Vegas: Celtics by 5.5 over Orlando

LINK

Gameday Matchup
	W-L	PF	PA	HOME	ROAD	STK	L10
ORL	9-3	100.4	94.8	6-1	3-2	W3	7-3
BOS	9-3	99.3	88.8	5-2	4-1	W1	7-3

Last 5 Games
ORLANDO (ET)	BOSTON (ET)
Nov 18 OKC Win 108-94 Nov 16 CHA Win 97-91 Nov 13 NJ Win 88-72 Nov 11 CLE Loss 102-93 Nov 10 @CHA Win 93-81	Nov 18 GS Win 109-95 Nov 14 @IND Loss 113-104 Nov 13 ATL Loss 97-86 Nov 11 UTA Win 105-86 Nov 07 @NJ Win 86-76

Larry v. Magic: Game 5

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Summary
Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Media Coverage

Celtics 113, Lakers 104

February 24, 1983

INGLEWOOD, Calif.

For 48 minutes they made everyone forget about strike threats, losing streaks, West Coast weariness and other assorted discord and disappointment. On this night, near the City of Angels, the Celtics sucked in their guts and reminded you why you care.

Playing like the hungry Celtics of yesteryear (circa 1979-82) the Celtics bounced the World Champion Lakers, 113-104, last night. Jack Nicholson, Michael Douglas, Stephen Stills and other hardcore Laker fans came to see their world champs bury Boston, but filed out of the Fabulous Forum crying in their Perrier and mumbling about guys in green named Larry Bird, Cedric Maxwell (30 points) and Robert Parish.

You're going to be hearing a lot about the game Bird played. He scored 32 points, made 13 of 23 shots (including a couple of killer three-pointers in the third quarter), gathered a game-high 17 rebounds and served 9 assists for dessert. "You can use any superlative you want," admitted Laker coach Pat Riley, "but I would have to say tonight he was pretty damn good."

Since the fabricated Magic Johnson vs. Bird duel is always paramount out here, Bird's performance will undoubtedly result in his sneakers being immediately cast in the cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. But let the record show that Maxwell played his best game of the year (30 points, 8 assists). It was Maxwell who kept the Celts glued together (12 in the first quarter) before Bird took over, and again in the final moments. Meanwhile, Parish (16 points, 11 rebounds) chipped in with a couple of crucial baskets, blocked two of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's shots and held the big fella to a pitiful three rebounds.

It was fitting and typical that the Boston veterans would take over a game in which the Celtics were favored to lose their third straight for only the second time in four years. The Celtics led by one after one, it was tied at intermission and after a third quarter which featured seven lead changes, Boston was ahead, 90-87.

The final period, like the rest of this game, was nothing less than magnificent. While rookie James Worthy (20 points, 11 rebounds) conjured memories of the job he did on Georgetown last spring, Magic Johnson (20 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists) kept the Lakers running. Meanwhile, the Celtics weren't shooting particularly well, but they were coming up with loose balls . . . just like in the good old days.

The Celtics led by three (99-96) with six minutes left, but with Parish and Bird, who played 46 minutes, resting on the pine, LA ripped off six in a row and took a 102-99 lead on Jabbar's follow-up slam with 4:10 left. Bill Fitch called time and put Bird and Parish back on the floor. Boston outscored LA, 14-2, the rest of the way.

Gerald Henderson started it, scoring off a drive to cut it to 102-101. A minute later, Maxwell fed Parish for a stuff which put the Celtics up, 103-102, with 2:22 left. After Parish rebounded a Michael Cooper miss, the Chief hit a foul-line jumper to make it 105-102 with 1:52 showing. LA called time. Jamaal Wilkes scored underneath (LA's only points in the final 4:10), but Bird answered from the top of the key. Coming up with more key plays, Maxwell rebounded an errant lob pass by Magic Johnson, then scored underneath to put the Celtics ahead, 109-104 with 45 seconds left. LA called time again. When play resumed, Abdul-Jabbar was called for charging into M. L. Carr and everybody knew it was over.

It was also a big loss for the Lakers, who are now condemned to finish the regular season with an 0-4 record vs. Boston and Philadelphia.

Knicks Trap Celtics (9-3)

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Knicks 110, Celtics 103
Record: 9-3
11/19/1983

All week long the Celtics heard nothing about the New York Knicks but their trapping defense. Surely, this was the biggest problem in facing a team coached by Hubie Brown. But someone should have reminded them of the offensive talents of Bernard King and the floor leadership of Rory Sparrow as the Knicks came into Boston Garden and pulled off a stunning 110-103 victory last night before a sellout crowd.

King was hot, scoring 32 points, 15 in the first quarter. The Knicks stopped a Celtics surge in the second and third quarters with good defense by their famed No. 2 unit, "Hubie's Hummers." But the game was decided in the final period, because Brown put the ball into the hands of Sparrow, who got it to the right people after Boston had pulled to within a point at 97-96. Sparrow scored two baskets himself, then fed the ball inside to the big Knicks front line, which stopped the Celtics' inside thrust and won for the sixth time in 11 games.

Both the Celtics and Knicks saw winning streaks broken in road games prior to last night's meeting. Boston's nine-game streak was snapped at Utah, and the Knicks had won three in a row before losing Wednesday night in Philadelphia. All three of New York's victories had been achieved with trapping pressure defense, but it was King's brilliant that sent the Knicks off to an early nine-point lead, 13-4, with King scoring 11. The Celtics simply could not get the ball inside, and when they did, the Knicks were there to steal the ball.

Shots by Gerald Henderson and Larry Bird helped cut the deficit to five points at 15-10. But the Knicks kept the upper hand and surged ahead, 22-13. But with a little more than five minutes to play in the period, the Celtics went to the bench for Kevin McHale. That seemed to spark Boston to its best spurt of the night, an 11-2 run that created a tie at 24, with McHale scoring three baskets. New York regrouped by going to its second unit, which went after the Celtics with an aggressive three-quarter court trapping defense. When Parish sank a layup with 1:33 left, the score was tied at 29-29. After McHale hit a free throw for a one-point lead, New York went ahead at 31-30. But Boston regained the lead with 36 seconds left on a jumper by Bird. In the period, King had 15 points, Bird, 9.

The second period began the same way the first had ended. The Hummers kept scrambling and clawing, and Boston's lead turned quickly into a 35-32 deficit. New York shot ahead, 40-34, before the Celtics cut the margin to two points at 40-38. New York surged ahead again, 49-42. At this point, the Knicks starters came back, and Boston went to a lineup featuring McHale, Scott Wedman and Cedric Maxwell. After New York went ahead, 52-46, Dennis Johnson went on a five-point binge, and suddenly the Celtics trailed by only one, 52-51, with 2 1/2 minutes left.

The Celtics rally, however, also woke up the Knicks, who scored six straight points, including a delicious fast break by King, his 23d point of the night, and New York moved to a 57-51 lead. Johnson's two free throws moments later made it 57-53, but the Celtics could get no closer. King hit 10 of 11 shots in scoring his 23 points. The Knicks had only one more steal (9) and one more turnover (13) than Boston but was obviously the more aggressive team. Boston had only one blocked shot in the first half.

New York started off the second half strong, thanks to an interesting substitution. Sparrow, who had missed four games with a bruised toe, started at guard in place of Ray Williams, and the Knicks took off after Boston had closed to within two points at 60-58. Truck Robinson hit a hook shot to give New York a four-point lead, Sparrow hit three straight baskets and, suddenly, it was a 68-62 game. But after falling behind by eight points, 70-62, the Celtics began to climb slowly back with good defense and scoring from its front line. New York was ahead, 74-66, when Maxwell hit a three-point play. When Quinn Buckner hit one of two free throws, and Parish sank a shot of the miss second attempt, Boston had pulled to within two at 74-72.

King sank a basket to put New York ahead by four again, but Bird and Buckner came right back, and the game was tied at 76. When Wedman, playing at guard, hit a jumper with 39 seconds left, Boston had the lead at 80-78. But the Knicks worked for the last shot, and with three seconds left, Louis Orr sank a shot from the left corner, tying the game at 80. Boston quickly took the lead at 82-80 on a jumper by Wedman, but New York quickly scored three straight baskets to go ahead, 86-82. Boston pulled within two points at 88-86 but seemed to go cold from the field, and with Marvin Webster scoring two baskets and Robinson, one, the Knicks lead grew to six points at 92-86.

The Knicks answered every Boston charge and went ahead, 97-90, and with 3:32 left, Boston trailed, 97-91. But when McHale hit a banker off the glass with 3:09 left, and passed to Danny Ainge for a sneakaway layup at 2:44, the Knicks lead was cut to two points, 97-95, and the crowd was howling. A steal by Bird and a fastbreak resulted in a free throw by McHale that cut the lead to one point at 97-96. But Sparrow made it a three-point lead with a layup, and New York led with 2:22 to play, 99-96. McHale hit two free throws and Robinson sank a hook shot, and with 1:29 left, the Knicks led, 101-98. Johnson sank two free throws to make it a one-point game again.

With 58 seconds left, Johnson fouled Bill Cartwright, who sank one of two free throws to put New York ahead, 102-100. McHale missed a hook shot, and King was fouled in the shoving afterward as the Knicks went ahead, 104-100, with 40 seconds left. The final straw was when a play for Johnson went astray. He was called for traveling, and a foul to Ray Williams produced a 105-100 New York lead with 31 seconds left.

Knicks Visit Boston for First Time Since Red Ruined their Summer

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Record: 9-2
11/18/1983

The New York Knicks are in town to play the Celtics tonight (7:30). The Knicks are hoping to get over .500 again, while the Celtics want to start a new winning streak after Wednesday's 122-109 beating by the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. There are a few scores to settle between these traditional rivals. The Knicks beat the Celtics three times in six tries last year, then made a big play for Boston free agent Kevin McHale in the offseason. Celtics general manager Red Auerbach got even by signing Knicks free agents Rory Sparrow, Marvin Webster and Sly Williams to offer sheets, which ended up costing the Knicks $950,000 a year to keep Sparrow and Webster. New York traded Williams to Atlanta for Rudy Macklin.

There are various subplots. The Knicks are still mad at McHale. They think they were used to get more money out of Boston. Auerbach is still bitter toward the Gulf & Western conglomerate, which owns the Knicks. The Knicks, meanwhile, have signed ex-Boston center/forward Eric Fernsten (injured list), who has still got a grievance pending (he says he was cut while injured) against the Celtics. And like just about everyone else in the NBA, Auerbach and Celtics coach K. C. Jones thought little of Hubie Brown's remarks in Sports Illustrated's NBA preseason issue.

In the article, Brown called ex-Celtics great Bill Russell "a terrible human being" and intimated that NBA coaches who are also former players (like Jones) did not earn their head coaching positions. "It shows a lack of class, but it wouldn't serve any purpose for me to say any more," Jones said yesterday.

The Knicks are coming off a tough 102-97 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday . . . Sparrow has missed the last four games with a bruised toe and is doubtful for tonight. Look for Ernie Grunfeld to start in the backcourt with Ray Williams, who has committed a whopping 12 turnovers in his last two games and is averaging 3.7 giveaways a game . . . Trent Tucker is the third guard, and rookie Darrell Walker is averaging 8.9 points in 17.7 minutes a game . . . Bernard King (18.9 points a game), Truck Robinson (43 rebounds in his last four games) and center Bill Cartwright start up front for the Knicks. Cartwright had 20 points and nine rebounds against Moses Malone Wednesday . . . The Knicks are giving up only 100.8 points a game, second-lowest in the NBA. However, New York has been turning the ball over 22 times per game.


MISC

Larry Bird, who is 0 for 10 in three-point tries and was held to a season- low eight points Wednesday, says his ankle and hip injuries have not hindered his performance . . . Gerald Henderson hit 9 of 10 shots and had five assists in the Utah loss. He has scored 40 points in the last two games . . . Danny Ainge and Quinn Buckner were shut out against the Jazz. Buckner played only six minutes, and Ainge looked unusually tight in his 11 minutes. McHale has averaged 24 points in his last five games . . . The Celtics have been outrebounded only once (by Washington) this season . . . Robert Parish had 55 rebounds in his last four games . . . Jazz fans were tough on the Celtics Wednesday. When Dennis Johnson heard a fan say, "You guys are bad losers," D.J. replied, "Y'all are used to losing, but we're not." . . . Jones was heaved by Darrell Garretson in the final minutes of the game . . . The Knicks will be wearing their new/old uniforms tonight . . . Boston plays Philadelphia in the Spectrum tomorrow night.

Larry v. Magic: Game 5 Preview

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Summary
Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Media Coverage

February 23, 1983

INGLEWOOD, Calif.

Under smoggy skies and the threat of a rare three-game losing streak, the Celtics make their annual visit to the fabulous Forum tonight. A joust with the Lakers is always a glamor game, but tonight's match is especially significant because the Celtics must win to avert the indignity of three straight losses - something that has happened only once in the four seasons since Bill Fitch and Larry Bird came to Boston.

It's never easy to win here, and it will be especially tough because the Celtics are playing poorly (Golden State smacked them, 17-2, down the stretch Saturday), and the Lakers are out to avenge the 110-95 beating they took in the Garden Jan. 30.

Lakers coach Pat Riley says, "I think we're going to be more prepared for them than we were last time. There are a couple of things we have to focus on. Certain players they have increase the tempo defensively. Last time, M.L. Carr and Gerald Henderson and Cedric Maxwell did it for them. We have to take the challenge defensively, accept the pressure and fight through it."

Riley doesn't think Boston's recent problems necessarily will carry over. "When you get to this level, that doesn't make any difference," he says. "I don't think the fact that they've lost the last two will have anything to do with it." Fitch says, "They can all add to three . . . But I don't think there's any mental attitude. You just have to come into it wth the attitude that you're going to play your best basketball or you're not going to beat LA."

At this juncture, incentive must come from within. The Celtics are locked in second place in the Atlantic Division, seven games behind the white-hot Sixers. The NBA champion Lakers have virtually clinched the top spot in the Pacific Division, but won't have a realistic shot at compiling the best overall record.

LA's Great Eight may be reduced to the Not So Deep Six tonight. Bob McAdoo has an injured toe on his right foot and has missed the last three games. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar came down with one of his migraine headaches and had to leave practice yesterday. If he can't play, LA probably will go with Kurt Rambis at center, Jamaal Wilkes and Michael Cooper up front, Norm Nixon and Magic Johnson in the backcourt and James Worthy coming off the pine.

