1984 NBA Finals vs. Lakers

Lore & Background

This series was a rematch of the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics after their rivalry was revived in 1979 with the Magic Johnson–Larry Bird pair entering the league. After alternating wins with the Lakers, the Celtics won Game 7 and the series with a score of 111–102. The series was the eighth time in NBA history that the Celtics and Lakers met in the NBA finals, with Boston winning each of the previous seven.

Reader's Guide

In the 1983–84 season, the Celtics won 62 games to lead the league. The Celtics were led by Bird, who won his first MVP award, and were complemented by 1981 Finals MVP Cedric Maxwell, first-time all-star and Sixth Man Award winner Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Gerald Henderson and Danny Ainge. Boston's most crucial addition was Dennis Johnson, whom they acquired from the Phoenix Suns in the offseason. In the playoffs, the Celtics defeated the Washington Bullets in four, the New York Knicks in seven, and the Milwaukee Bucks in five.

The Lakers finished with the best record (54–28) in the Western Conference, powered by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson. During the playoffs, the Lakers defeated the Kansas City Kings in three, the Dallas Mavericks in five, and the Phoenix Suns in six. However, the Lakers suffered a key injury when their 3rd leading scorer, Jamaal Wilkes (17 PPG) was ruled out of the finals.

Did You Know?

• This was the last NBA Finals to use the 2–2–1–1–1 format until 2014.
• Game 4 of the 1984 Finals marked the last Finals game to go into overtime until Game 2 of the 1990 NBA Finals.
• Game 5 was known as the 'Heat Game', played under 97 °F heat without air conditioning at Boston Garden.
• It was also the last time that a team with home court advantage in the NBA finals played Game 5 on its own floor until 2014.