The 1986 NBA Finals was the championship round of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA)'s 1985–86 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. It pitted the Eastern Conference champion

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

against the Western Conference champion

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

, in a rematch of the

1981 NBA Finals The 1981 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1980–81 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. It pitted the 62–20 Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics a ...

(though only

Allen Leavell Allen Frazier Leavell (born May 27, 1957) is a retired American professional basketball player from Muncie, Indiana. Career Amateur At Muncie Central High School, Leavell averaged 18 points per game in his final year. A 6'1" (1.85 m), 170 l ...

and Robert Reid remained from the Rockets' 1981 team). It was the second and last NBA Championship Series of the 1980s not to feature the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

, who were eliminated by the Rockets on both occasions. The heavily favored Celtics defeated the Rockets four games to two to win their 16th NBA championship. The championship would be the Celtics' last until

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded a ...

was named the Finals MVP. On another note, this series marked the first time the "NBA Finals" branding was officially used, as they dropped the "NBA World Championship Series" branding which had been in use since the beginning of the league, though it had been unofficially called the "NBA Finals" for years. Until the

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

series, this was the last time the NBA Finals had started before June. Since game three, all NBA Finals games have been played in June. Starting with the following year, the NBA Finals would be held exclusively in the month of June. It was also the last NBA Finals series to schedule a game on a Monday until

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and also the last NBA Finals game to be played on

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

. Until the

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

series, it was the last to conclude before June 10.

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...

used

Dick Stockton Richard Edward Stokvis (born November 22, 1942), known professionally as Dick Stockton, is an American retired sportscaster. Stockton began his career in Philadelphia, then moved to Pittsburgh, where he worked as the sports director for KDKA-TV ...

and

Tom Heinsohn Thomas William Heinsohn (August 26, 1934 – November 9, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. He was associated with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for six decades as a player, coach and broadcast ...

as the play-by-play man and color commentator respectively. Meanwhile,

Brent Musburger Brent Woody Musburger (born May 26, 1939) is an American sportscaster, currently the lead broadcaster and managing editor at Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN). With CBS Sports from 1973 until 1990, he was one of the original members ...

was the host and

Pat O'Brien Pat O'Brien may refer to: Politicians * Pat O'Brien (Canadian politician) (born 1948), member of the Canadian House of Commons *Pat O'Brien (Irish politician) (c. 1847–1917), Irish Nationalist MP in the United Kingdom Parliament Others *Pat O'Br ...

(the

Rockets A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

' sideline) and

Lesley Visser Lesley Candace Visser (born September 11, 1953) is an American sportscaster, television and radio personality, and sportswriter. Visser is the first female NFL analyst on TV, and the only sportscaster in history who has worked on Final Four, ...

(the

Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

' sideline) were the

sideline reporter Sideline(s) may refer to: * Extended side, the geometric line that contains the side of a polygon * Sidelines, the lines that mark the outer boundaries of a sports field * Sideline (app), a smartphone app * ''Sidelines'' (newspaper), the studen ...

Background

Boston Celtics

The Celtics made the

1985 NBA Finals The 1985 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1984–85 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. It featured the defending NBA champion and Eastern Conference pl ...

, but lost in six games to the

. The series exposed some of Boston's weaknesses, such as the lack of bench scoring, which was exploited after Kevin McHale moved to the starting lineup with

Cedric Maxwell Cedric Bryan Maxwell (born November 21, 1955) is an American retired professional basketball player now in radio broadcasting. Nicknamed "Cornbread", he played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and played a key role in two ...

bothered by knee injuries. In addition,

played through an elbow injury, which severely affected his shooting. In the offseason, president

Red Auerbach Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American professional basketball coach and executive. He served as a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most notably with the Boston Celtics. ...

decided to tweak the roster, trading Maxwell to the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

for oft-injured center

Bill Walton William Theodore Walton III (born November 5, 1952) is an American television sportscaster and former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for coach John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive national ...

. He also made a trade with the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

, acquiring

Jerry Sichting Jerry Lee Sichting (born November 29, 1956) is an American basketball coach and retired player of the National Basketball Association (NBA). High school career Jerry Sichting, the , point guard from Martinsville, Indiana, attended Martinsv ...

for

Quinn Buckner William Quinn Buckner (born August 20, 1954) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played collegiate basketball for the Indiana University Hoosiers, and won a national championship in 1976. He was a captain of both ...

