The rest is just noise

May 1, 1981

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Spectrum Arena

The Phillies think they will end the series tonight.

Because the Celtics have lost 12 consecutive games in Spectrum, why can they win the 13th game?

No, they are at the end of their rope.

Not just fans, many people think so.

The 76ers' disastrous loss in Game 6 was widely viewed as a careless loss.

Because the gap between the two teams is not that big.

Before Game 6, Louis had no more arrangements. By the sixth game, all the cards that both sides could play had been played.

In addition to the original layout, Louis also went out of his way to remind Maxwell.

"When Larry and John keep hitting the ball in the high post, you will get a good cutting space, don't waste it." Like a mantra, Louis encouraged Maxwell to become the hero of the series.

Maxwell had no reason to reject him. He said with certainty: "I will definitely become a key player in the sixth and seventh games!"

Living in Bird's shadow has always been his inner demon, and no one wants to stand up and prove himself more than he does.

Then, came game night.

Laimbeer, in a rare moment, won the opening jump ball, flanked by Archibald who fed John Long.

After the explosion in the fifth game, Long's status in the hearts of his teammates has been greatly improved. He takes the ball and shoots, voila!

The 76ers took the first shot from Lionel Hollins, who also played the best in the previous game, but missed. Bird grabbed the rebound, turned around and threw the ball forward like a shot put.

Maxwell took the ball and scored with a powerful dunk.

"The Celtics started with great momentum!"

Next, Daryl Dawkins broke out, which no one expected.

He turned around and made a shot in the low post.

Then he caught the ball in a pick-and-roll and performed a one-handed tomahawk dunk.

Blocked Bird's layup, then counterattacked with another dunk.

Suddenly, the offensive and defensive momentum reversed.

For the first time, Fitch and Louie reached a consensus, and they both agreed to use pocket arrays to trap Dawkins, the tiger.

However, Dr. J seemed to be driven to a bloody state by Maxwell.

In a rare and rough breakthrough, he reached the inside and passed the ball to Dawkins outside the paint area. Dawkins got the ball and concentrated all his strength to explode. Laimbeer's defense only caused more fouls, and he rode on his body to dunk and score.

That's a 2+1.

Fitch was dissatisfied with Laimbeer's opening performance and called a timeout to bring in Sampson.

However, with Dawkins' current aggressive bullfighting style, Sampson would at best have an advantage in height, but would be overwhelmingly at a disadvantage in terms of strength.

Sampson missed a high shot, Fitch shouted anxiously, Bird grabbed the offensive rebound and turned around to attack again, but was blocked by Dawkins.

Bird fell to the ground after being hit hard, and the referee did not blow the whistle because a black center violently attacked the white MVP.

This is the Eastern Conference Finals of the 1980s, baby!

The game became more and more unfavorable. Dawkins suddenly went berserk, showing his power on both ends of the court. His defense gave Dr. J a chance to play in the sky.

The situation was about to get out of control, and just when Dr. J was about to complete his counterattack with his signature flowing dunk, Laimbeer flipped him over from the side.

At that moment, Spectrum Arena announcer Zinkov roared: "This is murder!"

Ranbir opened his hands innocently, as if it had nothing to do with him.

At this point, it would be too naive to still regard the game as a competitive battle.

The competition is no longer just about the competitive level of both sides, but also about the intensity of confrontation, the ability to make small moves, the courage to attack violently, the perseverance and who is more violent.

Just being in better competitive shape doesn't mean you can win the game.

Ranbir is just letting you know nakedly, are you not in competitive shape? Master, I knocked you down, are you okay?

If once is not enough, do it twice.

If two times is not enough, then three times. If you do it a few more times, even if you can still maintain your competitive state, can your body be able to handle it?

The bloody fight aroused resentment in the hearts of both sides. The Celtics and 76ers, who were already tired of each other, began to heat up the game.

Louis knows that this game is making the coach's existence meaningless.

Too barbaric, too primitive.

Louis refused to give up. He was always paying attention to the game, trying to find details that could be used.

At the end of the first quarter, Sampson held the ball.

The pace of the game was not good for him. He was not used to high-intensity confrontations, but both sides insisted on taking the game in this direction.

Originally he wanted to use shooting to solve the problem, but he shot two balls and the effect was not good.

Dawkins looks so brave that he seems invincible, but Sampson was compared to a combination of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Russell and Chamberlain in college. He is not afraid of Dawkins at all. He just holds the ball and plays without feeling when shooting.

He actually got past Bobby Jones's defense and got to the basket, causing Dawkins to foul.

Louis opened his eyes wide.

Yes, Dawkins is very unsolvable now, but there are ways to deal with it. The only way is to attack his defense and make him foul.

The 76ers were at home, leading the Celtics by 7 points, 26-19 in a single quarter.

It looks like they're going to copy what Celtic did in the Garden.

During the break, Louis took the time to tell Sampson: "Listen, Ralph, don't go head-to-head, you have to know where your advantages are! Your size and length, your speed and athleticism, your ability to hold the ball.

