13 Rules: NBA Random Thoughts Overtime - 1987 NBA Finals!

13 Rules_ 1987 NBA Finals === Jose: [00:00:00] All right, it's time to talk basketball. I'm Jose Salviati, editor at the PeachBasket. net. He's Steve Purciello, longtime educator, vice principal, high school coach, and athletic director. And this is the 13 Rules Random MBA Thoughts Overtime Podcast. Steve and I during the offseason have been discussing NBA stars from the 60s and 70s with someone who watched them play, that being Steve. It's been a great offseason, in addition to discussing some of the greatest players in NBA history, including Will Chamberlain, Sam Jones, Rick Barry, Pistol Pete, Bill Russell, and very many more. We were fortunate enough to interview current NBA referee Scott Foster. And two NBA champions, Kevin Grevy and Tom Henderson. So it's been a really great NBA off season here at 13 rules. Today, thanks to the recommendation of Chris, a listener, we are continuing to to discuss arguably the greatest rivalry in sports history. In [00:01:00] fact, the greatest decade of the greatest rivalry in sports history, the 1980s battles between the two winningest franchises in NBA history. The LA Lakers. And the Boston Celtics. So quick recap to get you to where we are in the eighties, Magic Johnson started off the decade by leading the Lakers against the Philadelphia 76ers as a rookie to win the NBA championship in 81, Larry Bird was joined by Kevin McHale and Larry Bird pardon me, Robert Parrish, rather to meet the Houston Rockets and win that finals in six games. The Lakers returned to the finals in 82, this time led by Pat Riley in a rematch against the Sixers. The Lakers won in six. 83. The Sixers traded for Moses Malone. He and Dr. J won the 83 NBA Finals, sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers. Then in 84, finally, we got to see the Lakers versus the Celtics, something every NBA fan wanted. We discussed that in an earlier show. [00:02:00] We'll make sure to link that below. And we'll let you see, how that turned out. Steve and I reminisced about the 84 Finals games. Then 85 NBA got a rematch. We discussed that last week and then we go to 1986. Now Lakers fans look away in 1986. Ralph Sampson kept the Lakers from joining the party against the Celtics, which would have been wonderful for NBA fans everywhere to see that matchup again. The Boston Celtics made it and the Lakers did not, thanks to Ralph Sampson and his hook over Michael Cooper. Arguably, I think, probably the best, if not one of the best Boston Celtics teams ever assembled. They beat the Houston Rockets in 1986. Then, In 1987, the Lakers and the Celtics met again. This is the third time in the eighties, third time in the decade that the teams, these two teams met. And it's interesting to note that [00:03:00] from 1980 through 1989, one or both of these teams were in every NBA finals. So undeniably the best two teams in the best decade. Great rivalry. This is their third matchup. Lakers have one win. Celtics have one win. Let's see who takes the rubber match. So before we get into it, we're going to take these one game at a time, talk a little bit about what we remember. Steve 1987, 1986, really first, let's start there. In my opinion, that was probably the best Celtics team. One of the best Celtics teams ever assembled. They won it all going into 87 team was maybe a little hobbled, not the same team as 86, but you had to have had some, a lot of, I don't know, excitement about the possibility of winning again in 87 with that with a really good team, but I know that the Celtics had a rough time. Battle getting to the finals. Tell us what you remember about the 87 finals. Steve: The big, before we get to the finals, we remember the pistons. Boston played Detroit [00:04:00] in the conference finals and they won it in seven. But that's the series. If you've ever seen the picture of it or the, film when Boston was in game five, it was two, two, Boston was down by a point bird, missed a shot near the buzzer with 10 seconds left or so. Ball goes out of bounds. It's off Boston. It's Detroit ball on the side. Instead of calling timeout and Chuck Daley was a great coach, but this was one he and Isaiah messed up. They were going to take it out. Referee hands Isaiah the ball. Bird is lurking. If you see it again, watch the film. He's lurking. Pass goes in bird steals it. Dennis Johnson cuts to the basket. He gives it to him. Johnson makes the layup. Boston wins by a point. So they stole that game. They stole that game. And then game six, they got blown out back in Detroit. And then when they came home, they won by a few, I think, three points in that game. They won by, should have been a few more. But the bottom line was Detroit three. Outscored Boston by 26 in a [00:05:00] series. And Detroit, you might say, just wasn't ready to win yet because they did everything but win. And I guess all teams, when they win championships in the older days, maybe not today, but they grow year to year, you saw it budding where Detroit would be the best team. Now take that. And then in March, Kevin