0 %FG/61.2 %TS and 4.6 topg
Bird: 27.4 ppg, 14.0 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.1 bpg, 2.1 spg on 48.4 %FG/59.5 %TS and 3.6 topg


84-85 Season

1/16/1985

Magic: 8/7/13/0/2 (4/11, 0/0)
Bird: 19/11/7/0/1 (9/16, 1/1) W

Celtics win 104-102. Kareem has 33/7/4 game.

2/17/1985

Magic: 37/3/13/0/2 (10/16, 17/19) W
Bird: 33/15/3/0/3 (14/22, 4/5)

Lakers win 117-111.


'85 Playoffs

Game 1

Magic: 19/1/12/0/3 (8/14, 3/4)
Bird: 19/6/9/0/3 (8/14, 2/2) W

Celtics win 148-114 in what becomes known as the Memorial Day Massacre. Kareem scores 12 points in 22 minutes and is never factor in this one.

Game 2

Magic: 14/4/13/0/3 (6/9, 2/4) W
Bird: 30/12/3/2/2 (9/21, 1/1)

Lakers win 109-102. Kareem has a monster 30/17/8 game with 3 blocks.

Game 3

Magic: 17/9/16/0/2 (6/13, 4/4) W
Bird: 20/7/3/0/1 (8/21, 4/5)

Lakers win 136-111 in a big blowout. Kareem puts up 26/14/7 on 10/13 shooting. McHale has 31/10 on 10/13 shooting as well.

Game 4

Magic: 20/11/12/0/2 (5/12, 10/11)
Bird: 26/11/5/1/3 (8/16, 10/12) W

Celtics win 107-105.

Game 5

Magic: 26/6/17/0/2 (11/20, 4/4) W
Bird: 20/7/7/1/1 (8/17, 3/5)

Lakers win 120-111. Kareem dominates with 36/7/7 with 3 blocks.

Game 6

Magic: 14/10/14/0/1 (5/15, 4/4) W
Bird: 28/10/3/0/1 (12/29, 4/5)

Lakers clinch the title with a 111-100 win. Kareem has 29/7/4 game once again on blistering efficiency. KAJ wins Finals MVP averaging 25.7/9.0/5.2 on 60.4% shooting for the series. McHale has 32/16 in a loss.

Series Stats

Magic: 18.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 14.0 apg, 0.0 bpg, 2.2 spg on 49.4 %FG/56.9 %TS and 3.3 topg
Bird: 23.8 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 5.0 apg, 0.7 bpg, 1.8 spg on 44.9 %FG/52.7 %TS and 2.2 topg


85-86 Season

1/22/1986

Magic: 15/1/6/0/3 (6/10, 3/3)
Bird: 21/12/7/0/3 (8/16, 4/4) W

Celtics win 110-95.

2/16/1986

Magic: 6/6/12/0/2 (0/4, 6/6)
Bird: 22/18/7/0/0 (7/17, 8/12) W

Celtics win 105-99.


86-87 Season

12/12/1986

Magic: 31/7/8/1/2 (13/25, 5/7) W
Bird: 26/3/6/1/0 (11/13, 3/3)

Lakers win 117-110.

2/15/1987

Magic: 39/7/10/0/2 (12/20, 14/15) W
Bird: 20/5/7/2/1 (7/12, 5/7)

Lakers in 106-103.


'87 Playoffs

Game 1

Magic: 29/8/13/1/2 (13/25, 3/3) W
Bird: 32/7/6/0/1 (14/25, 4/4)

Lakers win 126-113.

Game 2

Magic: 22/5/20/0/3 (10/17, 2/2) W
Bird: 23/10/4/1/1 (9/17, 4/5)

Lakers win in a blowout 141-122.

Game 3

Magic: 32/11/9/0/1 (12/18, 8/8)
Bird: 30/12/4/1/0 (10/24, 10/11) W

Celtics win 109-103.

Game 4

Magic: 29/8/5/0/1 (12/20, 5/6) W
Bird: 21/10/7/2/1 (7/19, 5/5)

Lakers in 107-106. Magic hits the infamous baby hook over Kevin McHale to give the Lakers a 3-1 series lead.

Game 5

Magic: 29/8/12/0/4 (12/21, 4/4)
Bird: 23/12/7/1/2 (7/18, 8/9) W

Celtics win 123-108 to stave off elimination. Boston gets 20+ point outings from all five of their starters.

