This is the ghost of Larry Bird still trying to haunt prime MJ.
By 1991, Larry Bird was just a shell of the 3 time league MVP people knew. A career of full hustle combined with a permanently disfigured shooting hand and a back destroyed by paving his momma's driveway had left Bird unable to sit on the bench when he was taken out of the game; instead he was forced to lie on the floor in front of the seats.
There was never any chance that this broken old man and his over-the-hill team could beat the surging Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan, but Larry was far too competitive to just lie down and let them have it.
Despite being guarded face up most of the game by some of the best perimeter players of their era (or all time) Larry Bird was still the best player on the court one more time; outplaying the GOAT with an absolutely bonkers statline of 34/15/8 with 3 blks and a (1) steal. The Celts would eventually lose the series; but Larry Bird would not be denied on this particular night.
Absolute Legend.
Bruh, There is a whole system devoted to betting on the REFS in basketball. I know fairly successful degenerate sports gamblers that pay more attention to the officiating crews than they do the injury reports.