McHale had a stress fracture in his foot. He was told it could be life. And in fact, I believe he still limps today, but he was told it could be, a problem for the rest of your life. He decided to play. So they were down there then one more piece, Bill Walton, who was a great sixth man in 86. He only played a few games that year. And in the playoffs, in the finals, I believe he came in against the Lakers, played for a couple of minutes, but his legs weren't right, and they took him out, and that was the end of Bill Walton. So it wasn't the same team, plus they were a [00:06:00] year older. It wasn't the same team, and Boston was forced to, and I'm just going to read some numbers. Bird played 42 minutes a game, DJ Dennis Johnson played 40 over 40. Danny Ainge, who was like the junior member of the law firm, he only played 39 minutes and McHale played 38 and a half on that stress fracture. So they were like and, and then what's interesting is Greg Kite, we'll talk about in game three, but he was a hero. He came in and played 20 minutes. Over the series, he was the only guy on the bench that averaged more than 10 minutes a game. And that's because of that 20 minutes in the, in that stretch. So that gives you like a rough idea. They were going and it was five, five guys, basically, and they just weren't. And you could see now that would be the last hurrah. It will get, a little bit worse each year after that. Jose: [00:07:00] And, you and I talked about this rivalry in detail. I feel like I know so much more about the Celtics now than I ever did before. Do you, and forgive me for going off script here, but something you said there just got me thinking. 1969 Boston Celtics, they were near the end. And this was not a team that was supposed to win, but they came up and won it. Was that kind of the same thing? The same thought process you had for this 87 team. This was a team near the end. If they would have wanted, it would have been on par with, and I am giving away what happened, Steve: you said. If the scene of Detroit series and knowing, they're on fumes, Yeah, Steve: you're seeing it. You said, okay, and if the game three Game four was the whole series and if they would have won that game you thought yeah, but when they lost that game you knew it's done You know and you knew boston would win game five because the lakers didn't care They were [00:08:00] going back to la what happened in 2008 same idea and so they and I've got something to say about game six later but you knew at that point it was done. You're always thinking, wait a minute, they made that steel in that game to steal the Detroit Steelers series. All these things went on. So you say maybe there is a miracle left here, but you knew. And then when it was over, you knew it was over, in 69 due to parallel, Russell didn't retire until August. So they won the championship and back then it was over in May, June and July he wasn't gone. Nobody knew. I think his teammates knew, but nobody, and our Auerbach knew, but nobody else knew. So you held out this hope that, this guy keeps winning, even though they weren't real good last year, maybe, but then once he was gone, you knew that, that dynasty was over. Just as this one. [00:09:00] Jose: Yeah. It's tough. It's tough. Yeah. You enjoy when it's happening, and it's really tough to see it end. The Boston Celtics limped into the finals, but they were there, and they're dangerous in the finals. The Lakers Had an easier route, right? They swept the Sonics, they were rested. So game one kind of, and not an unexpected result. Let's take a look at these games one by one. And we're excited to talk about game four. Steve called that out. Probably one of the best games between these two teams. Go ahead. Steve: Before you even go there, understand the Lakers won both games during the regular season, Boston won 59 games, which isn't bad for a beat up team. Sure. LA won 65. Bye. 65 is in rare air, and so it shows how great they were that year. And that sets the scene to make you realize if you're a fan, the Lakers are the favorite. Jose: Let's take a look at what happened in game [00:10:00] one. We're going to pull up just the box score, make this a little bigger for those of you watching. And for those not, we will share. This is the box score from the game. Game one, you can see here and Steve just called this out. Look at the minutes played and think about that as it relates to today's game. Larry bird, 42 minutes, DJ 34, Danny age. 32. Very little contribution off the bench. You see that bird came out big with 32 points. The bench didn't contribute much. I and I see a lot of minutes for Greg Kite, Conrad Henry, which is an indicator that there probably wasn't good result. Steve: Yeah, let's take Jose: a look at the score there. 