Riley is a firm believer in the eight-man rotation: "Somewhere along the line you make a decision. With eight players, they know their roles and how much time they're going to get and they know they're not going to get the hook if they don't play well. If you could convince 12 guys you were going to platoon it would be different, but I don't think that's realistic in this league. You find your best eight, go with that rotation and hope the guys on the bench are ready to play if you need them." Tiny Archibald couldn't have said it any better.

Quinn Buckner, who has missed four staight games with a slight tear in his ankle, is "still shaky," according to Fitch . . . Archibald was a chief contributor (15 assists) when the Celtics beat the Lakers, Jan. 30. Last season, the Celtics won in Inglewood, 108-103, one week after losing to the Lakers, 119-113, at Boston Garden . . . A loss tonight would make the Celtics 1-3 on the trip and give them four losses in six games. Boston lost four of six from Dec. 16 to Dec. 28 earlier this season . . . The Lakers are second in the the NBA in team offense, averaging 116.9 points . . . Lakers owner Jerry Buss has yet to talk with Abdul-Jabbar's agent, Tom Collins. Abdul-Jabbar will be a free agent at the end of the season. Collins has already talked (with Buss' permission) with the Knicks, Nets and Sonics.

Something Still Ain't Right

For the first time in his career as a Boston Celtic, Shelden Williams manifested a perceptible spring in his step. There would be no expressionless, meditative look and feel to his game last night. Oddly, it might have been his worst game to date in green. Conclusion? Go figger.

Rajon Rondo followed orders and impersonated D.Wade in the third quarter, taking it to the rack and scoring from range. This is not only encouraging, it is necessary. As I've noted earlier, Rajon Rondo may not be our best player, but he is our only player who can play his best 90% of the time he's on the floor. So this he must do, and I see Doc telling him to be D.Wade more and more this season as Doc realizes that this gives us our best chance to win.

Speaking of young legs, let's talk for a minute about old and tired legs. If you want to know why we aren't a dominant defensive team, it's because Kevin Garnett is no longer a dominant defensive presence. If you want to know why the Boston Celtics get off to slow first-quarter starts, it's because KG doesn't impose his will on defense from the opening tip. It's no secret that our defense fuels the rest of our game. So if KG ain't playing world class D, we ain't gonna be playing world class ball.

Next I welcome back Eddie House to the Boston Celtics. I'm not sure where he'd been. But 4-10 (including 3-5 from range) is much better than 5-20 (including 1-6 from range), which is what he shot in the previous four games.

Finally, Ray Allen shot 6-10 from the field last night. For the year, he's shooting .486 from the field. I'm pleased by this. While he's shooting only .313 from range, I have more confidence that his long-range shooting will improve than I do that KG's defensive presence will improve. I also note that Ray has converted 13 of his last 14 free throws.

9-3: Celtics 109, Warriors 95

Warriors 95, Celtics 109

Recap Box Score Play-By-Play Shot Chart Photos Conversation

	1	2	3	4	T
GSW (3-8)	23	25	19	28	95
BOS (9-3)	27	22	31	29	109

Final

7:30 PM ET, November 18, 2009

TD Garden

Boston, MA

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Corey Maggette, SF	32	8-13	1-3	6-9	2	6	8	3	1	1	2	3	-10	23
Vladimir Radmanovic, SF	29	4-8	1-3	0-0	0	5	5	3	1	0	5	2	N/A	9
Mikki Moore, PF	29	3-6	0-0	0-0	1	4	5	0	0	0	1	3	0	6
Monta Ellis, PG	40	8-21	0-1	2-2	2	2	4	4	3	0	2	2	-16	18
Stephen Curry, G	35	4-10	1-4	4-4	0	0	0	7	4	0	6	3	+5	13
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Raja Bell, SG	23	4-6	3-3	0-0	0	2	2	3	0	0	0	2	N/A	11
Anthony Morrow, SG	27	2-5	0-3	0-0	0	3	3	2	1	0	1	2	-13	4
Anthony Randolph, PF	24	4-11	0-0	3-4	3	5	8	0	0	0	4	4	-12	11
Ronny Turiaf, C	DNP COACH'S DECISION
Kelenna Azubuike, SF	DNP LEFT PATELLAR TENDON
Andris Biedrins, C	DNP OSTEITIS PUBIS
C.J. Watson, PG	DNP FLU
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF		PTS
		37-80	6-17	15-19	8	27	35	22	10	1	21	21		95
		46.3%	35.3%	78.9%
Fast break points: 12 Points in the paint: 40 Team TO ( points off ): 21 (30) +/- denotes team's net points while the player is on the court.
BOSTON CELTICS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Kevin Garnett, PF	31	6-12	0-0	0-0	2	4	6	4	1	0	1	2	+13	12
Paul Pierce, SF	35	7-12	2-4	3-4	0	4	4	2	1	1	2	3	+16	19
Kendrick Perkins, C	31	5-8	0-0	5-8	3	4	7	3	0	2	4	1	+11	15
Ray Allen, SG	30	6-10	0-2	3-3	0	1	1	0	1	0	1	2	+17	15
Rajon Rondo, PG	37	8-12	1-2	1-4	1	6	7	12	1	0	4	4	+18	18
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Rasheed Wallace, FC	16	3-8	2-6	0-0	0	1	1	1	1	0	1	2	+8	8
Eddie House, PG	17	4-10	3-5	0-0	0	1	1	2	0	0	1	2	+2	11
Brian Scalabrine, PF	2	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	-3	2
Marquis Daniels, SG	18	2-2	0-0	0-0	2	1	3	0	2	0	1	0	+1	4
Shelden Williams, PF	15	0-2	0-0	4-6	1	2	3	0	0	0	1	2	-2	4
J.R. Giddens, SG	7	0-0	0-0	1-2	0	1	1	1	0	0	1	1	-8	1
Lester Hudson, G	2	0-3	0-0	0-0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	-3	0
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF		PTS
		42-80	8-19	17-27	10	26	36	25	7	3	18	20		109
		52.5%	42.1%	63.0%
Fast break points: 5 Points in the paint: 48 Team TO ( points off ): 19 (17) +/- denotes team's net points while the player is on the court.

Vegas: Celtics by 16.5 over Warriors

LINK

Warriors at Celtics

	W-L	PF	PA	HOME	ROAD	STK	L10
GSW	3-7	111.2	113.7	2-2	1-5	L2	3-7
BOS	8-3	98.5	88.3	4-2	4-1	L2	7-3

Utah Stops Celtics' Streak at 9

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Jazz 122, Celtics 109
Record: 9-2
11/17/1983

SALT LAKE CITY

When you bring a nine-game winning streak, the best record in the NBA, and a couple of Brigham Young University legends to Salt Lake City, you figure to come out with a victory over the Utah Jazz. What you don't figure is that 7-foot-4 Mark Eaton is going to take over the ballgame in the final minutes and lead All That Jazz to a 122-109 victory over the Celtics before 12,743, the largest crowd in the franchise's history.

Eaton has been something of an NBA laughingstock since he first ducked under the Salt Palace doorway last fall. He hardly played in his two-year stint at UCLA, and it was widely assumed that he'd never make it in the big time. The Celtics weren't laughing last night. After trailing for most of the game, Boston pulled to within four with 3:12 remaining when Mr. Sears Tower took over. In rapid-fire succession, Eaton blocked Larry Bird's shot, buried a lefthanded hook to make it 106-100, blocked Kevin McHale's shot and turned an Adrian Dantley feed into a three-point play. That made it 109-100 with 1:49 left. Ballgame.

"He's the reason they won," said Celtics coach K.C. Jones, who was heaved in a hail of last-minute technicals. "All of 'em played great, but Eaton's the one that did it to us." "I couldn't believe how big he was," added McHale. "I couldn't believe he could do what he did. When he gives them 17 points and 12 rebounds, they're going to win." In the closing seconds, the Celtics futily fought back with three-point tries and complaints to the officials. Jones was tossed by Darrell Garretson (not a substitute official, folks), as the Jazz giddily padded their lead. "It was a thrill," said Eaton, who had six blocks. "They weren't as physical as I expected they'd be, but they scored 140 points in Denver last night and had to be a little tired."

The Celtics were in trouble from the outset, as Bird (hobbled by ankle and hip injuries) was on his way to a season-low eight points on 4-for-15 shooting and Boston's defense hardly made up for his off night. The Celtics allowed Dantley (26 points), Darrell Griffith (18) and John Drew (29) to run wild for three quarters. The Celtics trailed by 13 in the second quarter, by nine at halftime, and again by nine after three. It was the first major deficit the Celts had faced since their opening-night loss in Detroit 20 days ago. When Utah's Rickey Green sparked an 11-1 third-quarter surge, Boston trailed by 10 (86-76) with 3:46 left in the period. The end of the period was downright embarrassing. Griffith scored on a sneakaway after McHale (24 points, 11 rebounds) missed two free throws, then Green stripped the ball from McHale and made two free throws after a desperation foul by Danny Ainge. Utah led, 94-85, after three quarters.

With M.L. Carr on the court, Boston tightened its defense in the fourth. Utah managed only two field goals in the first 6 1/2 minutes of the period. The Celtics outscored the Jazz, 11-4, in that stretch to pull within two. Utah wouldn't fold. Eaton banked one in and Green hit a bomb to put the home team ahead by five with 4:41 left. A minute later, Eaton took over. "They were sky high for the ballgame and when we got close, Eaton came through," noted Parish, who led the Celtics with 25 points and 17 rebounds. The Celts were ahead by one after one period, but the Jazz blasted the Celtics, 20-6, in the first five minutes of the second period and never looked back. Griffith hit three three-pointers, and Drew scored 14 second-quarter points. It was a 37-point period for the home team.

The first half paralled Boston's demolition in Detroit in more ways than one. The Celtics let the Pistons score 70 in the first half of their only other loss, and "held" the Jazz to 68 in the first 24 minutes last night. Last summer, Utah coach Frank Layden joked that the 1982-83 Jazz Booster Club turned into a terrorist group. There was no such ugliness in Salt Lake City last night. And there were no jokes about Mark Eaton.

MISC

Ex-BYU greats Danny Ainge and Greg Kite were honored at halftime last night . . . The Celtics have accounted for 19 percent (5 of 26) of all NBA road victories . . . Celtics assistant coach Chris Ford was in Philadelphia last night, scouting the Sixers and Knicks. The Celtics, who have played 7 of 11 on the road thus far, play host to the Knicks tomorrow night and travel to Philly for Holy War No. 1 Saturday night . . . The rumor mill has Seattle's David Thompson going to the Atlanta Hawks . . . In case you were wondering, it was 24 years ago today when Syracuse's Connie Dierking fouled out in the first quarter of a game against Cincinnati.

Celtics Breathing Hard

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Record: 9-1
11/16/1983

Denver and Salt Lake City, back-to-back, present special problems for every NBA tour group.The Celtics beat the Nuggets in Denver last night and take on the Jazz in Salt Lake City tonight. Atmospheric conditions and high-scoring opponents make it tough to win in either city. Elevation is the first problem. They don't call Denver the mile-high city for nothing, and the hometown Nuggets do their best to take advantage of the thin air. Salt Lake is only about 1000 feet lower than Denver and Celtic forward M. L. Carr said, "Salt Lake City is the same as Denver, it just doesn't get the publicity. It's so tough to breathe in these towns that you need a time-out just to do a post-game interview."

The scoring capabilities of the Nuggets and Jazz are also in the stratosphere. Look at it this way: in a 26-hour period, the Celtics will face the top-ranked and second-ranked NBA offensive units, and six of the top 20 scorers in the league. Going into last night's games, the Nuggets were scoring 125.7 points per game, the Jazz a mere 120.5. Denver's front line of Kiki Vandeweghe (3d in league, 28.9), Alex English (14th, 22.1) and Dan Issel (17th, 21.7) were combining for 72.7 points per game. Meanwhile, the Jazz have Adrian Dantley (1st, 31.1), John Drew (16th, 22.0) and Darrell Griffith (20th, 20.5).

MISC

Larry Bird has a sprained left ankle and suffered a bruise on his right hip last night . . . Kevin McHale is shooting 64 percent (74-116) . . . Gerald Henderson hit 8 of 11 for 21 points and had eight assists . . . The Celtics shot 76 percent (16-21) in the third quarter and held Denver under 30 in each of the last two quarters . . . Danny Ainge and Greg Kite will be honored at halftime tonight. "It'll probably be like Yaz Day," laughed Kite. "But I don't know how they'll get the car in the boat into the building."

Fundamentals Have Been Key to Celtics' Success

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Record: 9-1
11/16/1983

Win nine in a row and everybody starts talking about pride, tradition and happy ballplayers, but the Celtics are winning because they are shooting and rebounding exceptionally well. The Green took a nine-game win streak into Utah's Salt Palace last night. Two important statistics explained the streak: the Celtics were outrebounded only once in their first 10 ballgames, and Boston led the league with a .534 shooting percentage after Tuesday night's 140-124 victory over the Nuggets in Denver.

The Celtics shot 59 percent against Doug Moe's track team, including 67 percent (16 for 24) in the first quarter and 76 percent (16-21) in the third. Kevin McHale, who had 24 points and converted 10 of 13 floor shots, said, "We can't expect to keep this shooting pace, but we've always shot around 50 percent since I've been here. Basically, I think the reason we've been shooting so well is because of our shot selection. Also, our new offense allows us to really establish our inside game, while the guards have been getting better percentage shots."

McHale (98 points in the last four games) appears to have benefited most from the new offensive wrinkles. He shot a white-hot 64 percent in the first 10 games, including 76 percent (38-50) in his last four games. "Kevin's hit a very high average, and so has Robert (Parish, 59 percent)," noted Celtics coach K. C. Jones. "We've been getting a lot of transition baskets off our fast break, which naturally helps, but it's got to level off. Shooting is one of those unknown aspects of the game that you really have no control over."

The Celtics trailed the Nuggets only once. Denver held a one-point lead late in the first quarter, but Boston led at all the stops. Larry Bird had a triple-double (28 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists), Gerald Henderson scored a season-high 21 points, and Parish had 13 rebounds and 18 points. The Celtics opened up a 120-102 lead before Kiki Vandeweghe (38 points) took over, scoring 10 straight in a 12-0 Denver run. Denver got within five once after that, but Bird, McHale and Parish wouldn't let the lead slip away. The victory gave the Celtics their best start since 1959-60, when they were 11-1 after 12 games.

