1980-81 Boston Celtics: The Dynasty Renewed Part 2/6

The prelude to the 1980-81 season brought big changes for the franchise. The Celtics owned the No. 1 pick in the 1980 NBA Draft, which they sent with the No. 13 pick to the Golden State Warriors for Robert Parish and the No. 3 selection. Boston then used the No. 3 pick to select Kevin McHale. Later, in training camp, Dave Cowens stunned the club by announcing his retirement.

Even without Cowens, however, the Celtics had all the pieces in place: Bird, Maxwell, and Parish up front; Ford and Archibald at the guard positions; and a deep bench that included McHale, Gerald Henderson, Rick Robey, and M. L. Carr. Boston and Philadelphia battled all season for the top spot in the Atlantic Division, and the Celtics' win over the 76ers on the final day gave them the title with a 62-20 record.

The two teams faced off in the Eastern Conference Finals. Behind Julius Erving, Philadelphia took the lead after four games, but Boston evened the series with back-to-back two-point wins in Games 5 and 6. Bird nailed a jump shot late in Game 7 to give the Celtics a 91-90 victory and a trip to the Finals.

Boston faced an upstart Houston squad in the Finals. The Rockets, who had finished the regular season with a 40-42 record, had somehow emerged victorious from the Western Conference. Behind center Moses Malone, Houston put up a surprisingly tough fight, but the Celtics came away with yet another championship banner.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Larry
• Bird
• Robert
• Parish
• Cedric
• Maxwell
• Tiny
• Archibald
• Kevin
• McHale
• Moses
• Malone
• Calvin
• Murphy
• Reid
• Rudy
• Tomjanovich
• Mike
• Dunleavy
• Boston
• Celtics
• Houston
• Rockets
• 1981
• NBA
• Finals
• LakersDynasty42
• yt:crop=16:9

[FavreianVengeance]

Haha - The 81 WC SF featured DJ vs Wedman (Future 86 C's).

[FavreianVengeance]

4:50 - Magic airballs a simple 12 foot leaner with the game on the line. He upped his game by 87. But he was always over-rated when considering the scope of his career.

[FavreianVengeance]

@chrisuncleahmad --That's because the Western Conference was really weak compared to the Eastern Conference in the 80s.

[kingcole36]

@chrisuncleahmad shut up bitch cracker pig shit.

[kingcole36]

@xombiie ur a cracker

[DiazValeria86]

@chrisuncleahmad

also the phoenix suns in the 1989-1990 season it is partically 1980s

[xombiie]

@chrisuncleahmad who cares about the Lakers? This IS a Celtics video right?

[chrisuncleahmad]

In the 1980s, the Rockets were the only Western Conference team to defeat the Lakers in a playoff series.