Lots of nostalgia surrounding Wilt’s 100 point game. It got me thinking about Larry Bird’s 60 pt game he had vs the Hawks in the mid ’80s.
I remember a couple of things from that night: Dominique Wilkins also went off; Bird was unconscious; and my old man (a Celtics fan) telling me “he could do this every night, but he’s too unselfish”.
I decided to do a little research, and it was well worth it.
The numbers, courtesy of a photo-copy of the handwritten box score from the game (March 25 1985):
22 for 36 FG – 1 for 4 3pt FG – 15 for 16 FT – 7 REB – 3 ASS in 43 min
Impressive enough – keep in mind that Bird did plenty of damage 20 + ft from the basket.
He scored the last 16 points of the game for the C’s.
Then I stumbled across the 11 minute video highlight from the game.
Oh my.
First things first: that was an incredible shooting display.
Secondary observations:
– Current Yankee radio voice John Sterling was getting a head start on his silly hyperbole: “..one of the greatest playmakers in the history of basketball”. Huh???
– Antoine Carr was a lot more spry than I remembered, and he punked Bird pretty good on that dunk.
– Doc Rivers sighting. Decent hops on him too.
– Dominique finishes with authority. That should be on his tombstone.
– However, he looked helpless trying to check Bird.
– Half way through the video, the end of the Atlanta bench starts noticeably reacting to Bird’s heroics. From what I can tell, it’s Cliff Levingston, Scott Hastings, and Tree Rollins. On the three he hits that doesn’t count, Rollins & Levingston throw their hands up and seem to say “that’s it, I’ve seen enough, I’m gettin the hell outta here”, as they take a step towards the locker room.
-Future NBA champion head coach Rick Carlisle congratulating Bird post game.
I miss anything?
Photo courtsey of Getty Images
Tags: Antoine Carr, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Cliff Levingston, Doc Rivers, Dominique Wilkins, Larry Bird, Rick Carlisle
The Sports Cult 
March 5, 2012 at 11:26 AM |
Yea, u missed Robert Parish, Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson, and Kevin McHale.
Bird looks like a faster, less selfish version of Dirk. Or better yet Dirk looks like a slower, more selfish version of Bird.
The shot on 8:25 was ridiculous.
He should have had 62 cuz the shot that didn’t count should have been a 4-point play but I’m guessing the continuation rule wasn’t in effect back then.
Charles Barkley was right when he said “Bird was so good u could get away with wearing his jersey in the ghetto.”
March 5, 2012 at 12:15 PM |
I didn’t mention them bc they are pretty well known.
Nowitzki does have some of the same qualities. Bird is a better passer and rebounder, and better leader.
Barkley was spot on.
March 5, 2012 at 12:51 PM |
Shows off his baskteball IQ and how fundamentally sound he was as a player. He was able to score 60 points with minimal athletic ability, especially compared to other professional athletes. Mentally, he was a few steps ahead of all everyone else, and it showed in his passing, shooting, and rebounding.
March 5, 2012 at 4:04 PM |
You nailed it Jeff, sometimes it was if he saw the game better than everyone else
March 5, 2012 at 9:53 PM |
That jump shot was wetter than a whore on Valentine’s day
March 5, 2012 at 10:46 PM |
Quite impressive when you compare his athletic ability to Wilt’s. Not to mention he was humble and friendly to many.
A real class act, unlike some of the prima-donna’s we have these days.
December 16, 2012 at 1:52 AM |
350+ twitter icons ? this gives a user the ooiptn to change their icon every day of the week for a year [ -minus 2 days ! ] . Nice collection M..-= Mia s last blog .. =-.
January 31, 2014 at 1:29 PM |
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