MISC

Going into last night's action, the Celtics had accounted for 19 percent (5 of 26) of all NBA road victories . . . Robert Parish had 38 rebounds in the last three games . . . Larry Bird, who suffered a sprained left ankle and a hip bruise in Denver, was 0 for 9 on three-point tries for the season . . . Most of the Celtics were laughing at a column by a Denver Post sportswriter. The column insisted that Denver's T. R. Dunn had effectively slammed the door on Bird - "Dunn neutralized the Birdman of Boston." Dunn held Bird to 28 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Wonder what Larry would have done without Dunn on him? To his credit, Dunn is only 6 feet 4 and played 46 minutes . . . Ex-BYU greats Danny Ainge and Greg Kite were honored at halftime last night . . . Celtics assistant coach Chris Ford was in Philadelphia last night, scouting the Sixers and Knicks. The Celtics, who have played 7 of 11 on the road thus far, host the Knicks tomorrow night and travel to Philly for Holy War No. 1 Saturday night . . . The rumor mill has Seattle's David Thompson going to the Atlanta Hawks . . . In case you were wondering, it was 24 years ago today when Syracuse's Connie Dierking fouled out in the first quarter of a game against Cincinnati.

Like I told them after one of our losses, I would love to tell you that what they were doing was beating our stuff - but we were never running our stuff. We didn’t execute our stuff, defensively.

--Doc

This is a good answer. It is what Celtics Nation wants to hear. It's what we want to believe. With games against Golden State and Orlando on Wednesday and Friday respectively, we'll have a chance to find out if it's true.

The 1986 Team had Problems with Athletic Opponents, Too

December 6, 1985

The Portland Trail Blazers trashed the Celtics 121-103 at Boston Garden last night because Dr. Jack Ramsay's Flying Burrito Brothers could do no wrong. Steve Colter was Norm Van Lier, Jerome Kersey was Elgin Baylor, and Sam Bowie was Nate Thurmond. The men in the red shoes ran the Celtics off the floor in the first five minutes. Bowie, Mychal Thompson, Clyde Drexler (19) and Jim Paxson forced a flurry of Boston turnovers and beat the green team down the floor for layups and dunks as the visitors bolted to an 18-7 lead.

En route to a 10-13 second half, Kersey, who averages 11 minutes and 5.7 points destroyed the Celtics. While Bird looked at the bottoms of Kersey's red shoes, the second-year sub led the Blazers to a quarter-closing 11-2 run. It got worse. Kersey kept connecting and a fastbreak follow-up slam by Bowie gave Portland a 97-83 lead with 8:36 left. Then Bowie dunked on an alley-oop from Colter and it was 99-83. "They had 14 offensive rebounds and I think all of them must have been dunks," sighed Ainge.

Robert Parish stood still for the fourth straight game, Bill Walton (2 points, 3 rebounds, 5 turnovers) was worse, and Bird's brick-tossing turned the area under the hoop into a hard-hat zone. Dennis Johnson fouled out in 23 minutes.

Read More the first Boston-Portland Game in 1986.

In the little-remembered rematch in Portland, it took a triple-double from Bird (47, 14, & 11), which included a 14-footer in the closing moments, for the Celtics to pull out a 120-119 victory.

Read More about the rematch.

Don't Worry, It's Not 1987 or 1988 Yet

Many of us long-time Celtics' fans spent last season comparing the 2008-09 Boston Celtics with the 1986-87 Boston Celtics, and with good reason. Both teams had at least three things in common.

First, they were both coming off a championship season, and were both attempting to defend their championship with vastly depleted benches. The 1987 squad was missing sixth man Bill Walton and sharpshooter Scott Wedman. They were also missing their first-round draft pick, Len Bias, who had died from a cocaine overdose. Reserve shooting guard Jerry Sichting was as good as missing, too, as he never came close to reproducing his career numbers from the prior season. The 2008-09 Boston Celtics were missing PJ Brown, James Posey, and Sam Cassell, each of whom had contributed to banner 17.

Second, the players who remained from the previous championship season started getting injured. Power forward Kevin McHale broke his foot for the 1987 squad, while power forward Kevin Garnett injured his knee for the 2009 squad. Leon Powe also injured his knee for last year's team, and was not available for much of the playoffs, while the 1987 squad missed almost 200 games due to various injuries suffered by the nearly the entire team, and that doesn't include another dozen games missed in the playoffs.

Third, once the injury bug struck, neither the 1987 team nor the 2009 squad stood a chance to beat the Lakers in the Finals. The 1987 team tried and failed, while the 2009 bowed out early to spend the summer getting healthy.

Those two stories aren't happy ones. 1988 was worse. If the writing was on the wall in 1987, the championship window was about closed-shut by the following year. Everyone knew the Lakers were better than the Celtics in 1987, while everyone knew the Pistons and the Lakers were better than the Celtics in 1988. Celtics' fans kept their fingers crossed and said their prayers, but the steady decline into oblivion had begun.

We don't know if the 2009-10 Boston Celtics are headed into a similar downward decline. But even if they are, this is no 1987 or 1988.

The 1987 and 1988 Boston Celtics were 5 deep, six once the 1988 team added Jim Paxson. The rest of the bench consisted of players KC Jones could not or would not rely on (Fred Roberts, Darren Daye, Greg Kite, Dirk Minnifield, Mark Acres). The Celtics' competition in 1987 and 1988, however, was nine deep (the Pistons) and eight deep (the Lakers). This year, the Celtics are at least 9 deep, and probably 10 deep once Glen Davis returns. Speaking of Glen Davis, because his skills largely overlap with those of Shelden Williams, Big Baby gives the Celtics a reasonably attractive asset to dangle as trade bait if a midseason move is needed, a luxury the 1987 Celtics didn't enjoy. Thus, few pundits would disagree that the 2009-10 Boston Celtics are as deep or deeper than any other team in the NBA.

So despite losing 3 of their last 5 games, the 2009-10 Boston Celtics are not in the same boat as the team was in 1987 and 1988. However, the 2009-10 Celtics do share one thing in common with their late 80s forebearers. Both squads were getting old, and starting to show it. Yet the 1987 and 1988 Celtics possessed one advantage over the current squad that helped them overcome the effects of old age during many regular season games. His name was Larry Bird.

The 2007-08 Boston Celtics won a championship without having a player who dominated the game on offense every night of the season. The 2009-10 team is built the same way, and, of course, there is nothing wrong with sharing the offensive load. The Celtics have won 14 of their 17 championships with teams lacking a Larry-Bird type of scorer on offense. Still, there is no underestimating the value of having a go-to guy the caliber of Larry Bird. Watch the pivotal game 4 of the 1986 Finals if you disagree. He refused to let the Celtics fall behind by more than a small margin, and as the game's end approached, he made sure he took over.

Many fans assume Bird's play in 1987 and 1988 mirrored the play of his team, which is to say they assume that Bird's play was also in a state of decline, because the last MVP he won was in 1986. But even a quick glance at his 1987 stats shows that he averaged 28.1 points per game, with a .525 field-goal percentage. The field-goal percentage was the best in his career, until the next year, when shot .527 from the field while averaging 29.9 points per game. The down-side of having a primary go-to guy on the roster, with the talent and ego to match, is that he ends up playing too many minutes and it’s easier to defend him as the focal point of the offense.

I’d like Paul Pierce to step up and take on the Alpha-male duties more often, or even Ray Allen. But I don’t think it will happen. They've both become too team oriented, if that's possible. Rajon Rondo would be my next choice. But that probably won’t work either, at least until he finds a reliable jumper. So the bottom line is that this team will merely be a good team that plays great on some nights and plays bad on other nights, unless each player finds a way to motivate himself to play at a high level every night.

C's Make It 9 in a Row (9-1)

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Celtics 140, Nuggets 124
Record: 9-1
11/16/1983

DENVER

Maybe this is their year. On a night when a former Celtics tryout was elected mayor of Boston, the Green Team won its ninth straight, beating Denver's pinball wizards, 140-124, before 13,908 at McNichols Sports Arena. The Celtics own basketball's best record, haven't lost in 19 days and can match the fabled franchise's best start (11-1 in 1959) with a victory in Utah tonight and another on Friday in the Garden against the Knicks.

"I think the encouraging thing is that we're playing well, but we're still not playing up to our potential," said Kevin McHale, who destroyed the McNuggets with 24 points (10 of 13 from the floor) in 26 minutes. Boston was able to beat a good team at its own game. The Nuggets (averaging 125.7 points a game) try to exploit the thin Denver atmosphere by running visitors off the floor, but the Celts were equal to the task. Larry Bird had a triple-double (28 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists), Robert Parish (18 points, 13 rebounds) continually beat Dan Issel down the court and coach K. C. Jones adroitly employed his multiheaded backcourt monster, keeping fresh troops on the floor to deal with Denver's track team.

"You had two running teams on the floor," noted Jones. "The thin air here has its effect and I had to keep running people in and out, but we were able to hang tight, and we had some success inside." The Celtics trailed only once (32-31 late in the first quarter), and led by 39-34 after one period, 71-68 at the half and 106-96 after three quarters. Boston temporarily opened it up early in the fourth when McHale and Danny Ainge paced a 14-6 run. Ainge scored four points on one break, making a layup as he ws fouled and convert-ing two free throws (one a technical on Denver coach Doug Moe). Then Parish rebounded an Issel miss and Quinn Buckner drove for two to make it 120-102 with 8:12 left.

"I didn't think we had a chance at that point, but it turned out we did," said Moe. Led by the remarkable Kiki Vandeweghe (38 points), Denver roared back from the 18-point deficit with 12 straight points. Vandeweghe hit two three- pointers and scored the first 10 points of a dirty dozen that cut it to 120-114 with 5:49 left. Jones called time. After the pause, Denver pulled to within five (122-117) before the Celts blew it open for keeps with a 10-0 run to make it 131-117 with 3:19 left.

"We started to wonder what was going on when they came back like that," said McHale. "But then Larry hit a turnaround and Robert scored on an inside move and we started to get loose again." Bird's fallaway jumper started the final surge, but the most poetic motion of the spurt was a Bird fast-break layup off a perfect bounce pass from Gerald Henderson. Moe, who may yet be suspended for pouring water on official Tommie Wood Saturday, blamed the loss on bad calls and bad breaks, but was quick to credit Celtics forward Cedric Maxwell. "In the beginning of the second half, they went to him and he killed us," said Moe.

Maxwell finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. He also did a credible job on the defending league scoring champ, holding Alex English to 19 points. The first half was typical of most Denver first halfs. The running and gunning never stopped, and when it was over, Boston held a 71-68 lead. Seventy-one points might sound like a lot, but the Celtics scored 85 in the first half here last year. The Celtics hit 67 (16 of 24) percent of their shots in the first period, 59 percent (55-93) for the night. Boston also made 30 of 33 free throws and outrebounded the home team, 47-45. "We played against a great team that had a great game," admitted Moe. "They're very good and they seemed to be making every shot out there."

Sound Familiar?

June 7, 1986

The Celtics are being destroyed on the boards. Houston has established territorial rights in the air space surrounding the basket, the result being that the Celtics' big people have been made to look either old or physically inferior in Games 4 and 5. Seeing the Rockets get three, four or even five shots in one possession is nothing less than a shock, especially considering that this is a Celtics team that went through one stretch of 28 games during the regular season in which it either outrebounded its opponent or battled to a tie.

The Celtics won Game 4 despite surrendering 25 offensive rebounds to the Rockets. Boston won the game by shooting 58 percent from the floor, by having Larry Bird sink a three-pointer on just about the only possession all night when he wasn't wearing either Rodney McCray or Robert Reid, and by virtue of one wonderful play by Bill Walton. In the whole scheme of things, their margin of error in that game was about 1 percent.

The margin disappeared Thursday night, when the Rockets again treated the Celtics with contempt on the glass as they helped themselves to 23 offensive rebounds. These extra shots were particularly damaging in the first half, when the game was still something of a game. The Rockets accumulated 14 points on second shots to Boston's two in the first half, which ended with Houston in front by 11.

Should this total board dominance continue, it won't matter if they play Games 6 and 7 in the Garden, at Hellenic College or on the outdoor court at the Fens. The Celtics simply cannot surrender that many second shots and survive.

What is going on? Are the Rockets just too young and strong for the older Celtics? Is Jim Petersen (13 offensive rebounds in the past two games) the Nordic Charles Barkley? Is playing at home, where a team often inherently feels it can be extremely aggressive without fear of officiating scrutiny, that valuable? Or were the Celtics just not playing hard enough?

Faker Fans Already Worried about June

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Record: 8-1
11/15/1983

Basketball people in LA are very fearful of the Celtics because a) they saw Larry Bird in the exhibitions and couldn't believe how well he was playing at that stage and b) they feel Dennis Johnson is a great player who just might offset Magic Johnson.

This is when the Lakers should be cleaning up, not scraping their egos up off the floor. During a stretch in which they will play 17 of their first 21 games at home, they should be resting Kobe Bryant in the fourth quarter because they have put the game out of reach, not because he aggravated a week-old groin strain during the first quarter and had no reason to risk making it worse.

The Lakers' 101-91 loss to Houston on Sunday in front of an unhappy crowd at Staples Center was their second in a row and third this season. That, in itself, is not the big problem. The big problem is they followed a putrid, franchise-worst second half at Denver on Friday with a ragged first half Sunday -- and let that bleed into a rancid third quarter in which Aaron Brooks had 15 points and the Lakers as a team had 19. After scoring only 23 points in the second half at Denver on Friday, the Lakers were outscored, 49-37, in the second half Sunday.

In a season that began with the goal of challenging the 72-10 standard set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, the Lakers are looking at their transition defense and finding it wanting and shaking their heads at being outrebounded, 60-38, by a team that starts a 6-6 player at center and lacks Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. The 70-plus win goal came from Kobe Bryant and has taken root in the Lakers' minds, a goal to keep them interested while they slog through the long season. What they might want to do instead is focus on a way to win the next game.

LINK

The Rockets, who pushed the Lakers to seven games in the second round of last spring's playoffs, now start a 6-foot-6 center, but that didn't keep them from crushing L.A. in rebounds, 60-38. They were so much more active and inspired that Lakers fan booed after a slew of Rockets offensive rebounds near the four-minute mark of the fourth quarter. Shortly thereafter, Lakers fans began streaming for the exits, and it had nothing to do with beating traffic. It was the beating their team was taking. The Lakers made only 38.1% of their shots, many of them forced. In addition to Bryant's off night, Derek Fisher made three of 13 shots. Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic and Josh Powell were a combined two for 12.