. These moves would pave the way for the Celtics' greatest season yet. Entering the 1985–86 season, the Celtics surged to a league-best 67–15 record, powered by an NBA record 40 victories at home. Their incomparable home record alone (since tied by the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

in the regular season) put the Celtics in the conversation among the NBA's greatest teams in a single season. In the playoffs, Boston needed just three games to defeat the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

in the first round, despite a playoff record 63 points by

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

in Game 2. When asked about Jordan's performance in Boston's 135-131 2OT victory, Boston's coach

K. C. Jones K. C. Jones (May 25, 1932 – December 25, 2020) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He is best known for his association with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA), with whom he won 11 of his 12 ...

said, "I don't have a word for today." In retrospect, this game is considered to be a classic clash of the NBA's greatest player, Jordan, and the NBA's (arguably) greatest team, Bird's '86 Celtics. In the second round, Boston eliminated the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

in five games, with the clinching Game 5 a no-doubter as Boston outscored Atlanta 36–6 in the third quarter en route to a 132–99 victory. Then in the conference finals, Boston swept the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

in four games, a direct reversal of their second round meeting in the

1983 NBA Playoffs The 1983 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1982–83 season. This was the final postseason using the 12-team format and this is the final postseason held of best of 3 series in first round, befor ...

Houston Rockets

Following their previous Finals appearance in , the Rockets entered a brief rebuilding period. Long-time Rockets

Calvin Murphy Calvin Jerome Murphy (born May 9, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player who after a prolific collegiate career at Niagara, where he averaged 33.1 points per game over his three years, played in the National Basketball Associ ...

and

Rudy Tomjanovich Rudolph Tomjanovich Jr. (born November 24, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player and coach who is a consultant for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His professional playing career, whic ...

retired, while

Mike Dunleavy, Sr. Michael Joseph Dunleavy Sr. (born March 21, 1954) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and general manager of the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Clippers. He was most recently the head coach of the Tulane U ...

Bill Willoughby William Wesley Willoughby (born May 20, 1957) is an American former professional basketball player born in Englewood, New Jersey. After graduating from Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood, he was selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1975 NBA d ...

, Tom Henderson and

Billy Paultz William Edward Paultz (born July 30, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and in the now defunct American Basketball Association (ABA). Nicknamed "the Whopper", He is a ...

moved on to different teams. But the biggest move came during the 1982 offseason, when the Rockets traded

Moses Malone Moses Eugene Malone (March 23, 1955 – September 13, 2015) was an American professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1974 through 1995. A cent ...

to the champions

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

. The loss of Malone sent the Rockets to a league-worst 14–68 record in the 1982–83 season, after which the Rockets were awarded the top pick of the 1983 NBA draft and selected

Ralph Sampson Ralph Lee Sampson Jr. (born July 7, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A phenom, three-time college national player of the year, and first overall selec ...

. After a 29-win season in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, the Rockets were once again rewarded with the top pick in the

1984 NBA draft The 1984 NBA draft was the 37th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, on June 19, 1984, before the 1984–85 season. The draft is generally c ...

. They selected another center in

Akeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Houston Rockets a ...

, and paired alongside Sampson, they were dubbed as the "Twin Towers". Houston also added some valuable role players to complement the duo and holdovers

and Robert Reid, acquiring Rodney McCray, Lewis Lloyd,

Craig Ehlo Joel Craig Ehlo (; born August 11, 1961) is a retired American basketball player. He played fifteen seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with four teams, amassing career totals of 7,492 points, 2,456 assists and 3,139 rebounds. P ...

Mitchell Wiggins Mitchell Lee Wiggins (born September 28, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player who played the shooting guard position. Early life Wiggins attended North Lenoir High School in LaGrange, North Carolina. College career He pl ...

and

Jim Petersen James Richard Petersen (born February 22, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player, and a current television analyst with the Minnesota Timberwolves. From 2009 to 2017 he served as an assistant coach and later associate head coac ...

. Under third-year head coach

Bill Fitch William Charles Fitch (May 19, 1932 – February 2, 2022) was an American professional basketball coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He developed multiple teams into playoff contenders and won an NBA championship with the Bost ...

(the head coach of the 1980–81 Celtics championship team), the Rockets posted a 51–31 record and won the Midwest Division title. In the first round, they swept the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

, then eliminated the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

in six games during the second round. In the conference finals, they were matched up against the defending champion

, and after losing Game 1, the Rockets stunned the Lakers by winning the final four games, highlighted by a series-clinching buzzer beater by Sampson in Game 5.

Road to the Finals

Regular season series

The

won both games in the regular season series:

The Finals

The

–led Celtics defeated the Rockets again 4 games to 2 in the 1986 NBA Finals. The Celtics won the first two games at the

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (late ...