1 26 1 13, which again, keep in mind, right? The Lakers came in rested. They had swept the Sonics, the Seattle Supersonics, and Boston just went through a very tough seven game series. Let's take a look at the numbers for the Lakers. They were led by James Worthy, [00:11:00] 33 points. Look at what Magic did, 29, 13, and 8. And we're going to see a lot of that those kinds of numbers from magic, just a really good overall balance between the Los Angeles Lakers. And also a lot of minutes played, which is not unusual, when you get to the finals to see this many minutes, Steve: Michael Thompson was picked up there in the year, Kareem was 40 years old. Yeah. So suddenly 34 minutes is a lot for a 40 year old man, but suddenly they had somebody they can use. Five and get Kareem the rest he needed, which was a very significant significant move that they made. Oh, I see. They have a new Rambus. It's AC Green. I forgot all about that. Fifth man on a basketball team was AC Green. Jose: Oh, come on. AC Green is a better basketball player than Kurt Rambus. Yes. Steve: It's like picking between Jerry Shiesting and Conor Henry. Okay, come on. [00:12:00] Let's think about that. Jose: All right. Oh, yeah. Listen, I understand what you're saying. They needed five. They got you've Steve: got worthy magic, Kareem and Byron Scott. I think I could have been the fifth guy. I'm 70 years old. Come on. Jose: I would have paid to watch that, undeniably. I would have just clapped. Come on. Wave the towel, the emo car towel. That's right. Jose: The Lakers took the lead one. Oh, we're feeling pretty good about things. Let's take a look at game two. Now keep in mind these two games, they were in LA. What do you remember about this one? Steve: If this was a fight, they would have stopped it because it was just terrible. Yeah. Steve: 141 122. You see the score and they look at the second quarter and it just, I remember halftime. I just, I just said, I'll watch, but it doesn't look good. So you knew I think also [00:13:00] I think Cooper had a big game in that one too. Jose: Yeah, let's talk a little bit about coup because you keep in mind that the three point shot had been in the NBA now roughly 10 seasons or so, just really not embraced quite honestly, but then you saw players like Larry Bird who are starting to shoot it and make it you saw the value of it right. Michael Cooper, only NBA player to play in the All Star Dunk Contest, compete in the All Star Dunk Contest and the three point shot contest in the same All Star game, was a pretty good three point shooter. He had himself a game, six three pointers in this game, a playoff record at the time. Magic Johnson contributed 22 points. I think my notes are wrong. Let's take a look. 12, 13 guys who are all 30. Jose: Yeah. I'm hearing Steve. Harry Steve. Sorry. Yeah, this was a blowout. This was just a this was a blowout. You can see [00:14:00] that interesting Laker fans today might notice West man use Matthews and think, what the heck West Matthews was just on the Lakers not so long ago. This was his dad. But he was on the Lakers by the way, Steve: look how many threes the Lakers took Jose: that's a lot Steve: 32 attempts Go back and see what boston took. Let's take a look. No, they took eight. What are you getting 32? Oh, I looked at free throws Jose: I was gonna say Eight, three point shots attempted Boston attempted Steve: seven, but that gives you a flavor of what the NBA was like back in that time. It was more physical and more post up basketball. Yeah. Steve: That's what made McHale so good also but it was a different, it was a different game. I guess that's the point. Yeah. It really was. Steve: I'll point out, look at the minutes. There wasn't a lot. They played a lot of minutes in those other games, of course. Jose: Yeah. In a way, Boston got a little bit of rest [00:15:00] because they didn't show up in game two. They had to travel to get back to Boston for game three. Let's take a look at how things went for Boston Steve: there. One other piece I want to just mention about Michael Cooper. He's just getting inducted into the Hall of Fame, I believe, tonight. What's very interesting, and it's a side thing, but we can have a discussion about, he was a very good role player. Does a guy who is a role player and is tremendous at it, does he belong in the Hall of Fame? That's a very interesting discussion to have because the Hall of Fame has always been about the stars of the team. And Cooper would be one of the first in modern times, I think, role player that got in. Jose: Yeah. Listen, no argument from me. You, if you listen, I'm in LA. I was surprised [00:16:00] to hear that Coop made it. Definitely deserves a Jersey up in Staples or crypto. But Hall of Fame seemed like a stretch to me. I'll admit, Steve: I'll give you one other one. I just thought of Satch Sanders. Jose: I don't know his game. Steve: He was a defensive forward. Went to NYU, but which not many guys in the modern times go there. But the point being, he was very defensive, not a great shooter. And usually just, he was there to guard, but he made the Hall of Fame and he was a world player. Jose: Defensive players have made it. Think of Ben Wallace, right? Phenomenal defensive player, not a great shooter, but he made it and he deserved it. But that's who Cooper was. Yeah, different though, right? Because Ben Wallace was a