LINK

The Lakers gave Trevor Ariza his championship ring Sunday night, but their generosity didn't stop there. They handed the Houston Rockets just about everything else, including a victory while getting booed by their own fans in a surprisingly uninspired effort at Staples Center. The Lakers continued to look nothing like defending NBA champions, losing to the Rockets, 101-91, after a moribund effort two days earlier against the Denver Nuggets.

LINK

Ainge Accepts Limited Role

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Record: 8-1
Date: 11/14/1983

He knows his minutes and numbers are down, but he also knows it was dissension and selfishness that ripped the heart out of the 1982-83 Celtics. So Danny Ainge sits in silence, helping when he can, and ponders his future. "One thing I'm not going to do, no matter what, is complain," said Ainge, who will be on the bench when the Celtics tap off against the Nuggets tonight.

He may not complain, but Ainge isn't the jovial prankster he was four weeks ago. As his minutes have dwindled, he has become slightly withdrawn. "It might be affecting me personally and, to be honest, I don't believe the Celtic system is the ideal situation for me," he said. "But I wouldn't trade it to go to a losing team which had an ideal situation for me."

Ainge is a 24-year-old talent dying a slow death on the end of the Celtics bench. Dennis Johnson has taken Ainge's starting spot and is averaging 30 minutes per game. Gerald Henderson (23 minutes per game) is the other backcourt starter, and Quinn Buckner (19 minutes) is also getting more time than Ainge. In the last week, M. L. Carr, Carlos Clark and even Larry Bird have been employed in the Celtics backcourt.

Thus far, Ainge is the loser in Boston's backcourt numbers game. He is averaging 16.4 minutes per game, down from last year's 25.6. His scoring average has dropped from last season's 9.9 to 5.1, and his shots-per-game, from 9.0 to 3.7. "It's an easy living," he said with a chuckle. "I haven't had to work very hard.

"Everybody on the team is going to have to sacrifice minutes this year. It's something we're going to have to live with. Hopefully, it won't be any problem. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude. I'm not discouraged yet. If things were to continue like this for the whole year, I'm not saying I'd have a bad attitude, but it would become harder to contribute. A lot of times, when you play eight or 10 minutes, you don't even feel like you're in the game."

Ainge is shooting 56 percent (19-34) from the floor and has committed only seven turnovers in nine games. He came off the bench effectively in the closing minutes of Saturday's eighth-straight victory in Chicago, and coach K. C. Jones was quick to point out Ainge's contribution. Bench work is tough duty when you're a consensus All America who gave up major league baseball to star in the NBA.

"It's difficult," Ainge conceded. "Players like M. L. (Carr) and Scott (Wedman) have established themselves as great players in this league. It's tougher for someone who's trying to establish himself. That's the only thing that frustrates me." The trade rumors don't bother him. Newspapers, talk shows and barrooms have already traded him to Chicago (for Reggie Theus), Golden State (for Russell Cross) and Utah (for a first-round pick), but Ainge says, "Red (Auerbach) and K. C. always say that's a bunch of garbage."

"Right now I feel good because I'm thinking of the team more than myself. If this were to be my role for the rest of my career, I might get tired of it, but I understand, and I'll try to make the best of it." Denver coach Doug Moe expects to be working tonight.

MISC

The league is investigating Saturday night's incident in which Moe poured water on referee Tommie Wood. It is expected that Moe will be fined and possibly suspended sometime tomorrow . . . The Celtics won here last year, scoring a 1982-83 NBA record 85 points in a half . . . The Celtics play the Jazz in Salt Lake City tomorrow night, entertain the Knicks in the Garden Friday and play the Sixers in the Spectrum Saturday night.

Celtics Take Winning Streak to Denver

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Record: 8-1
11/14/1983

Rocky Mountain High, anyone?

The Celtics barely needed United's DC-10 aircraft to get from Chicago to the Mile High City yesterday morning.The Celtics have been in the ionosphere for more than two weeks. Saturday night's 116-101 goring of the Bulls stretched Boston's win streak to eight and made quite an impression on Chicago coach Kevin Loughery."Boston is by far the best team we've seen," said Loughery (yes, the Bulls have played the Sixers). "Dennis Johnson makes them awesome. They're sensational. K. C. (Jones) has done a sensational job, and it seems like they want to play again."

Against the Bulls, the Celtics were flat for five minutes and fell behind, 17-8. From there, Johnson (19 points in the first half, 23 overall) took over as Boston outscored Chicago, 31-10, over the next nine minutes to take a 39-27 lead early in the second quarter. The Celtics led the rest of the way."For some reason I always play well against Chicago," said DJ. "I feel I've lacked agressiveness on offense at times, so tonight I tried to take it right to them."

Orlando Woolridge (26) and Quintin Dailey (20) tried bringing the Baby Bulls back, but Kevin McHale (24), Robert Parish and Larry Bird pounded Chicago underneath, and the Celtics steadily increased their lead. Boston outrebounded Chicago, 49-31. Jones used seven players in his backcourt. The regular quartet of DJ, Gerald Henderson, Quinn Buckner and Danny Ainge got some unexpected help from Bird, M. L. Carr and Carlos Clark.

"That's a lot of guards," admitted Jones. "It'll probably be the only time we'll do that." It was the second straight game in which Bird logged some time in the backcourt. Is Bird Boston's new shooting guard? "It's different being back there," said Bird. "But I don't know about it." "They say he's a man of all postions," said Johnson. "He didn't hamper us one bit." "We weren't hitting from outside," said Jones. "I wanted to get some more shooting from back there. Our guards on the whole are scrappy and good defenders, but they're not great shooters like Walter Davis, George Gervin, Kelly Tripucka, Norm Nixon or Jeff Malone."

MISC

Maybe Kevin McHale is worth $1 million per year. He hit 10 of 12 shots from the floor against Chicago. In his last three games, McHale averaged 25 points while shooting 76 percent (28-37) from the floor . . . Henderson and Ainge are struggling to get minutes. Henderson has started all nine games, but played only 13 and 14 minutes in the last two contests. Ainge hasn't played more than 24 minutes all season . . . Clark was seriously tested in his his first meaningful NBA appearance. He had to play the point while Bird assumed the role of the shooting guard. Clark, who played forward in college, was Boston's only guard on the floor for four minutes. Loughery responded by throwing a tough halfcourt trap at the Celtics. Clark hit two free throws, had one turnover and one rebound before he was replaced by Buckner. "He was a bit over-anxious, but he didn't back off," said Jones . . . Reggie Theus scored two points and had four turnovers in 12 minutes for the Bulls. He hasn't started all season and expressed displeasure with his non-role after the loss, claiming Loughery had "embarrassed" him . . . Meanwhile, Denver coach Doug Moe might be looking at a suspension for throwing a cup of water on official Tommy Wood during the Nuggets' 126-107 loss in San Antonio Saturday night. "I lost control," admitted Moe. "These guys just don't have the ability. They're not as competent as the regular officials." . . . After seven games in 11 days, the Celtics took yesterday off. They play in Denver tomorrow night.

Walton v. Maravich

Next Friday at Home against Orlando

Can Doc right the ship by then?

Sheldoon

Was that a dream shake we saw in the second quarter? It must have surprised even Shelden, because later in the quarter, he tried some sort of twisting, spinning move across the baseline before throwing it away. All in all, however, it was another solid performance by #13. Ten points, 9 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 assist. It also included this block and the subsequent ally-oop:

8-3: Pacers 113, Celtics 104

Celtics 104, Pacers 113

Box Score Play-By-Play Shot Chart Photos Conversation

	1	2	3	4	T
BOS (8-3)	27	34	18	25	104
IND (4-3)	26	26	32	29	113

Final

7:00 PM ET, November 14, 2009

Conseco Fieldhouse

Indianapolis, IN

BOSTON CELTICS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Kevin Garnett, PF	29	7-11	0-0	1-1	2	5	7	2	0	0	2	3	-9	15
Paul Pierce, SF	34	4-10	1-2	6-9	1	3	4	4	0	0	2	4	-13	15
Kendrick Perkins, C	28	4-9	0-0	3-4	3	10	13	0	0	2	1	4	-5	11
Ray Allen, SG	36	8-18	2-6	6-7	1	4	5	4	2	0	3	2	+1	24
Rajon Rondo, PG	33	5-11	0-0	0-2	1	1	2	4	2	0	1	2	-7	10
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Rasheed Wallace, FC	19	2-4	0-2	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	-5	4
Eddie House, PG	15	2-5	0-1	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	2	0	4
Brian Scalabrine, PF	5	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	-3	2
Marquis Daniels, SG	20	3-8	0-1	3-4	2	0	2	3	0	0	0	2	-6	9
Shelden Williams, PF	18	3-5	0-0	4-4	4	5	9	1	0	1	1	2	-2	10
J.R. Giddens, SG	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+2	0
Lester Hudson, G	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+2	0
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF		PTS
		39-82	3-12	23-31	14	29	43	18	4	3	14	23		104
		47.6%	25.0%	74.2%
Fast break points: 6 Points in the paint: 52 Team TO ( points off ): 14 (16) +/- denotes team's net points while the player is on the court.
INDIANA PACERS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Dahntay Jones, SG	33	7-15	0-1	11-15	0	4	4	4	0	1	3	4	+8	25
Danny Granger, SF	38	8-16	6-9	7-7	1	5	6	4	3	1	1	3	+7	29
Roy Hibbert, C	30	5-7	0-1	1-2	1	1	2	4	2	1	2	4	+8	11
Earl Watson, PG	31	4-7	1-3	3-3	1	1	2	7	0	2	0	2	+13	12
Brandon Rush, SG	36	4-9	2-2	0-0	1	7	8	1	1	2	0	2	+12	10
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
T.J. Ford, PG	18	5-9	0-0	0-0	1	3	4	3	2	0	1	0	-6	10
Luther Head, GF	20	2-5	0-2	0-0	0	3	3	6	0	0	0	1	+2	4
Solomon Jones, C	15	2-2	0-0	0-0	0	3	3	1	0	0	0	6	+7	4
Tyler Hansbrough, PF	14	3-6	0-0	1-2	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	1	+2	7
Josh McRoberts, PF	5	0-0	0-0	1-2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	-8	1
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF		PTS
		40-76	9-18	24-31	6	28	34	31	8	7	8	24		113
		52.6%	50.0%	77.4%
Fast break points: 27 Points in the paint: 32 Team TO ( points off ): 10 (9) +/- denotes team's net points while the player is on the court.

Vegas: Celtics -6 against Larry & Obie on the Road

Gameday Matchup
	W-L	PF	PA	HOME	ROAD	STK	L10
BOS	8-2	97.9	85.8	4-2	4-0	L1	8-2
IND	3-3	99.3	99.3	2-2	1-1	W3	3-3

Should be interesting to see if the Celtics rebound from the egg they laid last night. I still remember Garnett's first game in green. He had 20 rebounds, 18 of them defensive. Is he even capable of a 20-rebound night anymore?

Celtics Make It 8 Straight (8-1)

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Celtics 116, Bulls 101
Record: 8-1
11/13/1983

CHICAGO

Playing like a team intent on impressing the bowl committees, the Celtics made it eight in a row last night, goring the Chicago Bulls, 116-101, in Chicago's archaic sports palace.The streak matches Boston's longest victory string of last season and puts the Celtics on a 73-9 pace. Easy, now. It's a little early to be ordering banner No. 15, and there's no need to have the new mayor leave an open date for a City Hall Plaza victory reception in June. After all, the Celtics have thus far only played one game against a 1982-83 playoff team.

Victory No. 8 came on a night when Kevin McHale led the team with 24 and Dennis Johnson (23) played like the man who was the NBA playoff MVP in 1979. And Larry Bird got another audition playing shooting guard while rookie Carlos Clark saw his first meaningful minutes as a professional. It was also an altogether different victory route for the Celtics, who've been smoking their opponents in the first quarter, then blowing leads. Last night, Boston trailed early, then slowly built a comfortable margin, which didn't peak until the final buzzer.

"We played well at the end, and that's kind of a new thing," noted McHale, who made 10 of 12 floor shots. "Chris (Ford) wants us to go 81-1, but that might be asking too much. We'll just have to keep on playing hard and good things will happen." The visitors were stale at the start. Chicago's David Greenwood and Orlando Woolridge (17 in the first half) shot the Bulls to a 17-8 lead before the startled Celtics went on a nine-minute tear, outscoring the home team, 31-10, to take a 39-27 lead with less than two minutes gone in the second quarter. Boston never trailed again.

"We started off in the mud," said coach K. C. Jones. "Chicago was playing like they hadn't been in a game in three weeks. They were hungry and were blowing us away." It didn't last because Dennis Johnson (19 in the first half) brought the Celtics back with sticky defense and penetration drives. Meanwhile, Robert Parish (19, 13 rebounds) stayed hot, and Bird (18, nine rebounds) picked up the loose pieces.

Boston's lead swelled to 13 (55-42) with 3 minutes left in the half, but Woolridge brought Chicago back, scoring eight points in a 13-4 surge. The Celtics' margin was down to six when D. J. converted a Bird feed in the closing seconds to make it 61-55 at intermission. The Celtics outrebounded Chicago, 27-17, in the first half and 49-31 overall. Boston had a whopping 22 offensive rebounds. In a choppy third quarter, Quintin Dailey (20) brought the Bulls back to within three a couple of times, while Jones experimented with a backcourt of M. L. Carr and Clark, then Bird and Clark. Clark held his own for a couple of minutes, started to struggle, and was mercifully rescued by Quinn Buckner. Meanwhile, both McHale and Cedric Maxwell picked up their fourth fouls and had to come out.

The Celtics led, 88-79, after three, and held their ground in the fourth. Chicago had some luck with a 1-3-1 trap defense, but Gerald Henderson and Danny Ainge beat the zone late in the game, and the treetop trio of Bird, Parish and McHale wore the Bulls down. When Boston went ahead by 11 with 8 minutes left, Bulls coach Kevin Loughery inserted Nowhere Man Reggie Theus. The crowd implored Mr. Solid Gold Dancer to shoot, but Theus kept passing off, and his teammates kept missing. Meanwhile, Parish and Bird buried a couple of jumpers to make it 102-89 with 5:28 left. Loughery called for time. He had seen enough of Theus, who has scored only two baskets in his last two games.

When Chicago again pulled to within eight, the Celtics were ready to respond. They continued to beat the trap defense and outscored the Bulls, 12-5, the rest of the way.

