BOSTON - It shouldn't have been surprising that the Celtics and 76ers took their playoff series to Game 7 in 1981. They tied for the best record in the league at 62-20 and split their regular-season series. Boston had home-court advantage for their playoff series only because they had a better record against conference opponents.
The first six games of the Eastern Conference Finals did nothing to separate the two teams. Games 4, 5, and 6 were all two-point games, leading to the highly anticipated Game 7.
Instead of a basketball game, fans were treated to a rugby match. Players were hitting the floor on every drive and after every rebound. The high-scoring pace of the first six games of the series gave way to a slugfest in Game 7. Both teams made it abundently clear that there would be no baskets in the lane.
Aside from the team aspect, this game was billed as an individual battle between the aging star, Philadelphia's Julius Erving, and the rising star, Boston's Larry Bird. As the fourth quarter started, it seemed that Erving would get the better of this matchup, scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter to get to 21 points for the game. Things started to change at the 2:51 mark, when Erving fouled Bird on a dunk attempt (hitting the floor hard, of course). After Bird made the free throws, the game was tied at 89, and Bird clamped down.
There was the drive by Erving that Bird blocked, sending both to the floor. There were two more possessions where Bird didn't let Erving touch the ball. With a minute left, Erving was forced into a miss, which Bird rebounded, following by him dribbling down the court and banking home a 15-footer to give the Celtics the lead with 1:05 to play.
After a trade of turnovers, Philadelphia hit a free-throw to cut the deficit to one. Boston missed on the next possession, and Philadelphia got the rebound in time to call time out with one second left. Bobby Jones threw the subsequent in-bounds pass toward the rim, hoping to find Erving for a series-winning alley-oop dunk. Erving was open, but the pass was high, hitting the backboard, and the Celtics had their victory.
Bird's reaction was priceless. He stood at the free-throw line, putting both his hands behind his hand, jumping up and down as the fans swarmed him. He lingered on the court for a few minutes, letting the fans pound him on the back and head. He had arrived, bringing the Celtics to the NBA finals in only his second season. Eleven days later, Boston was the NBA champion. Things would only go up from there.
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