On this day in Boston Celtics history, three scoring greats of the storied franchise had games of note on the offensive side of the court dating all the way back to the late 1980s.
The first of the three scoring fiestas in question was put together by Boston’s iconic Hall of Fame small forward Larry Bird, who exploded on a hapless Milwaukee Bucks squad visiting the Celtics at the old Boston Garden on this date in 1988, which they would lose in no small part due to The Hick from French Lick’s (as Bird was sometimes called affectionately) scoring in a massive, 132-96 blowout.
Bird hung 32 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals, and a block on the Bucks, hitting 13-of-20 field goal attempts and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc that night, leading all scorers.
Almost 20 years later in 2017, Celtics fan favorite point guard Isaiah Thomas did Boston 1 point better by scoring 33 points against the Detroit Pistons on the road, driving Boston to a 104-98 win.
The King in the Fourth hit 10-of-23 from the field and 5-of-12 from deep, as well as 8 out of his 9 free throw attempts to help secure the Celtics the victory.
Three years to the day of that performance, All-Star Celtics forward Jayson Tatum put up a 33-point performance of his own against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Duke alum also logged 11 rebounds while shooting 13-of-20 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point range to deliver the road win to Boston.
Finally, it is also the day we lost big man Virgil Vaughn in 2007. The Western Kentucky alum was born in Webster County, Kentucky in 1918 on this date, and joined the Celtics for 17 tilts of their first season of existence.
Vaughn averaged 2.6 points per game for Boston in a reserve role — rest in peace.
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