1984 Boston Celtics

Boston went 62-20 and finished first in the league in point differential. The big addition was Dennis Johnson, acquired from Phoenix the previous summer to defend opposing guards. He joined a frontcourt of Bird, McHale, Robert Parish, and Cedric Maxwell that had power and skill at every spot.

Bird led the team at 24.2 points and 10.1 rebounds and was named MVP. Parish gave them 19 a game in the middle. McHale, still coming off the bench, won Sixth Man of the Year. Maxwell, the 1981 Finals MVP, started at forward, and Gerald Henderson handled the ball.

The Finals against the Lakers was the first meeting of the franchises since 1969. Boston won a wild series that turned on a few moments: Henderson's steal and layup to force overtime in Game 2, McHale's hard takedown of Kurt Rambis in Game 4, and the Game 5 heat, when the Garden hit roughly 97 degrees and Bird scored 34 while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sucked oxygen on the bench. Boston took Game 7 at home.

Bird called his team out as soft during the series, then carried it. K.C. Jones won his first title as Boston's head coach, and the rivalry with the Lakers would run for two more Finals meetings in the decade.