76ers–Celtics rivalry 1 point, 91-90, coming back from a 7-point deficit with a few minutes left to win on a Larry Bird banker from the left side with barely a minute left. The Celtics then defeated the Houston Rockets on their way to their first title in 5 years. For the 1981-1982 season, the Celtics again had the best record in the NBA at 63-19, followed by Philadelphia at 58-24, with one of the Sixers' key victories in the regular season being a win in Boston to snap the Celtics' 18-game winning streak. In the 1982 Eastern Finals, Boston attempted to come
Original Celtics of owner Jim Furry for embezzling $190,000 from a New York business. Then, in early October, just a month before the ABL season was to get underway, the Celtics bolted to the newly organized National Basketball League. The new league operated solely in and around the metropolitan New York City, but despite its geographical limitations was stocked with some of the best players in the country. After pulling off a coup by signing the Original Celtics, the NBL brashly raided ABL rosters for additional players. The Brooklyn Arcadians were particularly hard hit, losing stars Red Conaty and Rody Cooney, while