starter. Hoop was a spot starter, right? He was not a starter. So again, yeah, you could make that argument. I would have no problem with it. I'm a big fan. I think I've told you of Norm Nixon, right? Earlier in the area we're discussing. And he, not only is he not in the Hall of Fame, he's not, he is, Jersey's not even in the rafters. At [00:17:00] crypto which it strikes me as odd, but you know again big fan of coop. I literally met the guy shook his hand and love his game. But yeah, I agree with you. The hall of fame is a bit of a Steve: Argument, it's an interesting argument Jose: Yeah, but look, let's take a look going back, right? The Celtics are down 2 0 and this is a proud team, this is a very good team, but we know their little hobble, they came back and won in Boston, 1 0 9, 1 0 3. Let's take a look at the the line, and then take a look at the box score. Lakers got off to a big start. Boston responded in the second quarter. They kept it up in the third and just held off the Lakers in the fourth. That's just going off the numbers. Do you have any memory of game three? Steve: Great kite. Jose: The great kite game. Yes. Nine boards. Steve: Parish was was in foul trouble and for 20 minutes. He didn't score cause he could never shoot, but he, had nine rebounds, I believe, and really played well and [00:18:00] just, you know, really changed the tenor and I remember the fans. In Boston in the garden, just going crazy for him that game. And in fact, after that game, like the next year or two, he still got a big hand because people remembered that game that he played and he's really had an undistinguishable career. But yeah, that was interesting. And also look at the minutes. On everybody. Parish was in foul trouble, but look what they had to use. Everybody played over 40 outside of parish. And so this is what they were doing, trying to just get by and hold on against a better team. Jose: Yeah. Yeah. And so much credit, right? For this team. If you're a fan of sport and you see a team that's hobbled, right? You see a boxer who's just getting beat up, right? But he just comes up, gets a punch in and then all of a sudden wins the fight or at least the round Boston won this round in what was a pretty, pretty impressive comeback. Cause you knew and Larry Bird said, right? We lose game [00:19:00] three, it's over it's over. Nobody's ever come back even to date. And Larry bird, I read a quote somewhere, he knew the importance of game three and he got his team ready and they did what they had to do bird himself. Not only talk to talk, but walk the walk 30 points. I killed 21 and 10. Steve: That's the game. He tried to play Jose: Bill Steve: Walton. Jose: Yeah. Steve: He was hurt most of the year. I don't remember how many games he played, but he was hurt throughout the year. This was the sixth man of the year before. Jose: Yeah. Steve: If he were healthy. Who knows? I doubt that. Who knows? But it changes. Jose: It changes things. But, he got his name in the box score, got a rebound and a foul. So it's a Steve: standing though, when he got off the bench, I remember and all that, hoping that this guy could save the day. Didn't happen. Jose: Yeah, I guess they were waiting for that Willis Reid moment, but wasn't there. But game three, clearly important. Boston responded. Good for them. Now we go to game four. Probably, arguably one [00:20:00] of the greatest games between two of the greatest teams. Not a good finish, but it was a good game. And it's a good game because it was back and forth. You didn't know who was going to win until the final seconds. And that's what you love. That's why I love the game of basketball. Let's take a look at the box. Hold on a second quarter by quarter. There's the score. Again, we're not giving anything away. Am I still on? Yes, hold on just a second. Yeah, I'm glad I am. But I lost the screen. So those of you watching this is live. So you know, stuff happens. There we go. All right. Sorry. Thank you. Okay. Yeah, there's the final but we'll get to this is so much more to this than just the numbers. But let's take a look at this, right? 2922 to start the game in the first quarter. So Boston again, let's use that analogy, right? They're punching back. They got that win in game three. Okay. They kept it up, extended the lead going into half. Lakers responded in the third and had a big fourth [00:21:00] quarter. Now, in that fourth quarter, it was tied. There were lead changes. It was an incredible game. Now we're going to go to the box score in just a minute, but I do want to share with Steve with apologies, this video here. This is the last 30 seconds of that game. And we're just going to go ahead and talk through it. Okay. And Steve, you let me know. This is a little bit too loud. Now, Kareem, you just see, put down this dunk over DJ. If I remember right, to give the Lakers 104, 103 lead 29 seconds. Boston's got the ball. Let me make this full screen and let's take a look at this. And again, let me know if it's too loud. You can hear Steve: it's a great announcer there. Jose: All right, I got to