Stern is Leading Candidate to Replace O'Brien

1983-84 Boston Celtics
November 13, 1983

Larry O'Brien is vacating his throne Feb. 1, and NBA owners can do themselves a favor by electing David Stern the next commissioner. You probably haven't heard of Stern because he's never won a slam-dunk contest, starred in a television sitcom or served as Secretary of the Treasury. He's merely a low-profile guy who has been the NBA's de facto commissioner for the last couple of years.

A bespectacled 41-year-old lawyer, Stern joined the NBA as its legal counsel in 1978 and currently serves as executive vice president of business and legal affairs. No one knows more about NBA marketing, television and law than David Stern. He was the architect of the league's cable contract and has been the NBA's liaison with CBS. When it was needed most, he breathed life into the league's marketing and promotions departments.

A graduate of Rutgers and Columbia Law School (where he was editor of the law review), Stern was a partner in the law firm of Proskauer, Rose, Goetz and Mendelsohn before joining the NBA. He had an enormous impact on the innovative collective-bargaining agreement signed by league owners and players last spring. He remains one of the few people who fully understand the contract. Clearly, Stern is the man with all the necessary credentials. It would be a mistake for the owners to seek a more "visible" candidate for the job. The NBA board of governors is scheduled to meet Tuesday in New York, and a 10- owner advisory committee will submit one or more candidates to the board.

Some owners will look for a "name" candidate. There will be support, no doubt, for the likes of Jerry Colangelo, William Simon, Paul Simon, Sargent Shriver, Red Auerbach, Redd Foxx, Elvin and Woody Hayes, Gary Coleman, Coleman Young, David Bowie and Bowie Kuhn, but there is no need for a search. The next commissioner won't even charge moving expenses. He's right across the hall from Larry O'Brien.

8-2: Hawks 97, Celtics 86

Hawks 97, Celtics 86

Recap Box Score Play-By-Play Shot Chart Photos Conversation Watch Replay

	1	2	3	4	T
ATL (7-2)	24	17	31	25	97
BOS (8-2)	22	20	28	16	86

Final

8:00 PM ET, November 13, 2009

TD Garden

Boston, MA

ATLANTA HAWKS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Josh Smith, PF	35	6-12	0-0	2-4	4	3	7	2	1	3	1	3	+16	14
Marvin Williams, SF	23	3-7	0-1	0-0	1	2	3	2	0	0	0	1	+5	6
Al Horford, C	33	6-9	0-0	0-0	4	9	13	3	3	1	3	4	+17	12
Mike Bibby, PG	37	4-9	2-3	3-4	1	3	4	6	0	0	0	3	+12	13
Joe Johnson, SG	40	9-21	1-3	5-6	0	7	7	3	1	0	3	2	+23	24
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Joe Smith, PF	13	2-4	0-1	0-0	3	3	6	0	0	2	0	1	-5	4
Jamal Crawford, G	28	6-15	1-6	5-7	0	1	1	2	0	0	3	0	+6	18
Jason Collins, C	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Maurice Evans, SF	11	0-2	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	-5	0
Zaza Pachulia, C	15	2-4	0-0	2-2	3	1	4	0	1	0	1	3	-6	6
Jeff Teague, G	5	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	2	2	0	0	0	2	2	-8	0
Randolph Morris, C	DNP COACH'S DECISION
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF		PTS
		38-84	4-15	17-23	16	31	47	19	7	6	13	20		97
		45.2%	26.7%	73.9%
Fast break points: 10 Points in the paint: 44 Team TO ( points off ): 13 (11) +/- denotes team's net points while the player is on the court.
BOSTON CELTICS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Kevin Garnett, PF	33	6-10	0-0	2-3	1	4	5	2	2	0	0	2	-7	14
Paul Pierce, SF	36	8-16	0-4	8-11	0	3	3	2	0	0	2	1	-11	24
Kendrick Perkins, C	29	6-12	0-0	2-2	2	7	9	0	0	1	4	4	-18	14
Ray Allen, SG	40	5-8	0-2	0-0	0	3	3	5	0	0	2	3	-9	10
Rajon Rondo, PG	35	2-4	0-1	0-2	1	3	4	9	1	0	3	3	-12	4
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Rasheed Wallace, FC	22	3-7	1-5	0-0	1	2	3	1	1	3	1	5	+3	7
Eddie House, PG	13	1-5	0-2	0-0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	+1	2
Brian Scalabrine, PF	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-2	0
Marquis Daniels, SG	19	4-6	0-0	1-1	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	3	+2	9
Shelden Williams, PF	11	1-4	0-0	0-0	1	1	2	0	1	0	1	1	+2	2
J.R. Giddens, SG	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-2	0
Lester Hudson, G	1	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-2	0
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF		PTS
		36-73	1-15	13-19	6	23	29	20	6	4	15	23		86
		49.3%	06.7%	68.4%
Fast break points: 12 Points in the paint: 58 Team TO ( points off ): 15 (21)

Grampa Celtic on Nellie

Bob Ryan
11/19/2009

Mr. NBA was in town last night.

Well, he is. This was career game No. 3,380 as a player and coach for Don Nelson, and that’s No. 1 on the all-time list. He has been a part of the NBA since 1962.

We could concoct a pretty interesting list of all the “pre-this’’ and “pre-that’’ things that beginning 47 years ago would include, but one thing it might not encompass would be a more bizarre coaching circumstance than the one he finds himself in right now, when, thanks to injury (knees, wrists, shoulders, groin pulls), illness (the celebrated H1N1 business afflicting C.J. Watson), and just plain discontent (Stephen Jackson, dispatched, after much wrangling, to Charlotte), he finds himself in charge of a functioning unit that could fit safely inside a minivan.

The rules say you must dress eight players, and right now Nellie has precisely eight Golden State Warriors sufficiently healthy to participate in an NBA game. That’s eight out of 15, remember. Then again, when you’ve been coaching in this league since 1976, there usually is a precedent for just about everything, including arriving here with just eight available players. So it wasn’t a major shock when the Celtics prevailed by a 109-95 score.

“Actually, one of my favorite stories,’’ Nelson says. “One time when I was coaching in Milwaukee, we came here with just seven healthy guys, and Kevin Stacom came by the hotel to say hello. I said to him, ‘Got your sneakers?’ I signed him to a contract that afternoon and he played for us that night. Got 10 points, too. He stayed with us a couple of months and he played pretty well.’’

Let the record show that Stacom again stopped by Nellie’s hotel yesterday afternoon to pay his respects, but this time he left without a contract.

Nellie still has the baby face. But he’s 69 now, and it has been 33 years since we saw the last up-fake, the last fast-break trailer jumper, and the last shot-put free throw from No. 19. In the ensuing years, he has been a Buck, a Warrior (twice), a Knick, and a Maverick, so you wonder what he’s thinking each time he returns to the city where he spent 10-plus years, was an important part of five championship teams (who can forget The Bounce in ’69?), and was considered worthy of having his number retired.

“I can’t say I don’t have a few thoughts about the old days when I come to town,’’ he admits. “Usually someone comes by and we reminisce a little.’’

It still amazes and flatters him that his number stares down from the ceiling.

“I do think about how blessed I am,’’ he says. “I never thought enough of my game to have it warrant being a retired number. I never considered myself anything other than just a good ballplayer. But I guess there’s a couple of other schmoes up there, too. It’s a pretty important thing in a guy’s career. It’s one of the highlights of mine.’’

It would be hard to explain Nellie to a modern kid. They would have a hard time understanding how a 6-foot-6-inch guy with no discernible lift and nothing approaching speed could score more than 10,000 points, the bulk of the damage done with a 15-foot jumper, with an occasional layup, and, of course, some free throws. But he did.

Nellie was a marvel. Some nights it seemed as if he was always open. It didn’t hurt that the Celtics in his day were always a running team that featured a multilayered transition game whose final act was someone - Nelson or Dave Cowens, as a rule - entering the action as things appeared to be stalled before receiving a final pass leading to a 15- or 17-footer. What team plays like that now? The answer would be “nobody.’’

Nellie’s shooting seemed to improve as he got older. In the 1974-75 season, when he was 34 going on 35, he led the league in shooting percentage, nailing nearly 54 percent of his shots, a disproportionate amount of them midrange jumpers. The team had, in fact, no better pure shooter, and it was very much the custom of the day for the Celtics to call upon him to settle things down when trouble arose.

Say, for example, the lead had just gone from 10 to 2. Timeout, Boston, and when play resumed, the Celtics would run a “15’’ play for Nellie, who would slip behind the screen, nail the soft jumper, and the team would be off on a 12-4 run to put the game away.

Still not convinced? OK, how about a 10-for-10 playoff game against Buffalo?

Nellie was a classic old-time trickster. He was a devotee of a gummy substance known as “firm grip,’’ nicknamed “stickum,’’ which he would hide in adhesive tape wrapped around his left wrist or, following a New York Post pictorial exposé, under his shorts. With this gooey helper, he was able to embarrass young studs with the greatest up-fakes ever known to man. How he managed to shoot jumpers with this gunk on his fingers is a mystery lost to the ages.

As to how he got open so effortlessly, let’s just say he wasn’t averse to a timely shove or jersey grab. One night in Kansas City, he and fellow dinosaur Don Kojis were going at it all game, pushing, shoving, grabbing, and just generally having a rowdy old time. Someone asked legendary referee Richie Powers afterward if he had noticed what was going on. Sure, he said. Well? “Aw,’’ said Richie, “I figured they weren’t bothering anybody.’’

He’ll always be a Celtic to us, but it took a lot more nights with those other teams to put him in position to become Mr. NBA, the all-time participant. And with just 21 more wins he will have the big one. He will pass Lenny Wilkens as the NBA’s winningest coach when he gets No. 1,333. This, to him, is not, repeat not, a pleasant thought.

“First of all,’’ he says, “I’ve never had any individual goals. It’s not important to me. I’m very uncomfortable with this. Lenny is my idol and he should have the record.’’

The way things look for Nellie’s Warriors right now, Lenny will have the record for a few months, maybe more, maybe until next year.

VEGAS: Boston -8.5 at Home against Atlanta

LINK

Last night the Lakers pasted the Suns by 19. The Suns, of course, are the only team Boston has lost to this season. In that game against the Suns, Boston's defense looked hapless, allowing Phoenix to shoot 54% from 3 and 50% overall. Against the Lakers, the Suns shot 36% overall, including 34% from three. So LA's convincing win over Phoenix last night has to sting a little bit. At least I hope it does.

Tonight we play the Atlanta Hawks at home. Last year we swept the regular season series against the Hawks, much in the same way we did the regular-season series the year before, though last year's contests were a bit closer. Of course, there was the matter of that dramatic seven game playoff series between the Hawks and Celtics in between.

Atlanta will undertake another exercise in self-validation this evening, seeking to become the little engine that could among the NBA's elite. Their goal, no doubt, will be to keep the game close for 45 minutes, and then maybe steal a W at the end. Meanwhile, the Celtics will be out to prove that there 7-1 record is no fluke. The Lakers dusted the Hawks in LA earlier this season, winning by 8 without Pau Gasoft. Can the Celtics post a more decisive victory tonight at full-strength?

Meanwhile, the dreaded Fakers play Denver at McNichols (er, I mean the Pepsi Center, aka The Can), and the Nuggets are actually favored by 1. Should be interesting. I'll take the Zen Mistress and his Hollywood Band of Muss-and-Fussers plus the points.

LINK

Ain't No Back Flip from the Youngins

Really, I can’t make that comparison now because we are only about 8 or 9 games deep into the season, but this team definitely has the potential to be one of those great teams. We have young guys, they are willing to learn, they don’t give you no back flip and they don’t think they know everything. And then the veteran guys, of course, I don’t have to say too much about them. Everyone here, they want to win, they’re willing to win, they’re willing to learn how to win and no one places their ego in front of the team.

How important is it to you personally and the team as a group to be the best defensive team in the NBA? It’s real important. One of my things is defense wins championships, offense sells tickets. I don’t think we’re having any problems with trying to sell tickets with the guys on the team, so defense is definitely going to win championships.

--Sheed

The Love-In for Sheldoon Continues

Despite earning Rookie of the Month honors and leading all rookies in double-doubles during his first year in the league, he did not live up to the standards many had set for a lottery pick out of Duke. Now Williams is focused on helping the team that has given him another shot at establishing himself. He is averaging a career-high 6.8 points and 5.2 rebounds in 16.4 minutes per game with the Celtics.

“Honestly, [it's] just me going back to just going back being me. Hustle plays, running the floor, rebounding the basketball, playing defense, taking opportunities that are given to me and not just overdo things, overthink things, or try to do too much of anything,” he said. “It's more of a structured system [in Boston],” he added. “It's similar to being back at Duke. Things are run a certain way, things are expected to be run a certain way. Here everything is very structured. When anybody comes in, you know what your job is and what you have to do and it kind of makes everything else pretty much simple.”

Needless to say, this is a new experience for the 6-9 forward. “It's the most appreciated I felt in my four-year career,” he said.

LINK

Fitch Goes with 9-Man Rotation to Defeat Great 8

Game 4: Celtics 110, Lakers 95

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Summary
Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Media Coverage

January 30, 1983

Bill Fitch seems to think less is more. The Celtics have beaten two good teams (Phoenix Friday and LA yesterday) and the Boston coach used only nine players in each game (Robert Parish, Larry Bird, Cornbread Maxwell, Tiny Archibald, Danny Ainge, Kevin McHale, Quinn Buckner, ML Carr, and Gerald Henderson). Granted, Rick Robey is returning from back problems and will need time to get ready, but Scott Wedman and Charles Bradley haven't played a minute since the Bullets left Boston last Wednesday.

The Lakers are a good example of this system at its best. LA came to town with a seven-game winning streak and a 34-8 record, and coach Pat Riley will tell you that the toughest decision he's had to make all year is his commitment to using only eight of his 12 players.

Playing time in Boston has been a big question mark since the acquisition of Wedman earlier this month, but the situation will resolve itself if certain people never rise fromthe pine. Wedman is making more money than anyone on the team, and it's unlikely Fitch will get any grief from the 30-year-old veteran. Bradley isn't in a very good position to argue, either. Fitch insists that all 12 can contribute, but it is clear that a few people are going to pile up some DNP's unless injuries hit the team.