Game 6

Magic: 16/8/19/1/3 (7/21, 2/2) W
Bird: 16/9/5/2/2 (6/16, 4/4)

Lakers clinch the title with a 106-93 win. 40-year old Kareem has a 32-point game and makes couple of key baskets late including a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left to close it out. DJ has a huge 3/10/5 game for Boston in a losing effort.

Series Stats

Magic: 26.2 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 13.0 apg, 0.3 bpg, 2.3 spg on 54.1 %FG/59.0 %TS and 2.2 topg
Bird: 24.2 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 5.5 apg, 1.2 bpg, 1.2 spg on 44.5 %FG/53.4 %TS and 3.0 topg


87-88 Season

12/11/1987

Magic: 18/8/17/0/2 (6/11, 5/6) W
Bird: 35/9/8/2/5 (14/26, 6/8)

Lakers win 115-114.

2/14/1988

Magic: 22/5/14/0/3 (9/19, 4/7) W
Bird: 25/17/4/1/0 (8/22, 9/11)

Lakers win 115-106.


89-90 Season

12/15/1989

Magic: 16/6/21/0/6 (4/12, 8/8) W
Bird: 21/12/2/0/3 (9/27, 2/2)

Lakers win 119-110.

2/18/1990

Magic: 30/4/13/0/1 (10/21, 7/7) W
Bird: 20/7/7/0/1 (9/17, 2/2)

Lakers in 116-110.


90-91 Season

2/15/1991

Magic: 21/9/16/1/1 (7/13, 6/8)
Bird: 11/11/11/0/2 (4/16, 2/2) W

Celtics win 98-85.



Cumulative Regular Season Stats

Magic: 19.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 11.4 apg on 49.6 %FG/59.0 %TS
Bird: 21.7 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 6.2 apg on 49.7 %FG/55.3 %TS

Lakers went 11-7 against the Celtics.

Cumulative Playoff Stats

Magic: 20.7 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 13.4 apg, 0.4 bpg, 2.2 spg on 53.3 %FG/59.0 %TS and 3.4 topg
Bird: 25.3 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 4.6 apg, 1.1 bpg, 1.5 spg on 46.0 %FG/55.5 %TS and 2.6 topg

Lakers went 2-1 in finals series and 11-8 in games against the Celtics.

[navy]

Why do people say Bird was better than Magic?

[SamuraiSWISH]

Why do people say Bird was better than Magic?

They're comparable, with edge going to Bird. When he was healthy at least. Bird has edge in scoring, rebounds, defense. Magic only really had edge in assists, and sometimes steals. Magic had more offensive threats in Kareem, and Worthy. Bird had defensive role players, shooters, and Kevin McHale. I think Larry at his peak was better, Magic had superior longevity.

[jlip]

Why do people say Bird was better than Magic?

Bird's peak was just epic. Also it seems as if that was the consensus until '87. Until then, Kareem was yet viewed as the leader of the Lakers. By '87, Bird had been "the man" or viewed as the leader of the Celtics for several years. It's also worth noting that so often when players are comparable, the edge in many people's minds is going to lean towards the one who scores more points.

[navy]

They're comparable, with edge going to Bird. When he was healthy at least. Bird has edge in scoring, rebounds, defense. Magic only really had edge in assists, and sometimes steals. Magic had more offensive threats in Kareem, and Worthy. Bird had defensive role players, shooters, and Kevin McHale. I think Larry at his peak was better, Magic had superior longevity.

The massive difference is assist, plus slightly in efficiency far makes up for Birds scoring though. In my opinion. They played different positions though.

[fpliii]

Cool, thanks!

[juju151111]

Magic was slightly better which I have always said.

[fpliii]

Magic was slightly better which I have always said.

How would you rank their top 10 combined seasons?

[Pointguard]

Bird's peak was just epic. Also it seems as if that was the consensus until '87. Until then, Kareem was yet viewed as the leader of the Lakers. By '87, Bird had been "the man" or viewed as the leader of the Celtics for several years. It's also worth noting that so often when players are comparable, the edge in many people's minds is going to lean towards the one who scores more points.

NAaa, not true. Definitely not true when one was winning more and influenced the playoffs more. Lebron/Durant.

Bird is definitely top 3 if you go mind/skillset/toughness. With two more healthy complete years I think he has to be in every bodies top five. That kind of Hirt him as a lot of guys have three great years.

A lot of people here were saying Kareem had a 12 year prime. The Magic years, were very distinct, from the other 9 years when Kareem had the energy to do the things he needed to. Coincidence?

