An aging and hurting Boston Celtics team faced a young and hungry Indiana Pacers squad in the first round of the 1991 NBA Playoffs. While the Celtics were favored to win that series, the Pacers were expected to give them a tough challenge behind their young, dynamic duo of Reggie Miller and Chuck Person.
True enough, the Pacers pushed the Celtics to the brink by sending the series to a winner-take-all Game 5. And after Larry Bird suffered a bad fall in the second quarter, it looked like the Pacers would pull off the upset at Boston Garden.
"I thought somebody kicked me," recalled Bird. "I thought somebody kneed me in the head or kicked me in the head. I didn’t know I hit my head on the floor."
Bird hit his head hard on the floor
Nobody kicked Larry. Nor did someone knee him in the head. In fact, nobody touched him. He just fell to the ground head-first and seemed to lose consciousness for a few seconds. Bird got up, but he did not look right.
With 4:33 left in the second quarter of Game 5, Larry Legend took a pass from Brian Shaw at the top of the key. He drove left to the basket, but as he was going for the shot, Mike Sanders knocked the ball out of his hands. Bird tried to dive for the loose ball but instead banged his head hard on the parquet floor.
"I wasn’t going to leave the court if that was my last game," added Larry. "I wasn’t going to leave it like that. I said, 'I got to go. I just got to go.' When you get your head pounded on like that, I don’t think you know what you’re doing. I really don’t. I remember just going out that door and going up that ramp. There I was, you’re right in the middle of the action."
Related: "It's just like a good friend saying we cannot hang out anymore" - Magic Johnson on Karl Malone refusing to play with him in the 1992 ASG
Larry Legend took over
After Boston took a 10-point lead, the team headed to their respective locker rooms at the half with a 58-all tie. Without Larry to start the second half, the teams went back and forth. Then, after Reggie Lewis gave the Celtics a 73-71 lead, the legendary forward reemerged from the tunnel to the delight of the Boston crowd.
"When that roar came up, I felt it," continued Larry. "I felt it go through my body and I felt less pain and more active and couldn’t wait to get out there. It’s an amazing feeling."
Boston went on a 33-14 run after their star man came back. He would finish the game with 32 points to lead the Celtics to a 124-121 win. Larry would struggle in the next series against the Pistons, averaging just 13.4 points per game as Boston was eliminated.
The following season, an ailing Bird averaged only 11.3 PPG in four playoff games. Game 5 in 1991 wasn't the last game he played, but it was the last Larry Legend performance in the postseason.
Related: "Of course, me, you know?!" - When Larry Bird couldn't miss a shot even when he was intending to
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