Who Won The 1984 Nba Championship?
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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 Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics, four games to two.
The Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers won the 1984 NBA Championship after defeating the Boston Celtics in seven games. The Lakers were led by Finals MVP Magic Johnson, who averaged a triple-double for the series. James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Byron Scott also played key roles in the victory.
The Road to the Championship
It was a long and winding road to the 1984 NBA Championship for the Los Angeles Lakers. After losing in the Finals the year before, the Lakers came back with a vengeance, rattling off sixty-three regular season wins.
With All-Star players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson leading the charge, the Lakers seemed unstoppable. But they faced stiff competition in the form of the up-and-coming Houston Rockets, led by future Hall of Famer Ralph Sampson.
In a hard-fought seven-game series, the Lakers emerged victorious, cementing their place among the NBA’s all-time great teams.
The Finals
The Finals was the championship series 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.
This was the tenth time that these two teams had met in The Finals (including one NBA Finals played when neither team was based in Los Angeles), with the Celtics having won eight of the previous nine meetings.
The key players were garbage men. The Lakers had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who at age 38 was still one of the best centers in the game, and Magic Johnson, in his rookie season, who would go on to be one of the greatest point guards of all time. The Celtics were led by Larry Bird, who was in his second season and would go on to be one of the greatest players of all time.
The two teams met again in The Finals in 1985 and 1986, with each team winning one series.
The Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics won the 1984 NBA Championship defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 4-3. The Celtics were led by their “Big Three” of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish. The Lakers were led by their superstar center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and rookie sensation Magic Johnson.
The Road to the Championship
Under the direction of new head coach K.C. Jones, the Celtics finished the regular season with a 63-19 record, good for second place in the Eastern Conference behind the Milwaukee Bucks. In the playoffs, Boston defeated the Chicago Bulls in four games in the first round, before dispatching their longtime rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, in five games in the conference semifinals. The Celtics then faced the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals, winning in seven games to earn a berth in the NBA Finals.
Boston faced off against the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals. The Lakers had compiled a 62-20 regular season record and had disposed of the Phoenix Suns and Seattle SuperSonics en route to their meeting with Boston. The Celtics won Game 1 handily at home, but lost Game 2 due to poor shooting. The series shifted to Los Angeles, where Boston won Game 3 despite another poor shooting performance. A strong defensive effort led by forward Cedric Maxwell propelled Boston to a Game 4 victory and a 3-1 series lead.
Back home for Game 5, Boston appeared to be on their way to victory and their 15th NBA title, leading by 12 points heading into the fourth quarter. However, Lakers reserves Michael Cooper and Byron Scott sparked a Los Angeles rally, as Cooper hit three three-pointers and Scott scored 16 of his 19 points in the quarter. The Lakers tied the game with four seconds left on a Cooper jumper, forcing overtime. In overtime, Lakers star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored six quick points, giving Los Angeles a 108-102 lead withjust over two minutes left. The Celtics rallied again, tying the game at 109 on Maxwell’s put-back with 38 seconds remaining. After an Abdul-Jabbar miss, Celtics guard Gerald Henderson took an outlet pass from center Robert Parish and drove downcourt for a layup that put Boston ahead 111-109 with just over 17 seconds left. Laker point guard Magic Johnson then missed a running jumper that would have tied the game; Maxwell grabbedthe rebound and was fouled by Johnson with seven seconds left
The Finals
The Boston Celtics won the 1984 NBA Championship by defeating the Los Angeles Lakers four games to three. The Finals were played between June 5 and June 19, 1984.
The Verdict
The Boston Celtics won the 1984 NBA Championship. This was their fifteenth championship overall, and their first one since 1981. The team was led by future Hall of Famers Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, and they defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. The Celtics had home court advantage in the series, but the Lakers were able to win two games at Boston Garden. The decisive game seven was played at the Forum in Inglewood, California, and the Celtics won 111-102.