[Odinn]

I do not care about regular season games. But let's ignore the fact that the Celtics were basically benchless in 1987 Finals and Bird was recovering from an injury, then let's use their numbers without context to prop up Magic.

[LAZERUSS]

I do not care about regular season games. But let's ignore the fact that the Celtics were basically benchless in 1987 Finals and Bird was recovering from an injury, then let's use their numbers without context to prop up Magic.

No agenda here...

Yep...and how about Bird in the 87-88 regular season?

Probably his PEAK.

29.9 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 6.1 apg, .527 FG%, .916 FT%.

Now I haven't read anything about Bird injuries in that post-season, but he was simply pathetic. In the Piston series he put up these numbers:

19.8 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 6.2 apg, on...get this... a .351 FG%.


Now, how about Magic in the Finals against that SAME Piston team?

21.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 13.0 apg, and on a ... .550 FG%.



BTW, I get so sick-and-tired of those that somehow compare Bird's scoring to Magic's. Magic was clearly capable of scoring much more in his career. AND, take a look above...guess who had the two highest scoring H2H games?

Magic was clearly a better post-season performer, as well.


Magic has a legitimate Top-5 case, and with Lebron now entrenched in the Top-10, Bird is barely hanging on at the bottom of it ...


BTW, and speaking of agenda's...how about the OP's take on those H2H games. He just gushes about Bird's performances, and emphasizes Kareem's...but I guess the he completely forgot about the best player in those career H2H's...

[Odinn]

jlauber, no-one gives a f... about what you say. We all know memorized your agenda;
- Larry Bird, which has a case for having top 5 peak ever, isn't greater than Magic Johnson.
- Magic Johnson helped a lot Kareem to boost his legacy. So Kareem isn't that great.
- Then we reach the final step; Wilt is better than Kareem beucase Kareem's legacy is built on Magic.

There is no post of you that isn't related to Wilt agenda. Just stfu already.

[Rasheed1]

magic > bird

[Pointguard]

jlauber, no-one gives a f... about what you say. We all know memorized your agenda;
- Larry Bird, which has a case for having top 5 peak ever, isn't greater than Magic Johnson.
- Magic Johnson helped a lot Kareem to boost his legacy. So Kareem isn't that great.
- Then we reach the final step; Wilt is better than Kareem beucase Kareem's legacy is built on Magic.

There is no post of you that isn't related to Wilt agenda. Just stfu already.

You can't ask for context in one scenario and then in the next say it doesn't apply.

[dankok8]

No agenda here...

Yep...and how about Bird in the 87-88 regular season?

Probably his PEAK.

29.9 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 6.1 apg, .527 FG%, .916 FT%.

Now I haven't read anything about Bird injuries in that post-season, but he was simply pathetic. In the Piston series he put up these numbers:

19.8 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 6.2 apg, on...get this... a .351 FG%.


Now, how about Magic in the Finals against that SAME Piston team?

21.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 13.0 apg, and on a ... .550 FG%.



BTW, I get so sick-and-tired of those that somehow compare Bird's scoring to Magic's. Magic was clearly capable of scoring much more in his career. AND, take a look above...guess who had the two highest scoring H2H games?

Magic was clearly a better post-season performer, as well.


Magic has a legitimate Top-5 case, and with Lebron now entrenched in the Top-10, Bird is barely hanging on at the bottom of it ...


BTW, and speaking of agenda's...how about the OP's take on those H2H games. He just gushes about Bird's performances, and emphasizes Kareem's...but I guess the he completely forgot about the best player in those career H2H's...

Magic played amazing in the 87-88 season and deserved the Finals MVP over Worthy as well (just as Kareem > Magic in 1980). However Bird was at least as good that entire season.

From 79-80 until 85-86 nobody ever would say that Magic is better than Bird. Larry finished higher in MVP voting every single year and was the clear-cut best player on his team unlike Magic.

Don't get me wrong Magic is my favorite all-time player (along with Lebron) but this Bird hate is ridiculous. Everyone has poor series. Look at Magic in '81 playoffs or '83 Finals or '84 Finals when he became Tragic Magic.

And no I wasn't emphasizing Kareem's performances (I wrote it on the bottom with the recaps...) but when I post about the '84 and '85 Finals it seems fair to mention his enormous contributions. I mean he destroyed the Celtics in so many of those games and was the best player on the floor for many of them. I also mentioned when Bird's Celtic teammates played well.