Who Won the 1984 NBA Finals?

The 1984 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)’s 1983–84 season, and the culmination of the season’s playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeated the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers, four games to two.

The Los Angeles Lakers

The Road to the Finals

After firing head coach Paul Westhead eleven games into the 1981-82 season and replacing him with assistant Pat Riley, the Lakers acquired superstar center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from the Milwaukee Bucks in a trade for All-Star guard Norm Nixon, rookie guard Eddie Jordan and two future first round draft picks. With Abdul-Jabbar and fellow All-Star forward James Worthy, the Lakers won their first NBA Championship since 1973, defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in six games. In the aftermath of their 1982 championship run, the team’s core unit of Abdul-Jabbar, Worthy, Johnson and Byron Scott remained intact, as did head coach Riley.

The Finals

In the 1984 NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics in seven games. The Finals were played between June 3 and June 19, with the Lakers winning Game 7 by a score of 103–102. This was the Lakers’ 10th NBA championship and their first since moving to Los Angeles in 1960.

The Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics were the champions of the 1984 NBA Finals. They defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. This was the Celtics’ 16th title. The Celtics were led by their “Big Three” of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish.

The Road to the Finals

It all started on May 5, 1984. The Boston Celtics faced off against the Milwaukee Bucks in game one of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Celtics were coming off a disappointing loss in the previous year’s NBA Finals, and they were hungry for revenge. Led by future Hall of Famers Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish, the Celtics cruised to a victory in game one, winning by a final score of 121-106.

The Celtics would go on to win the next three games of the series, clinching a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers were a tough opponent, but the Celtics had beaten them in seven games en route to their 1981 NBA Championship.

The 1984 Eastern Conference Finals turned out to be a classic battle between two great teams. The series went back and forth, with neither team able to gain a clear advantage. After six hard-fought games, the Celtics found themselves down three games to two.

In game six, Larry Bird had one of the greatest performances in NBA Playoff history, scoring 34 points and grabbing 14 rebounds to lead the Celtics to a 115-104 victory. The stage was set for a seventh and final game in Boston.

In front of a raucous crowd at Boston Garden, the Celtics jump out to an early lead and never looked back, defeating the Sixers 109-102 to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals.

The Finals

The Finals were played between the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics and the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics had home court advantage, as they had a better regular season record than the Lakers. This was the first NBA Finals appearance for the Lakers since 1969, when they defeated the then Baltimore Bullets to win their first NBA championship; and resulted in their only loss in eight trips to the Finals between 1959 and 2010.

The Lakers won game one 106–93. The dunks of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Michael Cooper, and Byron Scott helped secure their victory. In game two, Scott scored 28 points as the Lakers won 120–111 again giving them a two-game lead in the series. Looking to counter Magic Johnson’s triple double in game two with one of his own, Larry Bird had a horrible shooting performance in game three making only 4 out of 18 field goals, he scoring 14 points total as the Lakers won 103–102 giving them a 3-0 lead in the series. After leading by 21 at halftime of game four, the Celtics seemed poised to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series; however, things quickly changed as Abdul-Jabbar led the charge for an 18-2 run that cut their lead down to 3 at 54-51 with 9:54 left in regulation time. Scoring 4 points each during said run were Abdul-Jabbar, Byron Scott (who hit two free throws), and Worthy (who hit a jumper). The Celtics managed to hold on for a 108-102 victory thanks to 26 points by Cedric Maxwell and 22 by Bird.

In game five back at Boston Garden, not only did Maxwell have another big game with 24 points but also Kevin McHale who came off of the bench to score 20 points as well which helped offset 26 points by Scott once again as well as Worthy’s 23 and Abdul-Jabbar’s 21 as they evened up the series at 2 apiece with 111–102 victory. Also playing well for Boston was reserve center Greg Kite who blocked 6 shots while scoring 10 points which sparked some energy into his teammates as they got back into this series. The turning point came midway through fourth quarter when McHale stuffed Cooper which resulted in a Laker turnover leading to a Bird fast break dunk putting them up by 6 at 97–91 with 5:28 left;Boston wouldn’t trail again for rest of game.

The Result

The Los Angeles Lakers won the 1984 NBA Finals, which were held from June 5 to June 12, 1984. The Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics, four games to two. The Finals were played under a best-of-seven format, and the Lakers became the first team in NBA history to come back from a 0-2 deficit to win the Finals.

Aftermath

The Los Angeles Lakers won the 1984 NBA Finals, beating the Boston Celtics four games to two. The victory gave the Lakers their ninth NBA Championship, and saw head coach Pat Riley win his first title as a head coach. The Finals MVP was Lakers’ center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who averaged 27 points, 11 rebounds and four assists per game for the series.