MISC
When Parish walked toward his cubicle after yesterday's victory, Kevin McHale announced to the assembled masses: "Right there is the best center in all of basketball." . . . M. L. Carr ended the first half yesterday with a crowd-pleasing steal and dunk to push the Celtics to a 60-50 lead . . . The Celtics outrebounded the Lakers, 53-43, and took 106 shots to LA's 88 . . . Jabbar scored 16 in the first half, but was held to one rebound . . . Bird had five steals to go along with 21 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists. Meanwhile, Magic had 14 points, 2 steals, 9 rebounds and 10 assists. Also, Bird caused only one turnover compared with Magic's eight. Parish blocked three shots . . . It was the 98th consecutive sellout at the Garden .

Parish and Jabbar Renew Rivalry

Game 4: Celtics 110, Lakers 95

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Summary
Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Media Coverage

January 30, 1983

When the smoke cleared, neither Robert Parish nor Kareem Abdul-Jabbar could claim a clear-cut victory after waging war in the trenches. But each had a direct bearing on the Celtics' 110-95 victory over the Lakers. When 7-foot-4 Jabbar was throwing in skyhooks in the first half, the Lakers seemed awesome even though their running game wasn't smooth. Jabbar scored 16 of his game- high 27 points in the half.

Boston, however, took the lead and ran away in the second half because Parish, who finished with 24 points, 18 rebounds and 3 blocked shots, performed in ways that don't always fit neatly in the box score. "Parish didn't have a particularly good game against me today," said Jabbar. "But the thing that I think makes him an outstanding center is that he fits in so well and plays well with the people around him.

"He's very aggressive and makes you work for your shots. He ran very well, especially in the transition game, and did a good job of rebounding. Night after night, he is one of the better centers in the NBA." Parish, then, was a cog in the Celtics' offense and defense. But Jabbar, who has been throwinto the NBA in 1969 as Lew Alcindor with Milwaukee, was a mixed blessing for Los Angeles. For, once again, when what is a running club has to go inside to the big guy, it played half-court basketball.

Said Laker coach Pat Riley: "We missed a lot of easy opportunities. Seven, eight layups that we normally make. We're a running team and a finesse team; and a lot of times most of our offense is two options before we go to Kareem. They (the Celtics) did a good job. They're one of the best defensive teams in the league. It was their game, not ours."

The Parish- Jabbar rivalry was worth the price of admission. They faced each other regularly when Parish played at Golden State before coming to Boston. He called yesterday's meeting with Jabbar "seven years of flashbacks." "Kareem is still the best in the business," said Parish. "After 14 years in the NBA, he may be up in age, but when he gets it rolling, he's still unstoppable. The only thing you can do is push him farther out on the floor each time and hope he misses. You make a mistake and he gets position, and he's awesome.

"He really had a good game going early and was running, too, which surprised me, because I was helping out on the rebounds. I had to stop helping out so much and, fortunately, we got more pressure from our guards that helped take them out of their game. Kareem began to miss some of those hook shots, and that helped," added Parish.

At halftime, Jabbar had only one rebound and Parish had eight. Kurt Rambis (seven rebounds) had taken up the slack inside for Los Angeles. A 12-4 blitz in the final 3:40 of the first half accounted for the 60-50 Celtic lead. "They pressured everybody," said Jabbar. "We weren't getting any cuts to the lane. We flew all day to get here after playing Friday in LA. But we can't dwell on that. They played well and they won."

The Celtics, in fact, won in a breeze. In the second half, Parish was a tower of strength in the middle, while the Lakers stumbled and eventually fell behind by as much as 24 points in the third quarter. Boston's aggressive defense, particularly in the passing lanes, not only halted the Lakers' running game but rendered Jabbar's devastating hook ineffective.

"We did a good job of running in the second half," said Parish. "And against Los Angeles, you have to control the boards, because if you don't, they'll run right past you. While it's true we play them only twice, it's good that we won today. We play them again in two weeks, and we definitely wanted to leave them with an impression."

Parish broke into a big smile when it was suggested that his performance yesterday proved he had, at last, become the best center in the NBA. "A lot of people think I'm the No. 1 center. But that depends mainly on who is doing the choosing. Remember, there's a fellow name Moses Malone who also has to be considered," said Parish.

Larry v. Magic: Celtics Dominate the So-Called Great 8

Game 4: Celtics 110, Lakers 95

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Summary
Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Media Coverage

January 30, 1983

As a warmup for You Know What, it was better than watching "Three Dialogues On Nuclear War" (Ch. 2), "Follow The Boys" (Ch. 25), or "Antiques in America" (Ch. 36).Granted, it wasn't as close as the folks at CBS would have liked, and several of the predicted dream matchups failed to materialize, but local folks found nothing lacking in the Celtics 110-95 thrashing of the world champion Los Angeles Lakers yesterday at the Garden.

Many conclusions will be drawn and every detail will be magnified and dissected. Hoopologists nationwide will nod sagely and surmise that Boston now will have an edge should the Celtics and Lakers meet in the championship final. It will be noted that Robert Parish (24 points) outrebounded Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 18-6; Larry Bird outscored Magic Johnson, 21-14, and Boston's bench outscored the LA's, 33-22.

However, when all of the above is forgotten, the single lasting effect of this game may be the resurrection of Tiny Archibald as Boston's explosive, if not totally content, substitute point guard. He scored only seven points yesterday, but his play pushed the Celtics to a 24-point, third-quarter lead. Let's put it this way: With Tiny on the floor, the Celtics outscored the Lakers, 85-56. When Tiny wasn't playing, LA beat Boston, 39-25. He handed out a season-high 15 assists and took away LA's greyhound transition game. Parish, Bird, Kevin McHale (16 points, 11 rebounds), Cedric Maxwell (16 points) and Danny Ainge (12 points) all played well.

But, when it was over, everyone knew that Tiny was The Man. After watching his floundering teammates give numerous transition layups, Archibald came in with 2:34 left in the first quarter with the Celtics trailing, 23-20. Everything clicked after that. Archibald dished off six assists, Maxwell came off the bench to score 12 in the second quarter, and M. L. Carr shut down Jamaal Wilkes (20 points) as the Celtics went on a 10-2 run before the half to take a 60-50 lead at intermission.

Archibald started the second half (a rare departure from Bill Fitch's guard platoon system), and the Celtics blew out to a 91-67 lead. Bird (21) scored 15 in the third quarter."We played pretty good defense on them and didn't allow them to get into their transition game," said Archibald. "Plus, I thought they were a little fatigued by then (Pat Riley used only eight players)." The thrill was gone by the fourth quarter. The Lakers never got closer than 12 (102-90 with 4:01 left), and Archibald came back to eat up the clock in the closing minutes. Archibald bouquets were flying in both locker rooms.

Bill Fitch: "Tiny's job is so important, you know, running the show and so forth, and he withstood the pressure really well. Have you ever gone to Las Vegas and known you had loaded dice and were waiting for the right time to get to the table? That's the way I feel with Tiny."

Larry Bird: "It was one of the best games I've seen Tiny play. He was waiting for the defense to commit before throwing it to the open man. When you do that, you can destroy a team. It's good to see him back and confident."

Pat Riley: "Tiny's just a great player. He's got a heart as big as the Grand Canyon. He can play as long as he wants. He certainly had a big impact on this game."

Magic Johnson: "He makes the defense do one thing or another, and whatever you do is wrong."

The 34-year-old Archibald hasn't started since spraining his thumb in the eighth game of the season. He won't say he's happy coming off the bench, but has seemed much more comfortable with the substitute role in the last week. He had only two assists in 66 minutes against Chicago and Cleveland, but has come back with strong games against Washington, Phoenix and LA. He has the potential to be Fitch's biggest headache, or the Celtics' second-half secret weapon.

Asked about his reserve role, he said: "I don't think anyone is comfortable in the reserve role. "I'd like to be starting, but I'm adjusting . . . In the long run, maybe it will help me become a better coach. I watch the guys at the start, and I watch the flow of the game."

Larry v. Magic: NBA Still Struggling for a National Audience

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Summary
Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Media Coverage

Preview for Game 4

January 30, 1983

It's Super Sunday, Lakers-Celtics and the NBA on CBS . . . finally.

It's nice that the network will showcase two of the league's centerfold teams today, but it hurts to note that after today's telecast, the NBA on CBS will virtually vanish until playoff time. The network has determined that Sunday pro basketball is not what the public wants in these months between the end of football and the beginning of baseball.

Ouch. It's scary to think that the network might be right. This may be a classic case of not giving the people what they don't want. Cable and local outlets satisfy the needs of rabid fans in Boston, Seattle, Portland, LA and other NBA hotbeds. Meanwhile, here's what they'll get in Dubuque: Celtics-Lakers today; the All-Star game in LA on Feb. 13; Philadelphia at New Jersey, March 6; Seattle at LA, April 15, and Philadelphia at Boston, April 17. From there, the network is committed to televising 22 playoff games.

Also, it appears that the network still thinks the NBA is full of Not Ready For Prime Time Players. CBS expects to air the championship series live, but as many as seven Wednesday and Friday night playoff games are scheduled for 11:30 EST, which means either West Coast games or tape delays. This is the first year of a four-year, $22 million contract between the NBA and CBS. It should be pointed out, however, that the $5.5 million that will be paid in the 1985-86 season is the same dollar figure that was paid for the 1981-82 season. And we're all too familiar with what happens to a dollar over five years.

"We're not at all unhappy with the contract," insists David Stern, right- hand man to commissioner Larry O'Brien and the NBA's liaison with CBS. "We're satisfied with it." "By next year," Stern points out, "we expect 20 of 23 franchises to be tied into some kind of regional cable deal. I think it's fair to say that the NBA is the pro sport most intensely involved with cable."

Cable is nice for those who follow the league and can afford the product, but it won't do anything to promote the league nationally. Only network TV can reach masses of impressionable sports fans in non-NBA, noncable towns. A pro league needs a network to attract and maintain future generations of fans and remain in the national spotlight

Larry v. Magic: Celtics have a Date with the So-Called "Great 8"

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Summary
Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Media Coverage

Preview for Game 4

January 29, 1983

At long last, a legitimate glamour game. When the Celtics take the floor in front of the usual 15,320 (and a rare national television audience), there'll be no faceless Pacers, no boring Bulls and no dissonant Jazz cluttering the visitors' bench. The NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers play their only regular-season game in Boston today (1 p.m., Ch. 7). The guys in royal purple and gold need little introduction. The same star-studded unit that steamrolled to the NBA title (12-2 in the playoffs) last spring is off to a 34-8 start.

Far West fans have taken to calling these Lakers the Great Eight. This is in reference, of course, to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Norm Nixon, Jamaal Wilkes, Kurt Rambis, Bob McAdoo, Michael Cooper and James Worthy - arguably the greatest collection of basketball talent ever assembled. Phoenix Suns coach John MacLeod, whose team owns two victories over the Lakers this season, said Friday: "The most impressive thing about the Lakers is that . . . they sacrifice their individual wants for the sake of the team. When you have that, you've got a bear on your hands."

The Lakers have won 61 of their last 75 regular-season and postseason games. Either Johnson or Nixon (no relation to the two who ran for vice president in 1960) can lead the break and orchestrate from the point; Wilkes is still Mr. Silkience; Rambis is the prototype unselfish up-front banger, and Abdul-Jabbar is still Kareem after all these years. Larry Bird knows what Cooper can do; McAdoo is a one-time Celtic, three-time scoring champ who has found his niche, and Worthy has been a sensational rookie.

The Lakers beat the Celtics, 119-113, in Boston last February, but the Celtics won in the Inglewood Forum, 108-103, a week later. Will the outcome of this game mean anything if these teams meet in the playoffs? "By then, anything you had in mind is forgotten," says Lakers coach Pat Riley. "You've changed things, and they've changed things." Which is not to say this will be just another afternoon in the interminable NBA regular season. "Let's make it a hell of a game," Riley says. "Why not? Let's make it a great game for a lot of people.

"Boston's size and inside game have done us in in the past," says Riley. "I think we do have an advantage in the backcourt, but they can go to their bench to (M.L.) Carr and (Charles) Bradley." . . . Neither Bradley nor Scott Wedman played in Friday's 111-104 victory over the Suns . . . Robert Parish played 43 minutes against Phoenix - his longest stint of the season . . . Since a curious two-game stretch in which he had only two assists in 66 minutes, Tiny Archibald has handed out 21 assists in three games . . . The Celtics have won 12 of 14.

There’s very little on this team that surprises Garnett. But then there’s the case of Shelden Williams, who continues to make the most of his ninth man role. Last night, Williams had six points, six rebounds and a block. He’s also second to Paul Pierce [stats] in attempted (31) and made (27) free throws. He’s second only to Ray Allen with a .871 free throw percentage. Eddie House is shooting 1.000, but has taken only four free throws.

“I don’t think anybody anticipated his work ethic, and how he’s able to keep rebounding and (producing) within the small minutes he plays,” said Garnett. “He’s rebounding, he’s keeping balls alive, he’s perfect for this team. He’s that livewire we need, especially with Glen (Davis) being out. He came in and filled the void that was lost for a second.”

LINK

Celtics Keep Rolling (7-1)

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Celtics 126, Pistons 118
Record: 7-1
11/12/1983

BOSTON

You can find flaws if you look hard enough. The Celtics refuse to bury opponents. They have a philanthropic streak that inspires them to let beaten teams back into ballgames. They also have yet to score 140 points or hold an opponent under 60. While we're at it, let's mention that Brooke Shields could use a few pounds, and that it would be nice if Michael Jackson would learn the slide trombone.

The Green Team's giddy glide through November continued at Boston Garden last night. On the strength of a 39-point performance by Larry Joe Bird, the Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons, 126-118, avenging their opening night beating in the Silverdome and extending their winning streak to seven games. They did all of this on the strength of a 45-31 first quarter in which they vaporized the visitors, hitting 19 of 24 floor shots.

The margin was down to 12 at the half, and Detroit actually took a one- point lead in the third, but Bird, Robert Parish (28, 12 rebounds) and Kevin McHale (23, 12 rebounds) refused to crumble to the Detroit wheels this time. Boston's treetop trio combined for a whopping 90 points and 32 rebounds while hitting 35 of 52 floor shots (67 percent). "They played like they want to win a world championship," said Detroit coach Chuck Daly. "Bird had a classic game, and they just ran it down our throats. They had revenge on their minds."

Bird was particularly accurate. Playing both forward and guard, he had 16 in the first quarter, 22 at halftime and 33 after three periods. When Kelly (Scarface) Tripucka (26 points) led the Pistons back into it, Bird and his sidekicks, Parish and McHale, were there to answer. "When you get in trouble, you want to go with your power, especially down the stretch," said Celtic coach K.C. Jones. "That's why we went with Larry in the backcourt and kept trying to get the ball down low." The fourth-quarter surge should have been for the benefit of Greg and Carlos Clark. Boston's first-half explosion should have buried the Pistons.

