The last time there were no NBA Championship Series games in May was in the 1970–1971 season, when the finals (a four-game sweep that year) ended on April 30.

They chose Len Bias with the pick and had high hopes that the presence of the young Maryland Terrapins star would ensure that the franchise would remain a powerhouse after Bird, McHale, and Parish retired.

Despite retaining the core of the team that won the championship a year earlier, Boston endured numerous injuries to its roster.

Their bench, an asset of the previous year's team, was decimated by injuries to Scott Wedman and Bill Walton.

With limited options, head coach K. C. Jones was forced to give his starting five of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge extended minutes, but the lengthy playing time took its toll on the players' health, and by the start of the playoffs, the Celtics were a roster full of walking wounded.

Head coach Pat Riley made a strategical move, shifting the offensive focus to Magic Johnson.

Kite, entering the game late in the first quarter when Robert Parish encountered foul trouble, played 20 minutes, and while he failed to score, he grabbed nine rebounds, blocked a Magic Johnson layup, and did solid body work on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

In the 4th quarter the Lakers continued fighting back until they managed to tie the game at 95–95 on a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar skyhook with 5:30 remaining.

The Celtics responded on both ends of the court by going on an 8–0 run, helped by good defense which led to 2 fast-break lay-ups to take a 103–96 lead with 2 minutes left.

James Worthy then hit a tough fade-away over Kevin McHale and Robert Parish in the lane to cut the deficit to one.

On the very next possession, Bird missed a step-back jumper over the outstretched frame of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the Lakers got the ball back with just under 45 seconds remaining.

With Worthy's defense, the Celtics could not get their best player the ball and instead went through the motions of their offense until Danny Ainge got open.

Magic set a pick on Kevin McHale, which almost opened up a lay-up for Worthy, but Dennis Johnson was able to switch over in time on help defend.

Twenty feet from the basket, Magic had the advantage on the post-defender McHale, who was also playing through a bad ankle injury.

Magic then lofted a hook shot, which just cleared the fingertips of both McHale and Parish, and swished through the net giving the Lakers a 107–106 lead with only 2 seconds left.

Bird caught the inbounds pass from Johnson, turned, and put up a fall-away jumper as time expired.

The shot barely missed as the Boston crowd let out a collective groan and the Lakers' bench danced off the court to celebrate the victory.

Danny Ainge set the tone by nailing 5 of 6 from 3-point range to give Boston early control, including a halfcourt heave at the buzzer before halftime.

Magic countered for Los Angeles with 29 points, 12 assists, eight rebounds, and four steals, but he received little help.

Indeed, Magic would gain the NBA Finals MVP award and his fourth championship ring.

ESPN/ABC's Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy later broke the record for the most complete NBA Finals series called by a single television play-by-play/color commentary team following the 2011 NBA Finals, and called a record 14 complete NBA Finals series in total (the 2022 NBA Finals did involve the trio of Breen, Jackson and Van Gundy, but Mark Jones filled in for Breen on play-by-play in Games 1 and 2 due to his recovery from COVID-19, and Van Gundy missed Game 1 for the same reason).

The 1987 Finals would be the Celtics' last until their 2008 championship season, but would be the last for the 'Big Three' of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.

With the exception of a three-game first round sweep of the San Antonio Spurs, the Lakers were pushed to a Game 7 by the Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, and Detroit Pistons before claiming the first repeat championship since the Celtics of 1969.

But while the Lakers defeated the Sacramento Kings 4–3, the Celtics lost to the New Jersey Nets 4–2 in their respective conference finals.