Box Score Bank: Bird's home stretch

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For today's Box Score Bank let's go back exactly 20 years to March 27, 1992.

George H.W. Bush was in his fourth and final year of his presidency. White Man Can't Jump was No. 1 at the Box Office. Vanessa Williams' Save The Best For Last was No. 1 on the Billboard charts. Avery Bradley was 16 months old.

And over at the Garden, the Celtics were beating up on the Pistons,

Final score: Celtics 106, Detroit 87

So what makes this game interesting, other than today's 20th anniversary?

Well, for one, it was Larry Bird's last career game against the Pistons. In fact, it was one of the last games Bird ever played.

He scored 21 points, grabbed eight boards and dished out seven assists on the night, then played two more regular season games before skipping the final eight with back and Achilles issues. He also missed Boston's entire first round sweep of the Pacers, and then played in only four of seven games as the C's were eliminated by Cleveland in the conference semis. As it turns out, this was the last time Bird ever scored more than 20 points in an NBA game.

That's pretty significant.

Anyay, You think back to this time in Bird's career and you see a guy who can barely walk. Of course he could still score. He could probably skill score today. But he was so much slower, so rigid out on the court. At times it was hard to watch.

Here are some highlights of him tearing up the Trailblazers during that last season. This game was a few weeks before the Pistons game above. This was 35-year-old Bird at his absolute best, but you can tell he was almost done.

Rich can be reached at rlevine@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Rich on Twitter at http:twitter.comrich_levine

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