BOSTON -- Larry Bird now knows the value of a championship ring.
'I didn't appreciate it the first time, it was too easy,' said the Boston Celtic's All-Star forward about his team's 1981 NBA championship. 'This will be a lot different,' he said of Tuesday night's final game of the seven-game title series with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Because of the hype and intensity of the series, teammate M.L. Carr agrees.
'The first is always sweet, but I think this will mean more than when we beat Houston (in the 1981 finals), because we are underdogs against the 'unbeatable' Lakers,' he said with sarcasm, referring to stories about the Lakers being one of the greatest teams ever.
'It means a lot this time because it is the first year for K.C. (Jones, the Celtic's new head coach) and we've regrouped after the disaster last year,' he said, referring to the Milwaukee Bucks 4-0 sweep of Boston in the 1983 playoffs.
Boston forward Cedric Maxwell says the value he puts on winning the 1984 title grew during the series with LA.
'Given that the series has been as emotional and as physical as it's been, winning the championship would be just as rewarding,' said the defensive specialist.
Maxwell was the recipient of a shoving foul by James Worthy in Game 6, a foul that was seen by the Celtics as retribution for Kevin McHale's decking of Kurt Rambis in Game 4 on a similar fast-break situation. Both fouls emptied the benches and triggered confrontations between players.
Lakers coach Pat Riley was optimistic before the seventh game at steamy Boston Garden that it would be a classic.
'I feel that it's going to be one of the greatest games ever,' said Riley, who was wary of the Garden's mystique.
'With all those (14 championship) banners hanging from the rafters, waving in our faces, we'll really see who is the best team,' he said.
The Celtics were seeking to preserve their perfect seventh-game record, having won the title all six times a championship series came down to the final game.
In the seven previous final-round encounters with the Minneapolis-Los Angeles Lakers, Boston had never lost. Three of the Lakers-Celtics series went to a seventh game.
The Celtics lost only once in their first 15 championship series, in 1958, when the St. Louis Hawks beat them 4-2 after center Bill Russell was injured.
The Lakers last won an NBA championship in 1982, when they beat the Philadelphia 76ers.
It was the 15th title for the Celtics, who also received 22 points from Dennis Johnson and 20 from Larry Bird. Bird, named Most Valuable Player in the series, had just 4 points in the fourth quarter.
Police restrained fans underneath the Celtic basket in the waning seconds as many in the crowd of 14,890 tried to storm the court. Hundreds of fans managed to rush the players at the buzzer, holding aloft green towels and Celtic banners in the heat of Boston Garden.
Dennis Johnson hit two free throws with 45 seconds left to give Boston a 107-102 lead, putting the Celtics out of danger.
Boston scored just three field goals in the fourth quarter but had 14 points on free throws. Bird scored the Celtics' last 2 points on free throws with 10 seconds remaining.
The Lakers were unable to recover from Boston's 8-0 spurt at the end of the third quarter, which gave the Celtics a 13-point lead, their biggest of the game. Dennis Johnson scored 10 of Boston's 20 fourth-quarter points -- 6 on free throws.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 29 points for the Lakers. James Worthy added 21, Michael Cooper 19 and Magic Johnson 16.
Boston, playing a hard defensive game, led or was tied for all but 13 seconds of the game.
In the fourth quarter, the Lakers failed to make a run at the Celtics as Boston's rebounding prevented Los Angeles from second shots. The closest the Lakers drew in the final minutes was 107-102 on Worthy's jumper with 1:00 left.
After two free throws by Bird, Magic Johnson missed a 3-pointer and Bird was fouled after coming down with the rebound. He hit the final free throws with 10 seconds left.
With a 58-52 lead at the half, Boston was unable to pull away despite Gerald Henderson -- who had no points in the first two quarters - delivering 9 points in the first five minutes of the third period.
Ahead 82-78 with 2:45 remaining in the period, Boston blanked LA the rest of the quarter while scoring 9 points, 3 on free throws by Robert Parish. Kevin McHalestarted the run with a 15-foot jumper from the side and finished it with two free throws when Cooper fouled him intentionally on a fastbreak layup with two seconds left.
The Celtics led 91-78 entering the last period and their work under the boards was vital, outrebounding the Lakers 14-6 in the third quarter.
The teams played to a 30-30 first quarter before Worthy drove under the basket for a dunk that gave LA its first lead. Boston responded with an 8-0 run, Bird scoring the first 4 on two free throws and a layup off Danny Ainge's feed. After Quinn Buckner hit a twisting layup, Ainge and Bird combined on a give-and-go as LA attempted to double-team the forward in the corner, freeing Ainge under the basket for a layup and a 38-32 lead.
The teams traded baskets twice before Maxwell completed a 3-point play, backing down the lane for a short jumper on which he was fouled by Byron Scott.
LA narrowed the lead to 51-47 with Worthy hitting for 4 points and little-used Mitch Kupchak, in place of injured backup center Bob McAdoo, scoring 3.
Parish ended the scoring in the half when he completed a 3-point play for a 58-52 Boston lead. The Boston center grabbed the offensive rebound after a miss by Ainge, hit the layup and drew a foul from Kupchak.
Maxwell led Boston in the first half with 17 points, 11 on free throws. Bird had 14 as Boston shot 44 percent to to LA's 51. The Celtics outrebounded the Lakers 26-16 with Parish leading Boston with 8. Abdul-Jabbar led LA with 14 points and Cooper had 11. The Western Conference champions hit just 11-of-18 free throws in the first half to Boston's 18-of-22.
The Celtics had never lost a seventh game in their six previous title series. The Lakers had won one title in the seventh game (1954) in five previous attempts.
Boston has never lost to the Lakers when an NBA title was at stake, winning all eight times. The game was the fourth time a Boston-LA series has gone to the final game, most recently in 1969 when the Celtics were led by player-coach Bill Russell.
The Lakers last won the title in 1982 when they beat the Philadelphia 76ers. Boston's only loss in championship play was in 1958 when Russell was injured and the St. Louis Hawks triumphed 4-2.
