25 years ago today, Dominique Wilkins and Larry Bird staged one of the greatest duels in NBA history when they went shot-for-shot in the fourth quarter of Game 7 of the 1988 Eastern Conference Semifinals. Wilkins scored 16 of his 47 points in that quarter, but Bird edged him by scoring 20 of his 34 points in the final frame, leading the Celtics to victory.


You should watch Bird and 'Nique's tremendous performance in the video above, and then you should read the oral history of the game that the Hawks just published on their official site. A sampling:

Bird: I played in a lot of great games, and it’s hard to rank them. They’re all different you know. I know I felt one thing, after that game: It was the best one I ever played. I said, whoa I can play. Wilkins: I remember walking off the floor and Bird said we both deserved to win but unfortunately somebody has to go home. It was a series that you could hold your head up and say, you know what? We went hard and gave it everything we had. Both teams did.


Now get on over there and read the rest of it.

[NBA]