Tag: 2012 eastern conference finals

On this day: Al Horford, Ramón Rivas born; Heat beaten in OT in ’12 ECF

On this day, former Boston Celtic big men Al Horford and Ramón Rivas were born; Boston also defeated the Miami Heat in OT in Game 3 of the 2012 ECF.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Boston big man Al Horford was born in 1986 in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. A product of the University of Florida, he helped lead that school to back-to-back NCAA championships (one of the only schools in history to do so) with center Joakim Noah before being drafted third overall in the 2007 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks.

After nine seasons with that franchise, he would sign with the Celtics in free agency in the summer of 2016, making the All-Star team twice with the team (in 2016 and 2018) before leaving in free agency in 2019, only to return to the team via trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2021.

Happy birthday, Al!

On this day: Larry Bird steals the ball; Bill Russell honored; 76ers sent fishing

On this day, the Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons in the ’87 East finals with a last-second steal by Larry Bird.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, legendary forward Larry Bird stole the ball and passed it to point guard Dennis Johnson for the winning layup in a wild, 107-106, Game 5 victory over the Detroit Pistons in the East Conference finals of the 1987 NBA playoffs.

Detroit point guard Isiah Thomas had scored a late basket to put the Pistons up 106-105 with 17 seconds remaining. When Bird tried to respond with a layup on the next play, it was blocked. Detroit got the ball back, and the game seemed all but over with just five seconds remaining.

But, the Hick from French Lick picked off the inbounds pass and connected with Johnson for the win.

On this day: Celts win vs CLE in ’17 ECF, PHI in ’12 ECF; Watts born

On this day, the Boston Celtics beat both the Cavs and 76ers in East Finals series, and former Celtic forward Ron Watts was born.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Celtics small forward Ron Watts was born in 1943 in the U.S. capital, Washington, D.C. Watts would play his college ball with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, and be drafted by the Celtics with the 17th overall pick of the 1965 NBA draft.

The Washington native would go on to play for two seasons with Boston, though in only 29 games total and just one during the entirety of his rookie season. He would win a championship with the team in 1966 and would log a career 1.4 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 0.1 assists per game with the team.

He would leave the Celtics after being drafted by the Seattle Supersonics in the 1967 NBA expansion draft.