stop it right there. And I think Tommy Heiston in a little bit, I'll roll the tape here again. And we can see that James Worthy was just on Bird. You knew the ball was going to Larry Bird. Was on him, grabbing him, grabbing his jersey. Let go to goal guard Danny Age, who [00:22:00] made the right pass. Yeah, today's game, you do not walk away from a quarter three point shooter like bird. Steve: When, if you go back on that, you watch the double johnson and that means, they had to rotate. Go ahead. Run it. Jose: I think I went a little too far back. Let me see. Steve: 25 seconds. Okay. Johnson's got the ball. Here we go. This is this. Jose: 40 year old green, by the way. Steve: Yeah. But I obviously was Dennis Johnson there. They must've set some sort of screen. Okay. Watch this now. Johnson's got the ball. She had a, he Cooper pinches in and that you see that I got to rotate. It Steve: was two against three guys. Now, to me, I would have stayed out on bird. And left the angel with the ball out there. Once you do that, but you see what Boston did and in today's game, it wouldn't go to spacing where bird was next to McHale, but all bird was [00:23:00] doing was showing the threat that he can come off a screen, go into the middle and that took away, and then when he popped out, there's nothing there because you can't leave McHale on that. So it's, we'll get a spacing. Today's game that would never go because everybody's 15 feet, right? So it's really an interesting sequence, Jose: undeniable. So fun to watch. And then, It's not grainy. This is good video, right? Listen to Tommy Heinsohn talk about this and they'll show a little bit of highlights around around James worthy, just his guarding bird until he had to let go because of that double team, when Steve: they jumped to age, that was the end of the play. Jose: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Steve: And if I remember right, I thought it was over right there. Jose: A hundred percent. Yeah, again, one Oh six, one Oh four. Yeah. The best you could hope for. I think if you're the Lakers at this point is overtime really. Look at this. Look at James Worthy just grabbing his jersey. Steve: He should have never left. Jose: Wide open. Steve: What's [00:24:00] interesting about this is another thing too, and I'll mention it now. There's only a two man refereeing team then. So you're going to lose a lot of that. The third guy, which is called in the sea, he would be able to look off the ball at that. Now, Earl Strahm was one of the rest hall of famer, great referee. When the game was over, when Boston lost our back, chased it, word was that our back chased him back into the locker room, his locker room yelling at, and they went back and forth at each other. And Strahm is one of the greatest refs ever, but that was a little side light. And that tells you a little bit about red hour back. Jose: Yeah. Yeah. Undeniable. We could do a whole show on and I'd love to do a whole show on her in our back. A lot. I don't know. Let's take a look at how this game finished. We all know, but it's fun to watch it anyway. Again, Lakers down to 12 seconds to go on the road. Big game for Cooper inbound in the ball. Okay. So he made [00:25:00] one. Okay. Miss the second. Off on the Celtics, Lakers have got the ball, which I mean, that right there, Steve: that would have done that would have been a yeah, because that's an interesting play. I didn't realize how, it could have. Jose: Let's take a look at what would happen today. We would spend the next 510 minutes looking at every angle every review seeing whose fingertip touch the ball in this era. The call was the call. It's over. Yeah. Jose: And so Celtics fans are worried. Now. Laker fans are hopeful. You've got the greatest point guard. It is prime. He's got to have the ball. He's got to make the right decision watching. And this is the one time, right? Steve, when we've talked about this, these games, I had a vague memory. So I remember this game. I remember watching this game. I remember. And I'll tell you what I was thinking when we see this play out because I did not think it was going to finish the way it did smart time out. Let's let this play out and then I'll share my thoughts. No, baby. [00:26:00] If Steve: you notice they got McHale on him with the bad foot. The other interesting thing was you would think he would have taken away his right hand and he didn't. So he gave him the right going to the basket, which percentage wise, he's going to score more going right than left because he's a righty. Yeah. They pop them off the screen. Let me stop it. Oh, go ahead. What? No, go ahead. I'm sorry. They pop them off the screen. And you see now you got those two, Mikael, I guess Mikael was guarding him throughout because Parrish is staying down there with Jabbar. Berg is playing the ball to the middle. And if you look over on the other side with DJ, I guess that's Scott. And you know what? That pass might have been there also. But you go to Johnson and let things happen. Jose: Yeah, that's the right play. You give it to the guy