, where they had gone 40–1 during the

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

. The Rockets had been almost as good at home during the regular season, and they defeated the Celtics 106–104 in game three. Game 4 was a tense battle at the

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

, which the Celtics won 106–103, with

coming off the bench for a tired

Robert Parish Robert Lee Parish (born August 30, 1953) is an American former professional basketball player who played 21 seasons as a center in the National Basketball Association (NBA), tied for second most in league history. He played an NBA-record 1,61 ...

to score a crucial basket. The infamous fifth game featured the signature moment of the series, when 7'4"

ignited a brawl with

, a player shorter than Sampson, leading to his ejection. While

led the Rockets to a decisive victory, Sampson's actions motivated the Celtics to end the series in six. Bird dismantled the young Rockets in game 6; the raucous Garden crowd booed every time Sampson touched the ball. The Celtics eliminated the Rockets 114–97 in a game that wasn't as close as the score would indicate. With backup forward

Scott Wedman Scott Dean Wedman (born July 29, 1952) is an American former professional basketball player who played thirteen seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted by the Kansas City-Omaha Kings with the sixth pick in the first ...

sidelined due to a wrist injury, Bird got very little rest during the six-game series, logging 269 out of a possible 288 minutes of floor time. Bird was named the Finals' MVP for that year, averaging 24 points, 9.7 rebounds, 9.7 assists, and 2.7 steals per game for the series. It was the Celtics' 16th championship in 40 years and it was their last championship for 22 years.

Series summary

Game 1

The "Twin Towers" Ralph Sampson and Akeem Olajuwon were saddled with foul trouble for much of the game. Sampson got three quick fouls just 4:45 into the game and scored only two points; Olajuwon picked up five fouls despite scoring 33, 25 of which came in the first half. The backcourt tandem of Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge provided the third quarter spurt for the Celtics, combining for 22 points, while Boston held Houston to just 17 points in an expected victory.

Game 2

The third quarter again proved decisive for the Celtics, outscoring the Rockets 34–19 in the quarter. Sampson and Olajuwon combined for 32 points in the first half, but only seven in the second. Larry Bird paced the Celtics with 31 points on 12-for-19 shooting, while Kevin McHale added 25 in another Boston rout. It was Boston's 40th consecutive victory at home, regular season and playoffs combined.

Game 3

The Rockets rallied from eight points down in the fourth quarter before escaping to a much-needed two-point win at home, despite another third quarter meltdown. Sampson and Olajuwon combined for 47 points and 30 rebounds, Robert Reid added 20, while reserve guard

tipped in off an Olajuwon miss late in the fourth to put the Rockets ahead for good. The Celtics only managed one more shot in their final two possessions, a missed 5-footer by Robert Parish. Kevin McHale and Larry Bird both scored 28 points in the loss, but Bird was held to 3-for-12 shooting in the second half due to Reid's defense.

Game 4

Larry Bird's three-pointer with 2:26 remaining gave Boston the lead for good, while holding the Rockets to just one basket in the final four minutes, keyed by Kevin McHale forcing three turnovers on Houston's final three possessions. Robert Parish scored 22 while hauling 15 rebounds. Dennis Johnson also added 22, while Bird scored 21 and dished out 10 assists. Ralph Sampson led the Rockets with 25 points, while Akeem Olajuwon, Robert Reid and Rodney McCray added 21, 19 and 17 respectively. The Rockets suffered their first home loss of the 1986 playoffs.

Game 5

The game was highlighted by Ralph Sampson's ejection early in the second quarter. With 9:40 remaining in the second, Sampson threw punches at the Celtics' reserve guard

, 16 inches shorter than Sampson, leading to his ejection while the benches were cleared. The Rockets were leading 34–33 at the time of the brawl, and would lead by as many as 25 points in the second half to score a lopsided victory. Akeem Olajuwon scored 32 points while blocking 8 shots. Though Kevin McHale scored 33, Larry Bird was held to only 17 points, ultimately leading to one of the worst losses suffered by the Celtics that season. As of 2022, this remains the last NBA Finals game to be played by the Celtics in a state other than

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Game 6

Larry Bird recorded a triple-double of 29 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists to pace a lopsided Boston win that clinched their 16th NBA championship. Kevin McHale added 29 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. Olajuwon paced the Rockets with 21 points and 10 rebounds, but Ralph Sampson was held to only eight points on 4-for-12 shooting, visibly distracted by an angry Boston Garden crowd in the aftermath of Game 5. The Celtics led by as much as 30 in the fourth to put away the Rockets. Following the conclusion of the 1986 NBA Finals, a video documentary of the 1985–86 NBA season, known as "Sweet Sixteen", was released. David Perry was the narrator after

narrated the last three NBA season documentaries. This would be the city of Boston's last professional sports championship until 2002 when the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

won

Super Bowl XXXVI Super Bowl XXXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion St. Louis Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

. Had the 1985 Patriots and the 1986 Boston Red Sox won

Super Bowl XX Super Bowl XX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

and the

1986 World Series The 1986 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1986 Major League Baseball season, 1986 season. The 83rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National Lea ...

