On May 27, 1985, the Celtics, defending champions, hosted the Lakers at Boston Garden for Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The Lakers are motivated by the idea of coming to avenge the defeat in Game 7 of 1984. Especially since at the time, Los Angeles had never won a final against Boston.
But the Celtics of Larry Bird, MVP of the season for the second consecutive year, will crush the Lakers. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar only scores 12 points in 22 minutes and the Lakers sink in defense, leaving Boston to shoot at 60%!
Substitute Scott Wedman even made the game of his life, as well as an NBA record for a Finals game, with 26 points at 11/11 in the shoot.
Celtics smash records
Although they scored 114 points, the Lakers were overtaken by the Celtics and the numbers make you dizzy: 148 points scored including 79 in the first half, 30 points difference at halftime, 60.8% success with 102 shots attempted…
A punishment of 34 points therefore, which will be baptized “Memorial Day Massacre” in reference to Memorial Day, a public holiday in the United States, the third Monday of May, and to a news item in Chicago in 1937. The Lakers, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar especially, will nevertheless recover during Game 2 and will even become NBA champions a few days later.
It is still today the highest total of points scored by a team in a match of the Finals. Bases that the Cavaliers had maintained for a half in Game 4 of the 2017 Finals with 49 points stuck to the Warriors in the first quarter and 86 points at the break, two NBA records. Before finishing at 136 units “only”.