who's going to make the right decision, right? Let's take a look at this here real quick. It Steve: shows, but then pops back, and go ahead. [00:27:00] Look at McHale's position, so he's giving the right hand and again, if Parrish, if they're talking, I don't know what was going on. He would have been saying you got, the big guy behind you. In other words, he's going to run right into him. And that's going to open up an avenue for either Johnson going to the hole, and he can always dish to Jabbar, if Powell tries to jump out. Go ahead. Jose: Let's stop it right there, because that's exactly what I thought. I'm going to see if I can pause this right on time. Look at this, okay? Steve: See, there's a jump. Look how open. Jose: Look how, look, first off, magic Johnson in the entire season, never made this shot. Never took this shot, never made this shot. I never saw him make this shot. Now, after this season, he, this became a part of his game, and he might've taken one or two, but it, this was not in his arsenal. Okay? This the baby hook. I thought watching this game. This is going to be a hook pass to Kareem. And he's wide open. Kareem is wide open. There's [00:28:00] literally nobody in his way. This is a nice little lob pass to Kareem for the dunk. Instead he took the shot. I could not believe he took the shot. I could not believe. He made the shot. Let's watch it one more time. Steve: And there was three guys around him. Jose: Defended Steve: games not over Jose: yet. No. And that's, what's exciting about this right now, Boston's got the ball. They're down by one. They've got the greatest shooter in NBA history. One of And he gets off an incredible shot. Let's take a look at and watch this. And I remember watching this live, just freaking out. Cause how did, yeah, let's watch it. He didn't switch. He had McHale and Parrish on him. Unreal. Steve: Yeah. He was guarding him. He wasn't switched out. He guarded him because. In that series, if I remember right, Danny Ainge guarded him early, and Johnson was just going to town on him. So they had to come up with somebody bigger, and that's when they used McHale against him.[00:29:00] Jose: And Kareem, he didn't get the pass, but he was there in case that shot missed. Alright. Steve: It's really hard to see a happy Pat Riley. Watch, what a great play by Bird. Jose: What a great pass. How does Larry Bird miss that shot? Unbelievable. Such a great look. Huge mistake by the Lakers. They got lucky. They got lucky. That shot goes probably 8 out of 10 times. Steve: I thought what Bird did to get open, it was just, I don't know why they played topside on him. Because he's going to go back into the corner and you want to take that away. Playing straight, but that's, Jose: let's take a look at it again. Steve: Topside means he's playing closer to the ball, the defender. And that means bird naturally is going to be able to release and go back to the baseline. Not this one. We're going to what do we see in this 23 times? Jose: I'm sorry. I can't control the Steve: You only get [00:30:00] two points. They don't get eight points because you played it four times. I'm surprised Jabbar didn't step out and try to take McHale screen. Unless he figured he was wide open. Watch our bird comes up. Watch this. Why is he on top of them? Yeah, it just makes no sense. Was that worthy? Yeah, just, he was lucky. Very lucky on that. Jose: Very lucky. Very lucky. Steve: It just makes no sense why you would top him. Let him get the ball out 40 feet and hope, but very Jose: interesting. Undeniably a mistake, but one of the greatest NBA basketball games that you can hope to watch against two of the greatest teams to play. And the Lakers survived. The Lakers survived. They got lucky. They survived. They're now up three to one. And the reason we spent so much time on that particular game is because that was the series, really. Steve made the point as we were prepping for this, right? The game the next game, in Boston. the Lakers didn't much care, they want it great. If [00:31:00] they didn't, they're it's okay because they know. The next game is in Los Angeles, and yeah, they played like they didn't care. Boston took it, 123 108. Again, to their credit, Boston still has to go out there and take the win. They did, even though maybe you could argue that the Lakers weren't particularly motivated. 