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Bird Shoots a “J” Over Dr. J
Date: 1984
The 1980s rivalry with the Los Angeles Lakers got all of the headlines, but Larry Bird and the Celtics had another great rival in Julius “Dr. J” Erving and his Philadelphia 76ers. The two Eastern Conference heavyweights met four times in the playoffs after Bird’s arrival with each team winning twice. The pair of future Hall-of-Famers got into a famous brawl in 1984 as Bird put up 42 points while Erving was held to six. Said Erving later, “I don’t hate Larry. I never hated Larry. I hated Boston. I hated the Celtics.”
Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images