My boss loves basketball...got to love that about him..

Every day the management "team" sits down and has a cup of coffee...our time together. Just to relax a moment...and talk. Not about work...no, not us, we always seem to find a moment to talk sports. That is because my boss loves sports. Today we talked about the famous and infamous sports personalities. And this got me to thinking about some special sporting events that I recall...and some had a little less flair...but it did make us smile..

So...me being me reminded my boss of a moment that sticks in my memory...1987...you know...Celtics vs Pistons...I want to take you back for a moment...

The lay up...

The Celtics had established themselves as the best team in the Eastern Conference for the earlier part of the decade, with 5 Eastern Conference titles from 1981-1987. But with the emergence of the younger Pistons came the first real threat to the Celtic dynasty. The "Bad Boys", as the Pistons became known, used physical and often dirty playing tactics to intimidate their opponents and bully their way to victory. This roused the ire of Boston's players and fans, and the teams' mutual hatred of each other often led to on-court fighting. Detroit's biggest antagonists were Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn and Dennis Rodman. In game 4 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals, Bird and Laimbeer were both ejected for fighting as the Pistons went on to rout the Celtics 145-119, tying the series at 2-2.

The Bad Boys in Game 5...there were those of us...who will not forget that fateful moment...

Perhaps the most famous moment of the Pistons-Celtics rivalry occurred during Game 5. Leading by one point with just a few seconds remaining, and threatening to take a commanding 3-2 lead in the series, the Pistons' Isiah Thomas had his inbounds pass intercepted by Larry Bird, who quickly dished to Dennis Johnson for the winning layup. With Robert Parish forced to sit out game 6 due to a suspension for punching Bill Laimbeer in the second quarter of game 5 (the first suspension for a playoff game in NBA history), the Pistons won game 6 to send the series back to Boston for a 7th game. The Celtics ended the bitter series with a 117-114 home win over the Pistons in Game 7.

However...The rest of the story...

Thomas would get his revenge against Bird in the 1988 Eastern Conference Finals. The Pistons finally unseated the Celtics, winning the series 4-2 and advancing to the NBA Finals to face the Los Angeles Lakers. What was notable in the Eastern series was the fact that the Pistons, who entered the series with 21 straight losses at the Boston Garden, defeated the Celtics by winning two of three games at the Garden (Game 1 and Game 5). In Game 5, the Celtics even led by as many as 16 points before the Pistons rallied to win 102-96. In addition, their rough style of play and intense defense shut down Bird's scoring dramatically, holding him to just 10.0 points per game on 35.1% shooting, thus forcing the Celtics to rely on McHale.

Now...there was another Piston memorable moment...Yikes...why did it have to be him?



so...the rest of the story?

This game was the precursor to Detroit making the Jordan Rules. After this game and a 59 point spanking on CBS the next year against Detroit, the Pistons devised the Jordan Rules - the most comprehensive defensive scheme devised by the NBA to this day.

There are just some moments you need to share with those who appreciate a good moment or two...

This however is not one of them...



I wish they hadn't done it....Yikes...

Love...
The Lass