The Numbers: Larry Bird’s 31.6 Game Score

by Kelly Scaletta

Despite being during the range of NBA Finals dates, June 10th hasn’t been the kind of landmark historic day in the history of basketball that we’ve previously featured in this series.

But that doesn’t mean it’s completely shabby. The best game any player had on this day was Larry Bird, who had a Game Score of 31.6, according to Basketball Reference.

It was Game 6 of the 1984 Finals, and Bird’s Boston Celtics lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. But that doesn’t make Bird’s game any less impressive. His stat line was a crazy 28 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and 12-of-13 from the stripe. He had 14 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 blocks and 1 steal.

His true shooting percentage was 83.7.

Which makes this a great time to bring up how great of player Larry Bird was.

Some of the plays from this game above show why he was so spectacular. (Just check out the pass he delivers at 2:43.)

He shows his strength and instincts in positioning himself for rebounds, his court vision with so many of his dimes, his shooting skill in dropping the on-point mid-range shots, his IQ in passing out of the double-teams, and yeah, even his athleticism.

There’s a myth that Bird wasn’t athletic. He was. He made amazing plays.

And while such things are just a matter of opinion, I firmly believe that if Bird played in this era, he might have been even better as more offenses are designed to go through forwards who can pass.

Imagine him as a kind of modern point-stretch-4. (We often have one or the other in today’s game, not both.)

He’d still be unguardable.

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