Gerald Henderson scored 11 in the first six minutes as the Celtics burst to a 27-12 lead. Think about that: 27 points in six minutes would mean 216 points in 48 minutes. When the quarter was over, the Celts led, 45-31, and already had three players in double figures. "All around, I'd say it was our best quarter of the season," said Parish. Detroit's Isiah Thomas (27, eight assists) didn't get untracked until the second quarter. His running mate, Tripucka, waited until the second half, but had an excuse. He suffered a 10-stitch cut Tuesday and wore goggles throughout the first quarter. Tripucka was no Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with goggles. His game improved markedly when he discarded the protection.

A Scott Wedman jumper before halftime gave the Celtics their biggest lead, 67-50. Detroit trimmed the deficit to a dozen by intermission and roared to a short-lived lead in the third quarter. The Celtics were at their giveaway worst in the opening minutes of the third. Boston players stood around and admired Thomas and Co. for six minutes after halftime. In that stretch, Detroit outscored Boston, 21-9, and when Tripucka hit a jumper from the left corner, Detroit had its only lead, 80-79, with 6:03 left in the third.

Parish got the lead back on a followup, the start of a 6-0 Celtic run. A jumper out top by Bird made it 85-80. With Bird and Parish taking charge, the Celts went on another roll and managed to push their lead back to 102-89 by the end of the quarter. In the fourth, Detroit got to within six with 3:48 left, but McHale responded with three consecutive baskets to give the Celtics a 122-110 lead and the ballgame. "We've been losing leads like this all season long," noted Bird, who had 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks to go along with his 39 points. "Hopefully we won't keep doing it in the future. "If we were playing a team like Philadelphia, Milwaukee or New York, we wouldn't be so lucky," he said. "It seems that when we have a lead, we have lapses on defense and they come back on us."

8-1: Celtics 105, Jazz 86

Jazz 86, Celtics 105

Recap Box Score Play-By-Play Shot Chart Photos Conversation

	1	2	3	4	T
UTH (3-5)	23	21	18	24	86
BOS (8-1)	28	26	30	21	105

Final

7:30 PM ET, November 11, 2009

TD Garden

Boston, MA

UTAH JAZZ
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Andrei Kirilenko, F	35	6-13	0-1	0-0	4	0	4	2	1	0	3	0	-11	12
Carlos Boozer, PF	27	5-7	0-0	0-0	0	2	2	3	0	1	4	4	-20	10
Mehmet Okur, C	25	3-8	0-1	3-4	2	1	3	2	2	1	4	3	-16	9
Deron Williams, PG	33	5-11	0-2	3-5	4	3	7	4	0	0	3	1	-21	13
Ronnie Brewer, SG	36	6-14	0-3	1-3	0	1	1	3	1	0	2	1	-18	13
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Paul Millsap, PF	23	3-8	0-0	3-4	5	8	13	0	1	0	1	4	-5	9
Wes Matthews, G	25	2-6	0-3	0-0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	-9	4
Eric Maynor, PG	15	3-7	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	4	0	0	2	1	+2	6
Kyrylo Fesenko, C	15	1-2	0-0	2-2	0	4	4	0	1	1	2	4	+1	4
Kosta Koufos, C	6	3-3	0-0	0-0	2	2	4	0	0	0	0	1	+2	6
Kyle Korver, SG	DNP LEFT KNEE SURGERY
Ronnie Price, PG	DNP SPRAINED LEFT BIG TOE
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF		PTS
		37-79	0-10	12-18	17	22	39	18	7	3	21	20		86
		46.8%	00.0%	66.7%
Fast break points: 2 Points in the paint: 46 Team TO ( points off ): 21 (25) +/- denotes team's net points while the player is on the court.
BOSTON CELTICS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Kevin Garnett, PF	26	7-10	0-1	4-4	0	4	4	1	2	0	0	3	+13	18
Paul Pierce, SF	32	4-7	3-5	2-2	2	4	6	6	3	0	2	2	+18	13
Kendrick Perkins, C	26	4-9	0-0	2-2	3	5	8	2	0	0	2	1	+17	10
Ray Allen, SG	32	6-8	1-3	2-2	0	0	0	4	0	0	2	1	+21	15
Rajon Rondo, PG	31	7-11	0-0	0-0	1	0	1	11	2	0	4	0	+20	14
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Rasheed Wallace, FC	22	5-12	2-7	0-0	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	1	+6	12
Eddie House, PG	18	2-7	1-2	0-0	0	2	2	1	0	1	3	3	+1	5
Marquis Daniels, SG	21	3-5	0-0	4-6	1	2	3	3	0	0	0	1	+3	10
Shelden Williams, PF	20	2-5	0-0	2-2	4	2	6	1	0	1	2	4	+4	6
J.R. Giddens, SG	4	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bill Walker, SG	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-4	0
Lester Hudson, G	6	1-2	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	-4	2
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF		PTS
		41-77	7-19	16-18	12	21	33	30	7	3	15	17		105
		53.2%	36.8%	88.9%
Fast break points: 12 Points in the paint: 52 Team TO ( points off ): 15 (16)

Boston -12

With four losses against the spread in their last five, the Boston Celtics will return to the pay window at home on Wednesday night when they host the Utah Jazz. Our Tuesday night NBA selection is on the Boston Celtics minus the points on their home court over the Utah Jazz.

Paul PierceThe Celts opened the season with three straight wins and covers, by an average victory margin of 22.3 points, and an average cover of 16.8 ppg. But Boston has dropped four of its last five ATS, including three in a row. That trend should reverse itself tonight, as Boston has had the last three days off, and the Celtics are 30-20 ATS their last 50 with at least three days' of rest.

Doc Rivers' crew is playing incredible defense, and Boston leads the league in points allowed at 84.4 ppg. Utah is a poor 44-70 ATS its last 114 on the road, including 22-45 ATS vs. a foe that's not off a SU/ATS loss. Lay the points with Boston.

LINK

McHale Thriving in 6th Man Role

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Record: 6-1
11/11/1983

The smile on Kevin McHale's face says a lot. His contract hassles are a thing of the past. He no longer feels inhibited in a Celtics offense that is imaginative and allows him to take advantage of all his skills. McHale seems to be having a ball coming off the bench for the Celtics, either as backup center to Robert Parish or backup power forward to Larry Bird. Backup, perhaps, isn't the right word. For, what McHale is doing is a reincarnation of the traditional Celtics "sixth man" principle, with a slight twist that has given the concept a new meaning.

The role was made famous by legendary Celtics Frank Ramsey and John Havlicek, both swingmen who could play either guard or forward with equal dexterity. In the '70s, the Celtics hung the tag on inside players Don Nelson and Paul Silas, because they also could play two positions. But both had liabilities no matter where they played. Nelson, a guard-forward, could shoot but not jump. Silas, a forward-center, could hold his own underneath against anybody, but some nights needed radar for a layup.

McHale is a combination of Nelson and Silas, but taller. His current role is ideal, with his college training and overall talents. McHale played forward for two years at the University of Minnesota because the Gophers had Mychal Thompson, now with the Portland Trail Blazers, playing center. McHale then shifted to strictly a center, until he became a swingman in his senior year because of Randy Breuer, now a reserve center with Milwaukee. The fact that McHale stands 6 feet 10, weighs 225 pounds and is willing to gallop with the Celtics' greyhounds fits in with what coach K. C. Jones wants to accomplish on both offense and defense.

Ramsey and Havlicek created mismatches with their size and speed. McHale accomplishes the same thing inside. He is strong enough to overpower many forwards who cannot stop his hook shots and other inside moves. Because he is basically a finesse player, big centers can muscle McHale. But he makes them pay for it, because he can also hit the jump shot, particularly the fade-away variety that only the pure shot blockers can reach, because of his unusually long arms.

"He's just like Ramsey and Havlicek" said Jones, "in that he can play two positions and score and play defense in both of them. But he gives us an added dimension in that he is a shot blocker and intimidator. "The thing I like most about him is that he gives us options. Coming off the bench, I can use him in various combinations, either with (Larry) Bird or (Robert) Parish."

McHale has been itching to play this kind of role for the Celtics since he arrived. But it was not possible as long as the Celtics had a legitimate backup center in Rick Robey. As a rookie, McHale averaged only 20.6 minutes. The next year, he averaged 28.4 minutes, alternating mostly with Cedric Maxwell at forward. Last year, he played 28.5 minutes a game, as former coach Bill Fitch began to use Robey less. Jones eliminated the middle man, and McHale is averaging 29 minutes for the first seven games. Rookie Greg Kite, the other center, has been in only one game.

"I do feel I can do more with my game," said McHale. "In the past, I've been inhibited somewhat by what we were trying to accomplish, but now I can go either inside or outside, depending upon the situation. I feel real comfortable. "I know it sounds corny, but I can't do any of this without my teammates. None of us are one-on-one players, and we need help to get a shot off. They're pressing and working hard to get the ball up the court. They make sure I get it in a position from which I can score."

McHale's thought reflects a basic philosophy, which he says is a return to a style of play that the club used often in winning the NBA title in 1980. "We fast break a lot because of the pressure," said McHale. "And that's where we get so many of our points. It's up to us big men to get out and run and get in position. That way, even if the break doesn't go, we're in a spot to do some damage."

MISC

The Celtics will be seeking their seventh straight victory and a measure of revenge tonight (7:30) in facing the Detroit Pistons at the Garden. The Pistons (3-3) handed Boston (6-1) its only defeat in the season opener in Detroit. Wednesday night, the Pistons stunned defending champion Philadelphia at home, 120-116. "We've got to be ready," said Jones. "They'll come here confident after beating us three times last year, and once already this year in Detroit. They ought to be feeling pretty good after beating Philadelphia. We've got our work cut out for us." . . . M.L. Carr has been in 500 NBA games, but he says he should also be credited for the 74 games he played in the old ABA with St. Louis.

Rondo Needs to be Boston's D.Wade

I've been holding off on posting this piece for a few days, mostly to let the dust settle after the Celtics last couple of games, but also to digest what various members of Gang Green have had to say about themselves and the team. What I'm hearing is this: age will occasionally be a factor this season (when lots of games are played over a short period), and so will motivation (because the playoffs don't start for a long time). Both problems will manifest themselves in sluggish performances, which, in turn, will mean a few losses here and there.

Whatever. I've only got two regular season games circled on my calendar, and my only other goal is to stay healthy. Well, I do have one other goal, and I'd say it's kind of important. I want Rajon Rondo to start playing like he's D.Wade.

Some of you, no doubt, will reply that this is the most ridiculous thing I've written, and given the number of ridiculous things I've posted on this site, that would take some doing. But I like this idea. Really.

Sure, Rajon Rondo can't shoot very well from outside, and D.Wade can. I'm not denying this. But, you know, Rajon does shoot well from outside occasionally, and when he does, he should shoot even more. Even when he's suffering a poor shooting night, I want him to stay aggressive on the offensive end. Rondo may not be a shooter, but he's definitely a scorer, a scorer who's shooting .594 for the year. Rondo should start each game thinking that he needs to wreak havoc on both ends of the floor. On offense this means, driving the lane, crashing the boards, and moving without the ball.

Rondo should presume the Celtics need the maximum possible effort from him every game. If we take a huge lead in the first quarter, he can ease off the accelerator a bit. But if Rondo playing the instigator and the igniter are the only things separating the Celtics from another lethargic performance in which we fall behind early and play ugly-ball for three and a half quarters before attempting to steal victory from the jaws of defeat, then Rondo needs to be prepared to put it into overdrive from the git-go.

A couple of potential problems I see with my idea.

OBJECTION #1: The starters won't be able to keep up with Rondo for four quarters. Possible. Three of the starters are getting long in tooth. On the other hand, Rondo's elevated level of play might just energize the senior members, which is exactly the outcome I want.

OBJECTION #2: Rondo might wear himself out before the playoffs. At age 23 and in the best physical condition of his career, Rondo should be ready to go balls to the walls for a good 36 minutes every night. No need to pace himself, a la Paul Pierce.

The one thing I do know for sure is that Rondo has a good-sized ego, and one way to placate it is by performing like an All-Star as frequently as possible. So Rondo should welcome the opportunity to kick it up a notch, unless, of course, he doesn't have another gear, which brings me to the next possible problem with my idea.

OBJECTION #3: Rondo can't play in another gear consistently. His stellar play only comes in fits and spurts. I'm not buying this retort. From what I've gathered, the only thing holding back Rondo is Rondo. He gets a little too down on himself when things aren't going well, and thereby takes himself out of a leading role during important junctures of important games or during important junctures of unimportant games.

Rondo seems to me the classic superstar, a player who can turn it on at will. If anything, Rondo appears to struggle attempting to conform his greatness to the team concept. I don't think we'll have to wonder about this too long, though, as I expect to see more and more of Rondo asserting himself as November turns to December, and Doc finds that as Rondo goes so goes the team.

I'm looking forward to it.

Walton Gets the Night Off

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Celtics 129, Clippers 122
Record: 6-1
11/10/1983

Bill Walton was on the bench for San Diego, but don't get the idea that he is hurt again, or happy about the fact he wasn't playing against the Celtics last night. Walton's night off is all part of a plan that the Clippers hope will get them into the expanded NBA playoffs this year. Walton did not play because last night was the second of back-to-back games. San Diego has 19 such pairings, seven in November.

James Donaldson, acquired from Seattle, started at center and had 13 points and three rebounds. Jerome Whitehead was the backup and had 16 points and eight rebounds. Clippers coach Jim Lynam made the move because he isn't sure Walton's oft- injured feet can take the pounding of games on usccessive nights yet. But he feels if San Diego gets to a playoff, it will be because Walton would have played in 60 games, something he has done only once - when he led Portland to the NBA title in the 1976-77 season.

Walton approves of the plan, even though he wanted to play in the Garden. He said his left foot, which has been a question mark for the last two years, does not bother him at all, and surgery seems to have corrected the problems he had last season with his right foot. "Right now," said Walton, "I feel very good. Last year, I didn't even know if I could play basketball, coming out once or twice a week. This year, I know I can play, and will be in 3-4 games a week."

MISC

Former Celtic Don Chaney returned to the Garden as an assistant to Lynam, who is also no stranger to this parts, having coached college ball at Fairfield . . . Veteran forward M. L. Carr played in his 500th career game . . . Clippers forward Terry Cummings was dynamite. "He has a lean-back jumper that couldn't be stopped, and if you play him tight, he'll go around you and dunk," said Jones.

