BOSTON -- Larry Legend and the '86 Celtics battle Jordan's 1996 Bulls and it is an instant classic! #LarryBird #NBA2K21 #Nextgen #Jordan #86Celtics #96Bulls The begin of the game was slow-paced, as both teams struggle to score. Boston's gameplan was obvious though. THey pounded the ball inside to McHale and Parish with some success. It was 22-20 Boston. THe 2nd quarter remained close (15:29). Pippen was starting to find his rhythm in the post, while Boston continued to pound the ball inside. McHale had 10 pts in the period. Chicago was also in early penalty. Jordan did start hitting his shot late, and it is tied at the half 47-47. Jordan was the high man at the half with 17. Kevin McHale led Boston with 14. THe game continued to be slow paced in the 3rd (34:19) and the Celtics would continue to have success in side with Parish and McHale. DJ also would start scoring more, with 9 in the period. Jordan kept the Bulls in the game with 15 pts in the period, including a dunk over the Boston towers McHale and Parish (43:37). Boston hangs on to a 73-71 lead. The 4th quarter (52:33) remained close and it was tied with about 3 mins to go (1:00:31). Jordan and Bird would duel in the final minutes. (1:04:52) Bird would have them up by 2 with just 1 minute and a half remaining after a 3 and 2 FT's. (1:06:42) But Jordan would prove to be even more clutch as he would score Chicago's final 14 pts, including 8 pts in the last 93 secs to lead the Bulls to a 104-98 victory. Michael Jordan was solid all-around, finsihed with 48 pts, 8 rebs, 9 assts and 4 steals. Pippen had 21-5-5. Kerr and Kukoc rounded out the bench scoring 11 and 10 respectively. DJ led the Celtics with 23 pts and 11 assts. Larry Bird did not get going until late, mostly deferring to his teammates the whole game. He finished with just 19 pts 5 rebs 3 assts. McHale had 19 pts, most of them in the 2nd half, and 9 rebs. Parish had a double-double with 18 pts 11 rebs.