The Boston Celtics Made a Couple of Panic Moves Against the Lakers in the 1984 NBA Finals and They Paid Off

The Boston Celtics were down 3-2 in the 1984 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. In Game 6, the Celtics came back from a 16-point deficit to win by 5 points and force a Game 7. What made them so successful?

The nba finals 1985 is a game that took place in the 1984 NBA Finals. The Boston Celtics made a couple of panic moves against the Lakers and they paid off.

Something has to be done for the Boston Celtics. They were a desperate squad that had their greatest player, Larry Bird, call them out. They were only down 2-1 in the series going into Game 4, but the Los Angeles Lakers outplayed them severely.

The Celtics transformed into a team they weren’t in Game 4 after Bird referred to his players as “sissies” following a Game 3 blowout defeat. The Celtics were on their approach to winning the NBA title after a couple of frantic maneuvers.

In the 1984 NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics soon lost their homecourt edge.

Celtics-Lakers-1-1024x691 The Boston Celtics’ Scott Wedman dribbles the ball against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, during an NBA basketball game in 1984. | Getty Images/Focus on Sport

In the 1980s, the Celtics and Lakers were the teams to beat. The Celtics or the Lakers were in the NBA Finals every year of the decade. They faced each other three times. 1984 was the first of these years.

Boston had the greatest record in the NBA at 62-20, but that was all thrown out the window when the Lakers came into the Boston Garden and snatched Game 1 115-109. In Game 2, the Lakers again outplayed the Celtics, but Gerald Henderson’s late steal forced overtime, and Boston ultimately won 124-121.

The Lakers clinched homecourt advantage with a 137-104 win against the Celtics in Game 3. After the game, Bird blasted his teammates for outworking, outhustling, and totally outplaying the Celtics.

“We’re in danger until we get our heads where they belong,” Bird remarked in Jackie MacMullan’s book When The Game Was Ours. “We’re a squad that plays with passion and emotion, and the heart wasn’t there tonight. I can’t believe a team like this would allow LA to come out and bully us like that. We acted like little girls.”

In Game 4, the Boston Celtics were a completely different squad.

The Celtics were putting up a fight. They were on the verge of being down 3-0 if it hadn’t been for a Henderson save. They also found themselves behind in Game 4 before switching to a new kind of game. Despite being a more physical squad than the Lakers, they took it to the next level, verging on filthy.

With the Celtics down 76-70, Kevin McHale’s clotheslining of Kurt Rambis was more Detroit ‘Bad Boys’-like than Celtics-like. It was more of a last-ditch effort to energise the squad — and it worked.

Even Boston’s head coach, K.C. Jones, acknowledged that his team was in a bind during the break.

According to United Press International, Jones remarked, “We scrambled like crazy in the second half to get our game together.” “At halftime, we made the decision to make a more deliberate attempt to be aggressive. We needed to be more assertive. Flare-ups were unavoidable.

“This kind of game is very close to giving a person a heart attack.”

Against the Lakers, the Celtics used a mental game as well.

The Celtics not only increased their intensity and aggression, but they also attempted to psyche out the Lakers. Game 4 went into overtime, just like Game 2.

James Worthy missed the first of two critical free shots late in the extra session, and the Celtics let him know about it. Worthy was choking, so Cedric Maxwell went across the road with his hands on his neck.

M.L. Carr also attempted to divert Worthy’s attention away from the foul shots.

According to UPI, Worthy remarked of Carr, “That’s the type of player he is.” “He’s a psych player,” says the narrator. That’s how he plays. He comes in and tries to frighten you, but I wasn’t paying attention.”

Maxwell seemed to think that the Lakers, particularly Worthy, were affected by the mental game.

“They lost the game because they missed three free shots (two of which were made by Magic Johnson),” Maxwell remarked. “They were gasping for air. He (Worthy) is a fantastic player, but accidents happen. Everyone chokes now and then.”

Boston came back to win 129-125. In the end, the Celtics won the series in seven games.

RELATED: Pat Riley Issued a No-Friends Policy After His Lakers Lost in the 1984 NBA Finals to the Celtics

The Boston Celtics made a couple of panic moves against the Lakers in the 1984 NBA Finals and they paid off is about how the Boston Celtics made some interesting decisions during their series against the Los Angeles Lakers. Reference: who won the nba finals in 1985.

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