May 14, 1981 - Nursing a three-point lead in the final minutes of Game 6 of the 1981 NBA Finals, second-year Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird chose this moment—of all the moments—to uncork his first 3-pointer of the Finals (and just the Celtics' third altogether). The trey ball was enough to push Boston over the hump, clinching the 14th championship in team history.

"I didn't even know it was a three-pointer," Bird said later. "I caught the ball in shooting position; nobody was around, I just released it. Heck, when I'm open like that for a shot I usually feel like I can't miss it. And when I have a shot like that to get us a game [in this case a championship], I got to take it because I know I have an excellent chance of making it."

The Celtics and Rockets combined to connect on six 3-pointers during the 1981 Finals, which may sound quaint until one considers that it was a six-fold improvement over the previous Finals output (that'd be one 3-pointer, by Julius Erving, in 1980).

Despite Bird's clutch theatrics, the 1981 Finals MVP was awarded to teammate Cedric Maxwell, Boston's leading scorer in their six-game win over the Houston Rockets.

Couple notes:

- “He’s hit three of them down the stretch” was the play-by-play’s way of saying Bird had hit three shots, not three 3-pointers. This was his only 3-pointer of the evening.

- The young lad with the brown shag cut is 25-year-old Gavin Maloof, whose father bought the Rockets in 1979 then passed away in 1980, leaving Gavin in charge.

1981 Finals Box Score: [ Ссылка ]

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