March 3, 1985, 40 years ago today: Boston power forward Kevin McHale scores a team record 56 points in a 138-129 win over the Detroit Pistons on the parquet floor in the old Boston Garden.McHale went 22-for-28 from the field, getting the 56 without the benefit of a three-pointer (he didn’t attempt one). He also pulled down 16 rebounds. The Celtics’ next game was two nights later, and McHale scored 42 points in that one, a win over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. It would be the only other 40-point game of McHale’s career. (His 98 points in two consecutive games remains a Boston record.)
McHale’s single-game record would be short-lived. Larry Bird, who added 30 points on McHale’s big night, would surpass his mark nine days later, scoring 60 points in a win over the Atlanta Hawks. That remains the Celtics record, although Bird now shares it with current Boston star Jayson Tatum, who had a 60-point night against the San Antonio Spurs in 2021.
It was an era in the NBA in which nearly every fan could recite the names of his or her team’s starting lineup. The other three starters for the Celtics alongside McHale and Bird that night: Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge. They were the defending NBA champions, and they’d make the Finals again before falling to the L.A. Lakers.
McHale, the third overall pick in the 1980 NBA Draft out of Minnesota, played his entire 13-year pro career with Boston. He won two NBA Sixth Man of the Year awards, including the one for the 1984-85 season. But an injury to Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell had thrust him into the starting lineup in February. McHale remained a starter the following season as the Celtics put together one of the best seasons in NBA history, winning their 16th championship. But his best season was 1986-87, when he posted career-highs of 26.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. McHale was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
