Larry Bird and Magic Johnson met three times in the Finals:
In 1984, the Celtics prevailed in seven games.
Bird put up 27.4 points on 48.4 percent shooting to go with 14.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.1 blocks in the finals, which included a 29-21 effort in a Game 4 win. In the losing effort, Magic averaged 18.0 points on 56.0 percent shooting with 13.6 assists, 7.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals. He put together a 14-point, 21-assist performance in Game 3.
The Lakers got revenge the following year, with the series again going seven games.
Magic averaged 18.3 points, 14.0 assists, 6.8 rebounds and 2.2 steals. In a must-win Game 6, he came through with 26 points on 11-of-20 shooting and 17 assists. Bird, meanwhile, had 23.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.8 steals.
In the “rubber match” 1987 finals, the Lakers won in six games.
Magic was unreal, averaging 26.2 points on 54.1 percent shooting, 13.0 assists, 8.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals, while Bird tallied 24.2 points on 44.5 percent shooting, 10.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.2 steals.
View head-to-head comparison between the NBA stars Magic Johnson and Larry Bird that includes championships won, honors and awards obtained, regular season and playoffs stats and other data put side by side shared by Landofbasketball.com.
Of interest, Here are 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know about Magic Johnson & Larry Bird shared by Heavy.com.