"I almost expected Bird to show up at halftime" - When George Karl and World B. Free provoked Larry Bird in the 1985 Playoffs

Throughout the 1980s, numerous teams posed significant challenges to the formidable Boston Celtics . However, the 1984-85 Cleveland Cavaliers seemed an unlikely candidate to fit into this criteria. Yet, they dared to showboat against Larry Bird & Co.

After beginning their campaign slow, they somehow managed to sneak into the playoffs after recording a 36-46 record. Scheduled to face off against the reigning champions in the first round, they lost the first two games by two and three points, respectively. However, they managed to avoid a clean sweep in a best-of-five series by winning Game 3.

In the aftermath of this victory, coach George Karl and guard World B. Free exhibited unwarranted bravado, simply dismissing the fact that Bird didn't suit up for Game 3.

The Cavs were confident

In the series' first two games, Larry Legend had been dominant, averaging 35 points. However, injury sidelined him for Game 3, and in Bird 's absence, 'The Prince of Mid Air' secured all the limelight and led all the scorers by dropping 32 points on 13-of-23 shooting from the field.

While the widespread sentiment was that the Celtics weren't at their best without the three-time MVP, Coach Karl dismissed such notions. He encouraged his players to take pride in beating a team with the league-best record of 63-19 in the regular season while holding them to merely 42.5% shooting from the field.

Free, buoyed by the win, expressed confidence by stating that the Cavaliers eagerly anticipated Game 4.

"With Larry Bird out roosting, the rest of the Boston players were all cooped up as well," Free said . "Make that a chicken coop... If we get another crowd like this, we'll shake and bake."

Even the atmosphere in Cleveland was electric, with fans chanting, 'We want Bird' by halftime. Furthermore, Karl jokingly admitted that after seeing his team dominate the reigning champions, he wondered if the 12-time All-Star would suit up during the break.

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Bird had enough of Karl and Free

No player or coach was ever advised to provoke the Indiana native. Karl and Free witnessed firsthand why in Game 4. The two-time Finals MVP delivered a game-high 34-point performance, shooting 64.7% from the field and knocking seven of his eight free-throw attempts in the final quarter to close the series in four.

After hitting two clutch free throws to close out the game, he even pointed at the Cavs fans, maybe to remind them why he should never be messed with again. The Celtics went on to the Finals that year, and the Celtics continued down their mediocre path.

Related: Larry Bird explains why he played through injuries during his NBA career: "I didn't want some little injury messing up my season"