simply declared, "Boston ain't that good." Before Game 5, though, Malone went a little too far, saying, "I could get four guys off the street in Petersburg (Virginia, Malone's hometown) and beat them." This was all coach Bill Fitch would need to motivate his troops. With Bird still struggling offensively, Cedric Maxwell shouldered the load, scoring 28 points and pulling down 15 rebounds and sparking several fast breaks to a Celtics rout, 109–80. The infamous on-air incident between Rick Barry and Bill Russell occurred early in the third quarter of this game. Game 6 Motivated from Malone's previous barbs, the Celtics took it right to the Rockets back at The Summit, leading 84–67 in the final period. However, as coach Fitch looked on in disgust, the Celtics went five minutes without a basket as the Rockets, led by Calvin Garrett, reeled off 13 unanswered points in a furious comeback and eventually cut the lead to only 3, with the Houston crowd erupting louder after each basket. Larry Bird then finally broke out of his shooting doldrums to personally blunt the Rockets' rally. Bird hit a 15-foot jumper, fed series MVP Maxwell for a basket, and hit a back-breaking, 24-foot, three-point shot to put the Rockets away for good and send Boston to its 14th NBA Championship, and at last a championship ring for 11-year veteran Nate Archibald. Player statistics Boston Celtics |- | align="left" | || 6 || 6 || 30.7 || .500 || .222 || .778 || 2.7 || 2.3 || 0.7 || 0.0 || 10.5 |-! style="background:#FDE910;" | align="left" | || 6 || 6 || 37.8 || .568 || .000 || .759 || 9.5 || 2.8 || 0.2 || 1.0 || 17.7 |- | align="left" | || 6 || 6 || 42.8 || .419 || .500 || .813 || 15.3 || 7.0 || 2.3 || 0.5 || 15.3 |- | align="left" | || 6 || 0 || 13.8 || .387 || .000 || .571 || 3.3 || 0.8 || 0.0 || 0.7 || 4.7 |- | align="left" | || 6 || 6 || 33.8 || .364 || .000 || .875 || 1.2 || 5.5 || 0.7 || 0.0 || 10.3 |- | align="left" | || 6 || 0 || 16.3 || .559 || .000 || .563 || 3.7 || 0.3 || 0.0 || 0.2 || 7.8 |- | align="left" | || 6 || 0 || 15.8 || .559