The Boston Celtics defeated the Houston Rockets four games to two in the best-of-seven NBA Finals series to conclude the 1980-81 NBA season. The victory gave the Celtics their first NBA championship since 1976 and their 14th in franchise history.

The Rockets were making their first Finals appearance and had finished below .500 during the regular season (40-42). It was the first time a team that went below .500 in the regular season reached the Finals since 1959, when the Minneapolis Lakers reached the Finals despite going 33-39 in the regular season.

Cedric Maxwell won NBA Finals MVP honors, becoming the third different Celtics player to win the award, joining Jo Jo White and John Havlicek. The Finals MVP award was not given out until 1969, meaning there was no MVP named for the Celtics first 10 championships.

The Celtics had home-court advantage for the Finals, which were played under the 2-2-1-1-1 format and televised partially on tape delay for the final time. The Celtics swept the two regular-season meetings in 1980-81.

Team	Rockets	Celtics
Regular Season	40-42, t-2nd in Midwest Division	62-20, t-1st in Atlantic Division
First Round	Def. (3) Los Angeles Lakers, 2-1	Bye
Conference Semifinals	Def. (2) San Antonio Spurs, 4-3	Def. (5) Chicago Bulls, 4-0
Conference Finals	Def. (5) Kansas City Kings, 4-1	Def. (3) Philadelphia 76ers, 4-3

The Rockets led by as many as 14 points in the first quarter, but Boston kept the game close enough to mount a fourth-quarter comeback. Having cut the lead to three with just under six minutes left, the Celtics ran off an 8-0 run to take a five-point lead.

Houston cut it to one with 1:29 left, but Boston's next possession lasted 70 seconds, as Larry Bird grabbed four offensive rebounds and eventually made a layup to give Boston a three-point lead. The Rockets inserted Rudy Tomjanovich into the game for the first time, but he missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game.

Bird finished with 18 points, 21 rebounds and nine assists for the Celtics. Robert Reid led the Rockets with 27 points, while center Moses Malone struggled. He was held to eight points on 4-of-17 shooting.

During the game, Bird scored a basket in which he grabbed an offensive rebound with his right hand, then switched the ball to his left hand in midair and made the shot while falling out of bounds. The play ranked No. 56 on the NBA's list of the 60 greatest playoff moments.

The Rockets snapped a 14-game losing streak to the Celtics (combined regular season and playoffs), taking the lead for good on a Bill Willoughby jumper with just over two minutes left in the game. With 11 seconds left, Mike Dunleavy was at the line with a chance to put Houston up by three, but he made only one of two free throws. However, Nate Archibald missed a 17-foot jumper that would have sent the game into overtime.

Moses Malone played the entire game for Houston and finished with 31 points and 15 rebounds, but still struggled from the field (10-of-24). Larry Bird had 19 points, 21 rebounds and five steals in the losing effort for Boston.

After taking a four-point lead in the first quarter, Boston held Houston to 3-of-17 shooting in the second quarter to take a double-digit lead and never look back. The Celtics scored 29 points off 22 Rockets turnovers, nearly holding Houston to the lowest point total in the shot-clock era in the Finals.

Cedric Maxwell scored 19 points to lead six Celtics in double-figures. Rick Robey replaced an injured Robert Parish and scored 11 points in 31 minutes while holding Moses Malone in check. Malone finished with a game-high 23 for the Rockets, well off his Game 2 pace. Bill Willoughby (12 points) was the only other Rockets player in double figures.

After playing to a deadlock in the first half, the Rockets outscored Boston 25-17 in the third quarter and took a 12-point lead midway through the fourth quarter before holding on for a five-point win. The Rockets used only six players in the game and won despite shooting just six-of-18 in the fourth quarter.

Mike Dunleavy led the Rockets with 28 points. Moses Malone finished with 24 points and 22 rebounds, but shot just 11-of-30 from the field. The Celtics were led by Cedric Maxwell, who finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Larry Bird struggled, going 3-of-11 for eight points.

Back home in Boston, the Celtics steamrolled the Rockets from the opening tip, using a 19-1 first-quarter run to take control of a game that was never close.

Cedric Maxwell had 28 points and 15 rebounds, going 10-of-13 from the field. Larry Bird struggled with his shot for the second consecutive game but nearly had a triple-double, finishing with 12 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. Moses Malone led the Rockets with 20 points and 11 rebounds but was the only Houston player with more than 10 points.

Larry Bird scored 16 of his 26 points in the second half to help the Celtics take control of the game and win the series. Boston led by six points at halftime but stretched the lead to 17 early in the fourth quarter. Houston responded with a 16-2 run to cut the lead to three before Bird scored seven consecutive Celtics points to seal the win.

In addition to his 26 points, Bird also had a team-high 13 rebounds, while shooting 11-of-20 from the field. Maxwell, the series MVP, had 19 points in Game 6, giving him a team-best 17.7 ppg average for the series. Robert Reid led Houston with 27 points. Moses Malone had 23 points and a game-high 16 rebounds in the losing effort, finishing the series with averages of 22.2 ppg and 16.3 rpg.