, respectively (the Patriots lost 46–10 to the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, while the Red Sox lost in seven games to the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

), it would have given Boston three different professional sports championships in the same calendar year. In 2007–08, the city came very close to achieving this, as the 2007 Red Sox and 2007–08 Celtics won titles, but the 2007 Patriots lost

Super Bowl XLII Super Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

to the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. A Houston–Boston World Series was also a possibility; however, the Mets defeated the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

in six games of the

1986 National League Championship Series The 1986 National League Championship Series was a best-of-seven Major League Baseball postseason series between the NL East champion New York Mets and NL West champion Houston Astros. It was the 18th NLCS and the first MLB playoff series in whi ...

. In 2018–19, the 2018 Red Sox won the 2018 World Series, while the 2018 Patriots won

Super Bowl LIII Super Bowl LIII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2018 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Confe ...

, giving Boston two different professional sports championships within a year, while the 2018–19 Boston Bruins reached the

2019 Stanley Cup Finals The 2019 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2018–19 season and the culmination of the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Western Conference champion St. Louis Blues defeated the Eastern Confer ...

, but lost to the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the s ...

in seven games. The closing song following Game 6 was "Whatever We Imagine" by

James Ingram James Edward Ingram (February 16, 1952 – January 29, 2019) was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He was a two-time Grammy Award-winner and a two-time Academy Awards, Academy Award nominee for Academy Award for Best Original ...

Player statistics

;Boston Celtics , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 35.5 , , .556 , , .500 , , .824 , , 3.5 , , 5.5 , , 2.5 , , 0.2 , , 14.5 , -! style="background:#FDE910;" , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 44.8 , , .482 , , .368 , , .939 , , 9.7 , , 9.5 , , 2.7 , , 0.3 , , 24.0 , - , align="left" , , , 3 , , 0 , , 2.7 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 42.8 , , .420 , , .286 , , .821 , , 6.2 , , 5.3 , , 2.0 , , 0.3 , , 17.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 5.0 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 1.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 40.2 , , .573 , , .000 , , .804 , , 8.5 , , 1.7 , , 0.8 , , 2.5 , , 25.8 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 31.8 , , .418 , , .000 , , .500 , , 6.8 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 2.2 , , 12.7 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 14.2 , , .450 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.8 , , 1.7 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.0 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , .200 , , .000 , , .500 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 0.6 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , .182 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 19.5 , , .622 , , .000 , , .500 , , 6.7 , , 1.7 , , 0.5 , , 0.7 , , 8.0 , - , align="left" , , , 1 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 ;Houston Rockets , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 0 , , 2.5 , , .714 , , .000 , , .667 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 3.0 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 0 , , 6.8 , , .417 , , .000 , , .400 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.8 , , 3.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 12.0 , , .382 , , .500 , , .800 , , 0.8 , , 3.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 5.7 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 22.3 , , .380 , , .000 , , .800 , , 1.8 , , 2.8 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 7.7 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 39.5 , , .588 , , .000 , , .706 , , 4.0 , , 4.0 , , 1.2 , , 0.8 , , 15.3 , - , align="left" , , , 5 , , 0 , , 1.8 , , .667 , , .000 , , .667 , , 1.0 , , 0.6 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.6 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 40.2 , , .479 , , .000 , , .667 , , 11.8 , , 1.8 , , 2.3 , , 3.2 , , 24.7 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 22.7 , , .311 , , .000 , , .750 , , 7.2 , , 1.8 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 5.2 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 40.2 , , .420 , , .125 , , .917 , , 4.3 , , 8.7 , , 1.3 , , 0.0 , , 14.3 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 6 , , 32.2 , , .438 , , .000 , , .731 , , 9.5 , , 3.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.8 , , 14.8 , - , align="left" , , , 4 , , 0 , , 1.8 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 1.0 , - , align="left" , , , 6 , , 0 , , 22.2 , , .451 , , .000 , , .667 , , 3.7 , , 1.3 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 8.3

Team rosters

Boston Celtics

Houston Rockets

References

External links

NBA History
{{DEFAULTSORT:1986 Nba Finals National Basketball Association Finals

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

Sports competitions in Boston Sports competitions in Houston

Boston Garden

Background

Boston Celtics

Houston Rockets

Road to the Finals

Regular season series

The Finals

Series summary

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Game 5

Game 6

Player statistics

Team rosters

Boston Celtics

Houston Rockets

See also

References

External links