JORDAN vs BIRD - '86 CELTICS vs '96 BULLS - NBA 2K21 Next Gen
CHICAGO -- Larry Bird and the 1986 Boston Celtics come to Chi-town for their second matchup of the season with Michael Jordan and the Bulls. The Celtics gameplan early on was clear. Dump the ball inside to McHale and Parish and let them operate. THey had an early 7 pt lead. Bulls D tightened, and Pippen scored 7 stright period to bring the Bulls back. It is a tied game after one, 24-24. In the 2nd quarter, things remained close. Pippen and Bird kept the games close for their teams. THe Bulls however, would end the quarter on a 12-2 run to go up by 9 going into the half, 48-39. McHale led the Celtics midway with 13 pts, most of it in the 1st quarter though. Jordan led everyone with 17. In the 3rd quarter, the Celtics got a string of stops and went in a 15-6 run to grab a 5 pt lead with 3 mins to go in the quarter. Pippen then spearheaded a 7-0 run towards the end and the Bulls hang on to a 2 pt lead 66-64. The 4th quarter was a tight contest. Larry Bird started to hit his shots, and while the Bulls were missing, they were getting second chance points with their bigs outhustling Walton and McHale. Still Boston kept close, and a jumper from Bird tied the score at 84 with a little over 2 mins remaining. Jordan responded with a jumper, and after Ainge missed from 3, Harper made probably the biggest shot of the night, a wide open 3 after a double team on MJ, bringing the Bulls up by 5 with over a minute to go. Bird scored over Pippen to bring Boston to within 3, & after Jordan missed a fade, Boston had another chance with 40 secs to go. But they gave the ball to Ainge instead of Bird, and he would miss a 3-pointer with 27 secs to go. Bulls would make their FT's and come away with the win, 93-86. Jordan finished with 27 pts 4 rebs 10 assts. Pippen added 25. Rodman had a double double with 11 pts 19 rebs. Parish ended up the high man for the Celtics with 23 pts 13 rebs. Bird had 19, McHale 17. 0:00 First quarter 16:21 Second quarter 30:55 Halftime show 32:44 Third quarter 48:07 Fourth quarter 1:02:04 Player of the Game
