The Houston Rockets have long been a sneakily dangerous team even when they were losing, dating from when the Rockets faced the Boston Celtics in the 1981 NBA Finals with a losing record. Houston had gone 40-42 in the 1980-81 regular season compared to Boston’s 62-20 season under second-year Celtics sensation Larry Bird — you may have heard of him.
And while Bird, series MVP Cedric Maxwell, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, and company clearly outmatched Moses Malone and the Rockets on paper, it took six games to put away Houston.
If you want to see how that second-year phenomenon hailing from French Lick, Indiana was an instrumental part of the team’s 14th title, check out the clip embedded below with every play made by Bird in the series (courtesy of CLNS Media’s “NBA History and Legends on CLNS” YouTube channel).
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Every play by Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird in the 1981 NBA Finals vs. the Houston Rockets
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