On this day, 31 years ago in 1985, Larry Bird produced one of the most extraordinary performances in the history of Boston Celtics, as they beat Atlanta 126-115.

Bird made 60 points out on 22- of-36 shooting, breaking Kevin McHale’s record of 56 set just nine days earlier. Bird’s new mark still stands for Celtics.

The all-time NBA record is 100 points by Wilt Chamberlain in 1962 against New York Knicks, while Kobe Bryant scored 81 points against Toronto Raptors in 2006.

Bird was so good in the match that even players in Atlanta bench started cheering for him in the later half of the match, but of course, the man himself thought it was a poor match.

He later said: “If you watch the tape, the game really sucked. That wasn’t the kind of game I like to play in. Nobody was guarding anybody.”

1962: Darryl Strawberry, retired MLB player, winner of four World Series, including three with New York Yankees (54).

1979: Jamie Dwyer, Australian field hockey star IHF World Player of the Year in 2004 and 2007 (37).

1982: Yasir Arafat, Pakistan all-rounder who has played three Tests, 11 ODIs and 12 Twenty20s (34).

1985: Bradley Wright-Phillips, former Manchester City player who now plays for New York Red Bulls (31).