The night Larry got 60.

[xmuscularghandix]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iFhNi9t4L4&feature=related

found this thought it was cool.

[greg683x]

haha thats pretty crazy.

Speaking of this night.  Would anyone happen to know if Kevin McHale put up 58 points a couple games before this one, or even like the week before??  A couple years ago, on a celtics broadcast, Tommy Heinsohn told probably my favorite Larry Bird story.  He said there was a game where Kevin McHale put 58 points and set a franchise record for points in a game, and instead of increasing his point total, McHale took himself out of the game with a couple minutes left since the Celtics had already secured the W.  After the game, Larry asked McHale why he didnt try for more points and McHale just said he didnt see the point since the C's had already won, and he broke the record..........Tommy then said, a couple games later Larry went out and scored 60 and stole the record from McHale.

I laughed my butt off when I heard this story, and to this day still crack a smile when I think of it.

[greg683x]

Ok well its 630 in the morning and I got the day off work today, so i took a few minutes to research how accurate that story was that Tommy told.

Kevin McHale set his record for 56 points in a game against Detriot on March 3, 1985

Larry Bird set his record for 60 points in a game against Atlanta March 12, 1985

The Celts played the Knicks, Bulls, and Mavs inbetween those two games.  Bird broke the record 4 games later.  Tommy wasnt exaggerating.  Absoloutly hilarious.



......just a side note. The webpage I found the points info on listed the dates and games that a player ever recorded 50 points or over in a single game.  Wilt Chamberlain appears on the list 105 times.  Unbelieveable.

http://nbahoopsonline.com/History/Leagues/NBA/pointsingame.html

[ederson]

The appearences  table at the end doesn`t look right....
Bird appears 4 time in the list but not on the table and i can`t find this Faulks guy....


But the list is indeed full of Wilt

[jimmehx]

haha that is so cool. great find!

[TitleMaster]

To be frank, McHale should have been able to have a higher points average than Bird.

Unlike Bird, who was practically Mr Triple-Double, McHale was low post scoring machine and should have routinely gotten 35-60 pts in many games and series and Bird, 18-22 pts only with his assists (weighted more towards McHale in the post), from 7 to 10.

So McHale should have been 30 ppg, 9 rpg, 2 apg, while Bird: 18 ppg, 12 rpg, 10 apg.

[nickagneta]

haha thats pretty crazy.

Speaking of this night.  Would anyone happen to know if Kevin McHale put up 58 points a couple games before this one, or even like the week before??  A couple years ago, on a celtics broadcast, Tommy Heinsohn told probably my favorite Larry Bird story.  He said there was a game where Kevin McHale put 58 points and set a franchise record for points in a game, and instead of increasing his point total, McHale took himself out of the game with a couple minutes left since the Celtics had already secured the W.  After the game, Larry asked McHale why he didnt try for more points and McHale just said he didnt see the point since the C's had already won, and he broke the record..........Tommy then said, a couple games later Larry went out and scored 60 and stole the record from McHale.

I laughed my butt off when I heard this story, and to this day still crack a smile when I think of it.

To finish the story after Bird asked why he didn't score more and Kevin answered him, it was reported in the Globe, I think, that Bird told McHale he should have scored more because now Bird would have to go reclaim his record or something like that because McHale had taken the record away from Bird who had scored 53 points in one game a couple of years earlier.

Nine days later Bird put up 60.

[Redz]

It was a thing of beauty.  And yes, it was the deliberate effort to break McHale's record and the cockiness with which he did it that made the night a perfect example of what put Larry in the Legend stratus.

[Andy Jick]

Larry specifically told him that he should go for 60, and kept feeding him the ball...McHale didn't do it, so larry told him that he would.  it only he took him 9 days later...

[xmuscularghandix]

my favorite line was when he called out that he'd land on the coach's lap or whatever, then the hawks bench gets up and cheers for larry. i figure this video would also be appropriate becuase of the hawks, not just doc and bird.

[I Am A Boston Celtic]

Favorite line.....

"He was so good that night, that the hawks were giving each other five"

Hahahahaha

[TrueGreen]

I remember that game. I think I remember where a ref took a three away from Bird because he called a foul on the defender. McHale scored 56 against Detroit and was being guarded by Kent Benson, a short-time teammate of Larry's when he started at Indiana U. (not Indiana State). Bird did want McHale to go for more and as said above McHale chose not to. But one of the reasons Bird wanted McHale to go for more is because Bird did not like Kent Benson who gave him a hard time for the short time he was at Indiana. Then Bird told McHale he was gonna get 60. Another thing I (think) I remember is that after this game a Boston writer called Bird "selfish" because he took all those shots. He just didn't get it.    Now let's move to today and all the recent talk of KG's so-called "antics" and now go back and listen to Doc's description of Bird's, let's just say comments.   First, what's the difference and second, both can back it up.

[mattmc33]

I've got the game on tape. Must have watched it a hundred times. He hit shots that night that defied belief. It's hilarious watching the Hawks bench getting off on every shot he threw in, especially the one that didn't count, the fadeaway three while being fouled. The ref (stupidly) called it a foul prior to the shot, which was a terrible call. But to watch the entire Hawks bench jump up and start cheering for an opposing player and act just like any fan would do (which enraged Mike Fratello no end) is an amazing thing.

My favorite quote from the game was from DJ, who said "He burned like 32 points in a 14 minute stretch. Everything he touched he threw in, like a guided missile. First we were laughing. Then we were in shock".

 

[Roy Hobbs]

To be frank, McHale should have been able to have a higher points average than Bird.

Unlike Bird, who was practically Mr Triple-Double, McHale was low post scoring machine and should have routinely gotten 35-60 pts in many games and series and Bird, 18-22 pts only with his assists (weighted more towards McHale in the post), from 7 to 10.

So McHale should have been 30 ppg, 9 rpg, 2 apg, while Bird: 18 ppg, 12 rpg, 10 apg.

I'm not following what you're saying.  Bird had a higher scoring average than McHale because he was the primary ball-handler and primary scoring option on the team.  He took the most shots *and* got the most assists.  McHale was extraordinarily effective in his role, but if the team had been centered around simply feeding McHale in the post, the offense would have been less effective, because you would have been taking the ball out of the hands of one of the three best players in NBA history.

(Also, I don't think any player routinely scores 35 to 60 points, other than perhaps Wilt.)