LA-Boston: A PG history

As the NBA Finals feature the vaunted Celtic-Laker rivalry, we take a look back at some of the legendary PG's who helped make this matchup memorable.

So, the Lakers are playing the Celtics in the Finals, huh?

Rumor has it these two have quite a history – 11 meetings in the Finals. Not bad. But while the retrospectives on a whole can be left to everyone else, I’ll take the time to speed you up on what this means in PG translation. Not PG-rated, but Point Guard.

Just gonna throw some names out there: Bob Cousy, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, and Dennis Johnson. Pick a legend, any legend. OK, lets:

Bob Cousy

Perhaps his contribution to the whole Celtics-Lakers thing is that his last game came against the Lakers – Game 6 of the ’62 Finals. It was the kind of ending that was scripted for Hollywood – the game was played in the LA Sports Arena. Cooz hurt his ankle at the end of the third, and the Lakers cut a nine-point lead to one, only to see him return and steady the Celtics, leading them to the win and a 4-2 series clincher. We’ve all seen the famous footage of Cooz running the down the far side of the court, cocking back and firing the ball roughly 30 feet in the air, only to be mobbed by his teammates. Yeah, well that was this game. Bill Russell always said the Cs had extra motivation to win titles for departing people – Walter Brown, Auerbach in ’66, etc – and this was no different.

Jerry West

He who is tortured. Met the Celtics in the Finals six times. Lost six times. Incredible, but so unfortunately true. As a matter of fact, in an unintentionally mocking gesture, the gallant West was awarded the MVP of the ’69 Finals, holding the dubious distinction of being the only Finals MVP winner from a losing team. You think he’d take a ring instead of a convertible? Yeah, I’d say that’s a given. Averaged 29.5 in the ’63 Finals; 33.8 in ’65; 33.6 in ’66; 31.3 in ’68; and 37.9 in ’69 including a 53-point and 10-assist effort in Game 1. And has zero rings to show for those super-human – actually super-human doesn’t quite cut it – efforts. This guy was good.

Magic Johnson

Believe it or not, there was a time when Magic was maligned. Typically, the only team that could bring him to his knees were the Celtics, who in ’84 turned up the defensive heat on him – well, to put it simply, they put DJ on him – and the end result was a severe choke-job in Game 7, and a new nickname bestowed on him by Cedric Maxwell: Tragic Johnson. Magic then turned the ’85 regular season into a cross-country killing spree, ending in another meeting with the Cs in the ’85 Finals. This time it was different. Magic ended the series averaging 18/7/14 and punctuated by leading his Lakers over the Celtics for the first time ever. Better yet, they claimed the win in Boston Garden, the equivalent of the sun rising in the east. In ’87, Magic’s first MVP season, he put up 26/8/13 over the six-game series to claim Finals MVP and his fourth title.

Dennis Johnson

I would love to go on and on about his buzzer beater in Game 4 of the ’85 Finals. The one where Bird drew two, kicked it out to probably the only guy he’d trust to take a shot that he didn’t, and DJ calmly sank a 21-footer that seemed to tear the net off, capping a 27/7/12 night. Or I’d love to talk about Game 6 of the ’87 Finals (which the Cs actually lost) but featured a truly heroic DJ performance: 33 points. But understand that this was at the end of a courageous playoffs that saw everyone not-named Bird or DJ go down with some ailment. Bird was even running on empty in this one; DJ though, his career in microcosm form, fought it out. Sorry, those two are dandy, but I’ve got another DJ memory in mind. Following Game 3 of the ’84 Finals, a 33-point Celtic loss, Johnson demanded that he be put on Magic, who was running riot. KC Jones obliged. DJ scored 20-or-more over the final four games, while pestering the usually-competent Magic into uncharacteristic brain-melts. Magic had seven TO’s in Game 7 alone, including a crucial one late, and DJ finished it with 22 points in a Celtics win.

As you can see, plenty of legendary PG’s have come through in this legendary rivalry. If history is any guide, this years LA-BOS showdown will provide plenty of memories at the point.