25 25 at the first. Boston took control in the second and really didn't let up. They won the game. Let's take a look at the box score for the winning Celtics. Just look at that look at the starters every single starter had 20 chief Steve: the Jose: chief Steve: had foul trouble He sure did but he still contributed 21 Interesting also, he had five fouls on that play. Oh, this is game five. I'm sorry. Yeah, it's game five I'm sorry. I thought I'm thinking of something else. But yeah, so it was you know, it was a nice win But it didn't mean anything because you're going back to L. A. for two games and the odds of winning were slim and none. Bill Walton did play in that game. [00:32:00] Yeah, I see that too. I noticed that too. And Jose: contributed a couple points. Steve: Yes. Jose: Two minutes. Yeah. At that point now, the Lakers are up 3 2. They've got two games in L. A. And yeah. What was expected to happen here, if you're an L. A. fan, happened. Lakers won 106 to 93. Steve: This was an interesting game because at halftime, Boston was winning. And I thought to myself, okay. And the crowd was out of it. Everything was nice. And I thought if they can keep this, maybe they can steal us. But in the third quarter, I don't even remember what happened, but the Lakers did got a turnover and got a layup and maybe another quick basket. And all of a sudden the crowd was alive and you could just feel the avalanche and they just they crushed him. They crushed him. I'm looking at it. It was 30 to 12 in the third quarter. That tells you everything. Jose: Yeah. Yeah. That was Steve: the game. Jose: And that was it. That was the gut punch that, that, that [00:33:00] ended this Celtics your dynasty and it was a dynasty in the eighties. It was one of those really cool dual dynasties. The Lakers had a dynasty. The Celtics had a dynasty. Matt Magic Johnson won the MVP. Steve: Go ahead. Sorry. One of the shames of this was. If the Lakers got hot in the mid to late fourth quarter like that, I don't know if the crowd would have taken because most of them would have been on the freeway. So the fact that it happened in the third quarter was a big thing. If they could have held them off for another 10, 15 minutes, they might've done it because did the Laker fans stick to the end of the games? Jose: They didn't. And we talked about this, right? It's one of the things Magic Johnson got on LA fans specifically when he got here. I can tell you definitively by 87, Laker fans would have stayed. Laker fans would have stayed. Everything changed. But listen, there was an inevitability about this, right? We knew if the Lakers didn't win this game, they were going to win game seven. Although game seven would have been scary, but credit [00:34:00] again to the Celtics for hanging tough. This was an old team, a hobbled team. They didn't have their six men of the year but for a couple of minutes. And they, they play great. This was two great teams at their peak going at each other. Magic Johnson won the MVP in this game. He had 16 points, 19 assists, eight boards, and Larry Bird called him the best player. That he had ever seen. One of the coolest things for me watching this series grow growing up is watching the relationship between bird and magic. I know it's silly, but watching them appreciate each other now as they're older, it's cool and hearing bird call magic out that way after this. Oh yeah. I remember it was neat. Steve: That's an interesting thing and a very interesting thing. And magic is very accessible and everywhere. Jose: Yeah, Steve: so the fact that he was one of the greats people don't realize it bird is very inaccessible and nowhere. And Steve: so when he comes around, [00:35:00] everybody is wow. And it's a really interesting thing. I guess what it says is, The, the more you're out of sight, the more you're appreciated. Wow. Think about that, because again, Jason Tatum, at the All Star game, met Bird for the first time. He was so excited about it, and I'm sure he's met Magic numerous times. And it's really an interesting thing, because Magic is just as great close to as great as Bird. It, it's interesting. Jose: Yeah, no, undeniable. And having two of the greats appreciate each other as a fan is cool. That's it. That was the last time these two met in the eighties. The nineties were rebuilding season for a decade, really for both of the teams and they came back together a couple of times in the two thousands. Maybe we'll save that for another time, but that's it, man. That is. Our overview of the 1987 NBA finals from a couple of people who watched it live. I had a great time [00:36:00] reliving one of the greatest eras in NBA history. But that's it. Off season is effectively over. We know that NBA preseason is on. This is 13 rules, NBA random thoughts. So starting next week, we're going to shift back to Steve's great NBA random thoughts articles and we'll be discussing those. You Moving forward. But we learned a lot during this off season. We learned that there's some great historical games that, we hope you enjoyed listening to as we reminisce and we also learned that there's some great players. From the sixties and the seventies that, that are still around. And we can talk to them and there's great value in talking to these guys like Kevin Greeny like Tom Henderson and there's others like that. And our hope is to expand what we do here at 13 Rules and bring those guys on and talk a little bit basketball. From one of the greatest eras in NBA history, but that's all for today. Thank you so much as always for joining. Please subscribe, all that comment, all that stuff matters. Next week on 13 rules, NBA [00:37:00] random thoughts. We will discuss Steve's NBA random thoughts in preparation for the 2024 25 NBA season. We'll talk then Steve. Thanks. Thank you.