1981 NBA Finals

<!-- Commented out because image was deleted: -->The 1981 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1980-81 NBA season, pitting the Boston Celtics against the Houston Rockets.

Background

Houston Rockets

For the 1980-81 season Houston Rockets (head coached by Del Harris), Moses Malone practically carried the Rockets to the NBA finals. Meanwhile, Calvin Murphy, the shortest player in the league, set two NBA records, sinking 78 consecutive free throws to break Rick Barry's mark of 60 set in 1976 and achieving a free-throw percentage of .958, breaking Rick Barry's record set with the Rockets in 1979. Other members of the 80-81 team were Rudy Tomjanovich, Robert Reid, Mike Dunleavy, Sr., Allen Leavell, Billy Paultz, Bill Willoughby, Calvin Garrett, Tom Henderson, and Major Jones. Houston tied with Kansas City for second place in the Midwest behind San Antonio with a regular season record of 40-42.

Houston's playoff run began by drawing the defending NBA-champion Los Angeles Lakers and Magic Johnson in the first round. The Rockets upset Los Angeles, two games to one, then got past the San Antonio Spurs and George Gervin, four games to three, in the Western Conference Semifinals. This set up an unlikely Conference Finals matchup with Kansas City. The Kings, led by Otis Birdsong, Scott Wedman, and Phil Ford fell to the Rockets in five games.

Boston Celtics

This was the Celtics' first appearance in The Finals since their 1976 championship winning...
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