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| Dates | May 26 – June 8 | |||||||||
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| MVP | Larry Bird (Boston Celtics) | |||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Celtics: Larry Bird (1998) Dennis Johnson (2010) Kevin McHale (1999) Robert Parish (2003) Bill Walton (1993) Rockets: Hakeem Olajuwon (2008) Ralph Sampson (2012) Coaches: Bill Fitch (2019) K.C. Jones (1989, player) Rudy Tomjanovich (2020) Officials: Hugh Evans (2022) Darell Garretson (2016) Earl Strom (1995) | |||||||||
| Eastern finals | Celtics defeated Bucks, 4–0 | |||||||||
| Western finals | Rockets defeated Lakers, 4–1 | |||||||||
The 1986 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 1985–86 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. It pitted the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics against the Western Conference champion Houston Rockets, in a rematch of the 1981 NBA Finals (though only Allen Leavell and Robert Reid remained from the Rockets' 1981 team). It was the second and last NBA Championship Series of the 1980s not to feature the Los Angeles Lakers, who were eliminated by the Rockets on both occasions.
The heavily favored[1] Celtics defeated the Rockets four games to two to win their 16th NBA championship. The championship would be the Celtics' last until 2008. Larry Bird was named the Finals MVP.
On another note, this series marked the first time the "NBA Finals" branding was officially used, as they dropped the "NBA World Championship Series" branding which had been in use since the beginning of the league, though it had been unofficially called the "NBA Finals" for years.
Until the 2011 series, this was the last time the NBA Finals had started before June. Since game three, all NBA Finals games have been played in June. Starting with the following year, the NBA Finals would be held exclusively in the month of June. It was also the last NBA Finals series to schedule a game on a Monday until 1999 and also the last NBA Finals game to be played on Memorial Day. Until the 2018 series, it was the last to conclude before June 10.
CBS Sports used Dick Stockton and Tom Heinsohn as the play-by-play man and color commentator respectively. Meanwhile, Brent Musburger was the host and Pat O'Brien (the Rockets' sideline) and Lesley Visser (the Celtics' sideline) were the sideline reporters.
- ^ Roy S. Johnson (May 26, 1986). "FITCH FINDS OLD HABITS HARD TO BREAK". The New York Times. Retrieved December 8, 2021.