,Remember, these are your advantages!”

Louis glanced at Dawkins, "As long as you have a chance, just attack his defense with the ball, don't hesitate!"

The Celtics' winning strategy in Game 5 seemed to have no chance to be used tonight, because the 76ers played a game that did not rely on the back line and white lightning to gain an advantage. This is what they look like in the regular season.

Use his powerful inside talent to establish his advantage, create a lot of defensive rebounds, and let Dr. J fly.

With fast breaks, the 76ers expanded their advantage to 12 points in the second quarter.

15 seconds later, Sampson received Bird's pass in the middle, took a step, raised it high, and scored with a basket.

That's how it all started.

Following Louis' instructions, Sampson avoided tough confrontation, chased Dr. J from the free throw line to the basket, and slapped the ball away!

Facing Caldwell Jones in a counterattack, he collected the ball fearlessly, jumped up, and dunked with his hands.

After the pick-and-roll, he caught the ball again and made a high jump shot from the right side.

Sampson became the Celtics' hero in the first half, keeping the point difference within 10 points before halftime.

51 to 44

The 76ers lead by 7 points.

Even so, the 76ers still firmly controlled the rhythm of the game.

Louis was pacing back and forth on the scene, and the players and coaching staff had already entered the tunnel.

"Oriental man, one of us can drown you with just a spit of spit!"

The fans in the front row wanted to harass Louie.

"Keep your saliva and give it to your whole family, you cerebral palsy who ate expired hamburgers!"

Louis accurately grasped the recent hot spots in Philadelphia and successfully stimulated every fan in the front row. They were about to spit on each of them, but Louis slipped away early and escaped the disaster.

The game was boring and the 76ers were too smooth.

If you use rough fouls to break up the opponent's rhythm, you have to find a way from yourself.

The 76ers are going smoothly, but the Celtics need stars to save the game. From Bird to Sampson, they can't win if they continue like this.

Fitch didn't arrange anything in the locker room. Tactically, Louis had nothing else to say. It's just that the opponent is playing better now.

Louis stopped Maxwell.

"I don't care what you do, just make some noise and cheer everyone up!" Louis said harshly.

Maxwell didn't answer after hearing what he said, either because he was thinking about the meaning of Louis' words or because he didn't understand it at all.

Fitch aggressively allowed Sampson to start the second half.

Sampson repaid his trust and gave Dr. J a thumbs up when he came on stage.

Bird took the ball and once again threw a long shot pass. John Long took the ball and went straight for a layup.

Beautiful! Louie made a fist, but it was not enough. They had no rhythm, no excitement, and needed some excitement.

He looked at Maxwell.

Louis didn't know if Maxwell understood what he meant. He saw Maxwell asking for the ball and holding the ball to attack Dr. J's defense.

Dr. J has great defensive numbers, but he's not a great defensive player.

Maxwell broke through his defense and was about to get inside when Dawkins took action, just like Laimbeer did to Dr. J in the first quarter, pushing him down from the air, perhaps even more roughly.

Maxwell flew straight out of bounds.

Laimbeer was furious, and Bird was the first to rush to Dawkins.

At that moment, Maxwell realized that he was hit with popcorn by the fans behind him. He stood up angrily and heard them yelling: "Nigger, you are going to die here tonight!"

Maxwell rushed into the audience, just as Louis wanted him to do, creating an explosion that shocked the entire audience!

Teammates came over one after another to stop him from doing "stupid things".

He looked furious. When all his teammates came to his side, he roared from the bottom of his heart: "We are going to fight the bastards of Philadelphia to the end!"

That was a game-changing moment, a turning point in the entire game.

Maxwell stirred up trouble, and his body was becoming hot due to uncontrollable factors.

Bird hit a 21-foot jumper from the left and then made a layup to tie the score to 59-54. Following a long pass, Maxwell stopped the 76ers, and then Sampson and Dawkins had a fight in the penalty area.

A brief melee - the explosive point Louis wanted - appeared, and the fire brought by Maxwell had reached a fever pitch.

Bird was particularly affected. He is a cold and rational person. When he shows emotion, he is an unstoppable force on the court.

From there to the most critical moment of the fourth quarter, Bird could be seen throughout the game.

At the last critical moment, Dr. J tied the score with a gliding layup.

The Celtics called a timeout, and Louis drew up a tactic to ask Bird to catch the ball from the outside.

As a result, this bastard didn't run according to the tactics at all. Instead, he directly held up Bobby Jones to get the ball, took a feint and hit the white lightning, and then threw a ball that suffocated the Phillies and covered the spectrum with green light.

A shot.

The basketball hit the backboard hard and bounced into the basket with a force that broke the hearts of the 18,000 fans in attendance.

"it's over!"

The CBS commentator shouted excitedly: "Larry Bird is a true legend!"

That ball, that moment, that flash of light turned the country bumpkin from French Lick into the godlike Larry "Legend."

At the end of the game, Bird raised his shooting hand high and shouted to his teammates in a loud and terrifying voice: "One more time!!!"