Chapter 105: I Want to Play

Bird scored only eight points twice in the history of the NBA Finals, both times in the 1981 Finals against the Rockets.

That year, Bird was 24 years old, in his sophomore year, and his offensive skills were not yet fully refined; facing the Rockets' defense, he made only 3 out of 11 shots in both games, losing one and winning the other.

Although he played a significant role in rebounds and assists, and contained Moses Malone's offensive rebounds on the defensive end, his poor offensive performance led to Maxwell being awarded the Finals MVP that year.

As Bird relied heavily on his shooting touch from the outside, he had several games in the playoffs with extremely low shooting percentages, like making 3 out of 11, 5 out of 16, and 7 out of 22 shots.