The 1984 Boston Celtics championship was one of the tougher of Boston’s 17 championships. They walked into the Finals with the best record in the NBA and home court advantage, but the Los Angeles Lakers were right behind them in the standings.

Danny Ainge, the Celtics current President of Basketball Operations and former shooting guard for much of the 80′s, has said many times that he thought the Lakers were better than the Celtics that year. The Lakers were proving that point, nearly winning both games in Boston.

“We get blown out in Game 1, we are so lucky to win Game 2. We’re probably in the one percentile of winning that game, and then in Game 3 we get crushed again and it’s just a dunk fest,” Ainge said in an interview on the Locked On Celtics podcast.

The Lakers won by 33 points that day, erasing the joy of Gerald Henderson’s steal and taking control of the series once again.

“I remember Larry saying something to the media about how soft the teams is," Ainge said, recalling a scathing postgame interview in which Bird called out his teammates. “But every single person that was watching that film was completely embarrassed and humiliated by our effort in Game 3 in Los Angeles.”

The Lakers were on fire. The showtime style was running Boston off the floor. The Celtics weren’t able to assert themselves and play the tough, physical game they needed to neutralize the Lakers speed. Ainge recalls going to practice with Kevin McHale the next day and McHale saying the Celtics needed to get tough, and someone needed to take a hard foul.

“I said ‘Kevin, I get booed in every arena because I take hard fouls,’” Ainge said. “I said ‘why don’t you foul somebody hard one time?'"

So McHale did. Down seven late in the game with the Lakers seemingly on their way to a commanding 3-1 series lead, McHale decided to stop a Lakers break by hammering Kurt Rambis with a clothesline. Benches emptied but McHale stayed in the game. The Celtics came back to win the game, and eventually, the series. The foul changed the momentum of the entire series because it lured the Lakers into a chippy final three games and away from their usual flashy style.

“The fact that it was Kevin who took Rambis down with a clothesline, in my opinion, I think was even way more exciting than if Larry had done it,” Ainge said. “And the fact that Kevin had done that, that was exciting for his teammates. That was inspirational play for us to see Kevin, like ‘wow, that’s what we’re talking about. You talked the talk now you did it.' I loved that. That was one of my favorite Kevin plays ever.”

If you’d like to hear more about that series and the 1980′s, here’s part one of the Locked On Celtics conversation with Danny Ainge. Use the subscribe button to get the show directly to your device. Part two of the the podcast drops Tuesday.

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