whom they acquired from the Phoenix Suns in the offseason in hopes of addressing their porous back-court defense. In the playoffs, the Celtics defeated the Washington Bullets in four, the New York Knicks in seven, and the Milwaukee Bucks in five. Los Angeles Lakers The Lakers were coming off a four-game sweep by the Philadelphia 76ers in the previous year's finals. Before the season began, the Lakers traded long-time guard Norm Nixon to the San Diego Clippers in exchange for the draft rights to Byron Scott. The trade signaled a transition period, as some of the key players from the first two championships gave way to younger talent. Despite the changes, it did not stop the Lakers from finishing with the best record (54–28) in the Western Conference, powered by their one-two punch of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson. During the playoffs, the Lakers defeated the Kansas City Kings in three, the Dallas Mavericks in five, and the Phoenix Suns in six. However, the Lakers suffered a key injury when their 3rd leading scorer, Jamaal Wilkes (17 PPG) was ruled out of the finals. This cost the Lakers valuable depth, as James Worthy, a key contributor off the bench, would now have to start in Wilkes' place. Road to the Finals Regular season series The Los Angeles Lakers won both games in the regular season series: Series summary Game 1 The Lakers opened the series with a 115-109 victory at Boston Garden. Game 2 In Game 2, the Lakers led 113-111 with 18 seconds left when Gerald Henderson stole a James Worthy pass to score a game tying layup. The Lakers then inbounded the ball and Magic Johnson inexplicably dribbled the clock out during regulation time. The Celtics eventually prevailed in overtime 124-121, thanks to Scott Wedman's game-winning shot from the baseline with 14 ticks left. Game 3 In Game 3, the Lakers raced to an easy 137-104 victory as Magic Johnson dished out 21 assists, an NBA Finals record. After the game, Larry Bird said his team played like "sissies" in an attempt to light a fire under his teammates. It was Boston's worst playoff defeat in franchise history to that date. Game 4 In Game 4, the Lakers had a five-point game lead with less than a minute to play, but made several execution errors, including Magic Johnson's bad pass to Robert Parish late in the fourth quarter,