The old Boston Garden hosted a party nearly three days in the making on this date in 1984.
The Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 111-102 in Game 7 of the 1984 NBA Finals on June 12 of that year. We mark the 36th anniversary of the event by looking back to the time the Celtics won the 15th NBA championship in franchise history.
Celtics forward Cedric Maxwell led the Celtics in the decisive game with 24 points, 14 of them coming from his 17 free-throw attempt. His performance gave birth to a memorable quote in Boston sports lore.
On this day in 1984, Cedric Maxwell told his teammates, "Climb on my back boys" and led the #Celtics past the #Lakers in Game 7. Max clarified that he actually didn't say that, but it remains a resonating quote. What are some other great quotes or lines in Boston sports history? pic.twitter.com/6VvoGKQJSX
— The Sports Museum (@TheSportsMuseum) June 12, 2020
Larry Bird, who would win the 1984 NBA Finals MVP award, scored 20 points and added 12 points Game 7.
Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led all scorers with 29 points.
Fans memorably rushed the Boston Garden court to celebrate and they had good reason: the Celtics hadn’t clinched the NBA Finals at home since 1966. Boston had clinched five NBA Finals on the road between 1966 and 1984, so fans’ jubilation was justified.
June 12, 1984
Celtics win NBA Championship #15
Cedric Maxwell (24 pts, 8 reb, 8 ast, 2 stl) leads the Boston Celtics to a (111-102) win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7 in the Boston Garden
Celtics had a whopping 51 FTA'spic.twitter.com/aWTgix4HsV
— Boston Sports Info (@bostonsportsinf) June 12, 2020
Watch video of the full broadcast of Game 7 of the 1984 NBA Finals by clicking here.
