RealGM

Head-to-head in the playoffs:

42%: Bird's teams win % vs. Magic's Lakers

H2H in all regular-season games:

39%: Bird's teams win % vs. Magic's Lakers



Magic and his teams basically owned Bird and his teams during the time they spent together in the NBA.



It basically took a complete fluke for Bird and the Celtics to win in 1984.


As Worthy's unforced turnover in game 2 when the Lakers would have basically wrapped the series up had they won.



Basically cost Magic and LA from being 3 and 0 against Bird and the Celtics in the finals.



Showtime most likely nowadays would be viewed as the Goat dynasty had they won in 1984 to go along with their other titles.

Not sure a 40-60 split is an own.

Yeah, check out David Robinson's regular season numbers v. Hakeem's Rockets (and the reverse in a very small sample size in the playoffs).

LOL,

Regular Season 1980-1988 RS LA record vs Bost

RS LA record vs Boston: 10-8 (-0.89 MOV): Looks Dead even to me.

FINALS: LA record vs Boston: 11-8 (+3 MOV): Clear LA edge

But LA Post-season Opponents Records/SRS
1987 Seattle: 39-43, +.08
1987 GSW: 42-40, -2.54
1987 Denver 37-45, -1.14

1987 Detroit: 52-30, 3.51
1987 Milwaukee: 50-32, 4.04
1987 Chicago: 40-42, 1.26

1985 Denver: 52-30, 2.05
1985 Portland: 42-40, 2.8
1985 Phoenix: 36-46, -2.34

1985 76ers: 58-24, 4.17
1985 Pistons: 46-36, 2.73
1985 Cavs: 36-46, -2.27

1984 Phoenix: 41-41, 0.65
1984 Dallas: 43-39, 0.15
1984 KC: 18-44, -1.62

1984 Milwaukee: 52-30, +4.04
1984 Knicks: 47-35, 3.79
1984 Washington: 35-47, -2.36

Looks like Boston actually had to play real playoff opponents in 87 and 84 while LA got basically a bye to the finals. That matters

This is a strangely misleading sort of thread tbh. You mention Worthy's turnover in 84 but fail to mention that both McHale and Walton were injured in 87 and the Celtics still came within a fumbled rebound and a LB missed 3 that went off the back of the rim from forcing a game 7.

sp6r=underrated wrote:LOL,

Regular Season 1980-1988 RS LA record vs Bost

RS LA record vs Boston: 10-8 (-0.89 MOV): Looks Dead even to me.

FINALS: LA record vs Boston: 11-8 (+3 MOV): Clear LA edge

But LA Post-season Opponents Records/SRS
1987 Seattle: 39-43, +.08
1987 GSW: 42-40, -2.54
1987 Denver 37-45, -1.14

1987 Detroit: 52-30, 3.51
1987 Milwaukee: 50-32, 4.04
1987 Chicago: 40-42, 1.26

1985 Denver: 52-30, 2.05
1985 Portland: 42-40, 2.8
1985 Phoenix: 36-46, -2.34

1985 76ers: 58-24, 4.17
1985 Pistons: 46-36, 2.73
1985 Cavs: 36-46, -2.27

1984 Phoenix: 41-41, 0.65
1984 Dallas: 43-39, 0.15
1984 KC: 18-44, -1.62

1984 Milwaukee: 52-30, +4.04
1984 Knicks: 47-35, 3.79
1984 Washington: 35-47, -2.36

Looks like Boston actually had to play real playoff opponents in 87 and 84 while LA got basically a bye to the finals. That matters

The Celtics, Sixers, Bucks had to all battle each other. You could say the same thing with the Dr. J vs Magic and the Lakers. The Lakers did not have any true challengers, unlike the Sixers and Celtics who battled each other three times.

I would compare it to the Lakers and Spurs in the 2000's. They both were battling each other and prevented each other from getting more championships. But unlike the 80's, the 2000's did not have any real Eastern conference challengers. Once the Lakers or Spurs beat each other, they had a relatively smooth sailing in the finals.

Winning the championship is what validated the Lakers, they were able to beat the Sixers and the Celtics multiple times.

This is like Lebron's teams winning the East and then losing in the finals, it brings questions to how good the Eastern conference was......

IDK but it's probably the same reason Moses Malone has an 85% win percentage in the playoffs against Magic