Fourth-Quarter Run Propels Celts (6-1) over San Diego

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Celtics 129, Clippers 122
Record: 6-1
11/10/1983

If the pieces fall together just right, they should finally be able to join the elite of the NBA's Pacific Division. With or without Bill Walton, the San Diego Clippers have a blend of talent capable of running with the very best around. But they still must learn to pay the price of excellence that enabled the Celtics to break away in the fourth quarter and roll to their sixth straight victory, 129-122, last night before another sellout crowd at the Garden.

The Clippers got a 37-point night from second-year man Terry Cummings. But they found out a one-man show could not overcome the superior depth of the Celtics, as Kevin McHale (27 points) and Larry Bird (25) led a stampede of players in double figures. Gerry Henderson had 18 points to go along with Robert Parish's 16 and Cedric Maxwell's 15. San Diego scrapped and fought against the Celtics for three quarters to trail by only six points, 96-90. But at the start of the fourth period, the Celtics put on a defensive blitz, spearheaded by Quinn Buckner and Maxwell, and the Clippers never recovered from a 14-4 run that put them behind by 16 points.

Only a fourth-quarter lapse by Boston, as San Diego forced turnovers and cut the lead to five points (125-120), made the final score close. "That's the way it is with a club like Boston," said San Diego coach Jim Lynam. "Their big men keep coming after you time after time. Their big men run the court consistently and wear you down by paying the price. I'll bet Robert Parish ran the floor 25 times and only got the ball once. But all their big men run and their guards always seem to look for them." The fourth-quarter spurt started with two Buckner baskets. After a layup by Bird, Maxwell had a run of six points, four on layups. No one Celtic seemed to rattle the Clippers. But everyone seemed to be a part of the pressure defense that can be devasting.

"It starts with the guards," said Bird. "They put on the pressure to us (forwards), and we try to force whoever has the ball down to Robert. When we can do that, it's easy, because he's so tough inside. All we have to do is rebound. "We're playing good defense right now. But we could be better. We still make too many turnovers. We get up by 14-16 points and then let down. What we'd like to do is get up by 20-25 points and then bury a team."

The Clippers, sans Walton - who is not playing on consecutive nights and sat on the bench in street clothes - had no intention of being buried by the Celtics. In fact, San Diego led in the first period by six points twice, 14-8 and 26-20, before trailing at the quarter, 37-31. It seemed a good sign when McHale came off the bench and went on a 12- point binge that kept the Celtics ahead early in the second period. But backup center Jerome Whitehead was even tougher to defend than the suddenly tenacious James Donaldson, who replaced Walton as the starter.

Whitehead scored 14 of his 16 points in the second period. San Diego tied the game at 57-57 and pulled to within two points at 65-63 before Parish sank two free throws to give Boston a 67-63. Play got a little meaner in the third period, as substitute officials Tommy Wood and Mike Krom had to blow their whistles often to prevent bloodshed. San Diego fell behind by nine at 86-77, but pulled to within 96-90 after three quarters.

But after that, the Celtics' defense made the outcome academic. It didn't hurt their cause that they shot 45 free throws and sank 36, compared to 18 of 24 for San Diego. But that's another price teams pay when they come to the Garden. "When you play good defense and have people inside who can take advantage of the other team," said Celtics coach K.C. Jones, "either you do it or you stay home. We got the job done tonight, but I'm impressed with San Diego. They're a new club and they run the fast break better than most teams in the league right now."

Walton Iffy for San Diego Game

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Record: 5-1
11/9/1983

The San Diego Clippers are headed for Boston, which means that Norm Nixon and Terry Cummings make their only 1982-83 Garden appearance tonight. Bill Walton played against the Bullets in Wasington last night, so you probably won't see him on the parquet tonight. The big redhead doesn't usually play two games in two days. He wanted to play in Boston rather than Washington, but coach Jim Lynham decided the Clippers had a better chance of beating the Bullets. Even though he is unlikely to play, Walton has been medically cleared to play two straight nights if he desires.

Celtics assistant coach Jimmy Rodgers was in Washington scouting the Clippers. "We know they're running like hell with (Norm) Nixon leading the way," said K. C. Jones. "Walton is one of the greatest I've ever seen. If he does play, hopefully he'll be very tired. Cummings has been taking some wild shots, but they're going in. Max (Cedric Maxwell) will probably be on him. It's going to be tough, because we haven't had time to prepare and they had a couple of more hours sleep than we did."

KG Making Most of Limited Minutes

KG's Rookie Year
November 30, 1995

A bench manned by four rookies and two veterans contributed a season-high 49 points in the Timberwolves' 121-98 victory over Vancouver on Tuesday. Guard Micheal Williams led the subs with 18 points, and the reserves, as a group, sparked a dominant final quarter in which the Wolves outscored the Grizzlies 38-18. After losing nine of their first 10 games, the Timberwolves finally have their first winning streak.

Minnesota shot 60 percent Sunday, and the past two games are the only times the Wolves have made at least as many shots as they missed. The 121 points are a season-high, surpassing Sunday's 105 total. The Timberwolves started clicking in the second quarter when Laettner scored six points and rookie Kevin Garnett came off the bench for five points, plus a couple of rebounds, two steals, a block and one assist during his short first-half stint. Minnesota headed to the locker room with a 59-52 lead. Garnett finished the game with nine points and seven rebounds.

Celtics (5-1) Edge Pacers on Parish Buzzer-Beater

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Celtics 99, Pacers 97
Record: 5-1
11/9/1983

Once more a winner in his Hoosier Hoop Holy Land, Larry Bird embraced Robert Parish the way baseball pitchers jump into catchers' arms after the final out of the World Series. Could this have been merely a November victory over the Indiana Pacers? Indeed. With time running out and the score tied, 97-97, Kevin McHale missed his patented turnaround jumper. Parish fought for the rebound, and shoveled the ball into the basket. The buzzer sounded and the Celtics were 99-97 winners. Bird looked like Rick Dempsey, leaping into Parish's arms while a numbstruck 14,935 watched in silent fury.

"I was fighting their guy (Steve Stipanovich) for it," said Parish (16 points, 11 rebounds). "I tipped it, then he tipped it, then I was able to come up with the ball. I wasn't even trying to make the shot. I just threw it up on the glass and it kind of hung there for a while before it fell through." The dramatic final seconds somewhat obscured another virtuoso Indiana performance by Bird, not to mention Herb Williams' 32-point (14 in the final period) effort for the Pacers.

Their fifth straight triumph gave the Celtics the best record in basketball and reaffirmed the suspicion that for all the wealth and fame his game has brought him, nothing makes Larry Joe Bird happier than playing well for the folks back home. "It means more to me to win here," admitted Bird. "I think I want the ball more and the guys know that. It's just a great feeling to play well here. I definitely don't want to let anybody down."

He didn't. In addition to seven assists and nine rebounds, Bird scored 26 points, including 14 in the pivotal third quarter when it looked like the Celtics had put away the pesky Pacers. Remember that Bird averaged 32 in five games against Indiana last year (including a 53-point game for the ages) and had 31 in last Friday's Garden party against Indiana.

The game had been tied 18 times in the first half, when neither team had led by more than four. Then Bird led the Celts to a 30-16 third-quarter advantage. He scored four quick ones and had two steals and two assists as the Celts opened the third with a 10-2 run to take a 60-52 lead. The Pacers closed to within six, before Bird resumed his show. Sir Larry canned two free throws and two more bombs, then fed Gerald Henderson for a bucket to complete an 8-0 run that made it 70-56. The 14-point lead held up through three (80-66) when Bird found Danny Ainge underneath before the buzzer.

With Williams doing a reasonable impersonation of Elgin Baylor, Indiana worked its way back into the ballgame at the start of the fourth. As Bird turned cold, Williams took charge, scoring 10 straight and 12 of 14 for the Pacers. The Celtics' lead melted. Williams hit a jump hook over McHale with 1:29 left, pulling Indiana to within one (96-95). With 1:02 left, the Celts called time. After the pause, Bird missed a bomb, Williams rebounded, but Clark Kellogg (22 points) was called for traveling with 42 seconds left.

McHale was fouled by Williams and missed his first free throw. He made the second to make it 97-95, and the Pacers called time with 32 seconds left. Kellogg tied it with a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left. It was the first tie since 50-50 at the half. Boston called time. The final play set up McHale's errant turnaround. "Mine was supposed to go in," said McHale, laughing. "Actually, it was an easy shot for me." It missed, but Parish was there to do the rest. When the ball went in, Bird did his World Series re-enactment.

ML Carr's Career may be Near the Final Crossroads

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Record: 4-1
11/8/1983

I want to know why I'm being overworked!"- M. L. Carr

Throughout his tenure as a Celtic, veteran M. L. Carr has been known for two things - his sense of humor, and his uncanny ability to come off the bench and play superb defense. It has been that way for Carr ever since he signed with Boston as a free agent in August 1979, and won the hearts of the Celtic faithful with his ability to function at forward or guard. And it made little difference to him if he was a spot starter or the sixth, seventh or eighth man.

But five games into the 1983 season, it is clear that Carr's career has reached that final crossroads, and his role under new coach K. C. Jones will be quite different than anything he has experienced in the past. Carr has appeared in only one game, for a total of three minutes, and there is no promise that things will change tonight when the Celtics play the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis.

No one understands this better than Carr, who through good and bad years has remained one of the club's more popular players. At 32, he knows that his playing time at forward will be limited, given the presence of of Larry Bird, Cedric Maxwell, Kevin McHale and Scott Wedman.

Former coach Bill Fitch liked to throw Carr in the gap occasionally as a "stopper" on defense and usually at guard, where his 6-foot-6 frame can be intimidating. But with the arrival of Dennis Johnson, the need for such a guard has diminished, and in fact, the Celtics defensive heir apparent is not Carr but rookie Carlos Clark, who also hasn't had much of a chance to show his stuff since the exhibition season.

None of this bothered Carr last summer when he signed his second free agent contract with the Celtics. None of this bothers him now. "That's bacause I knew exactly what was happening this summer," he said. " I had other options. I could have gone to Cleveland and played 30 minutes a game. I talked it over with K. C. and Red (Auerbach) and it was made clear that my role with the club would be limited.

"But we also talked about some specific times when a guy is going very well, or one of our guys is not having a good night, I might come in to cool somebody down. My role is to be the glue. Red reminded me, as one of the old- timers on the team, it's my job to be one of the leaders in terms of the intangibles.

"I went through training camp playing all forward," he said. "The first time I went into a game, it was at guard. K. C. didn't tell me to expect the unexpected. I have no problem with that. It's like it was in the past (under Fitch). I've got to swing. Do I have a preference? Yes. It's up front because I know big guys just aren't going to run with me consistently. That's my forte, running."

Carr feels that if this is truly his final season, he wants to end his career as a Celtic. Due to his TV experience on Channel 4 on the "Ask M. L. Show", he has credibility in New England, which would be hard to quickly establish elsewhere. "It's all about doing it one more time before I take my final bows," he said with his usual wide grin. "I wanted to be here. I wanted to finish up here because I want to live here eventually. To go away and come back would present a problem.

"It wasn't an easy decision. In fact, I had to go away to make it. Everybody in the street was trying to make a decision for me. I kept hearing, You'd be a fool to leave', Don't leave' . . . things like that. After talking to K. C., I knew exactly where he was coming from, and that helped make up my mind."

Jones says he expects to see more of Indiana's passing game tonight, as it was very successful in the second half Friday night. He also expects rookie center Steve Stipanovich to shoot more. "It's something to see a guy 7 feet tall getting a pick 18 feet away from the basket and shooting," he said. "It reminds me of Ralph Sampson and Rudy Tomjanovich. Steve has a nice touch."

The Berlin Wall 20 Years On

“OF ALL places it was in divided Berlin in divided Germany in divided Europe that the cold war erupted into an east-west street party,” this newspaper observed 20 years ago. Even to those who had been confident of the eventual triumph of the West, the fall of the Berlin Wall was surprisingly accidental. When 200,000 East Germans took advantage of Hungary’s decision to open its borders and fled to the West, their communist government decided to modify the travel restrictions that imprisoned them. Asked about the timing, the unbriefed propaganda minister mumbled: “As far as I know, effective immediately.” When that was reported on television, the Berliners were off. Baffled border guards who would have shot their “comrades” a week earlier let the crowd through—and a barrier that had divided the world was soon being gleefully dismantled. West Germany’s chancellor, Helmut Kohl, was so unready for history that he was out of the country.

The destruction of the Iron Curtain on November 9th 1989 is still the most remarkable political event of most people’s lifetimes: it set free millions of individuals and it brought to an end a global conflict that threatened nuclear annihilation. For liberals in the West, it still stands as a reminder both of what has been won since and what is still worth fighting for.

--The Economist

Some things transcend life. This was one of them. I thought in Tiananmen Square we were witnessing another triumph of freedom over totalitarianism. But instead the world was reminded of what George Orwell once described as "a boot stomping on a human face, for ever." While the path of liberty knows no certain course, it is a path that humans will continue to forge until the fact of freedom becomes so widespread that the act of liberation is no longer necessary for entire cultures of peoples.

Cornbread Helps C's to 4-1 Start

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Record: 4-1
11/7/1983

It seems that the natural order of things has returned. The NBA season is only five games old, but the Celtics and 76ers are tied for the top spot in the Atlantic Division with 4-1 records. Is this the way it's going to be all year? Have the temporarily wayward Celtics returned to their 1979-82 plateau? Are the Celtics and Sixers going to be eyeball to eyeball for these next six months?

"I think so," says Cedric Maxwell, who has been through more Boston-Philly wars than any active Celtic. "I think we're going to be a good team. As long as we're healthy and have the kind of attitude we have now, I don't see why we can't win it all. Our talent is as good as Philadelphia, and we're one of the few teams that's been able to play them head to head. "But," he cautions, "it's still too early. You can't divide five into 82 and get any kind of measure of what kind of a year we're going to have. I think cautious optimism' is a good expression for what we have right now.

"We have a lot of room for improvement. We've had big leads and let teams come back. But we are more relaxed under K.C. (Jones) and it shows on the court. When we make mistakes we don't get down on ourselves, and K.C. doesn't get down on us." The Celtics played solid basketball for three quarters in Saturday night's 120-117 victory over the Bullets. In the final period, Washington rookie Jeff Malone exploded for 15 points and the Celtics watched a 22-point lead dwindle to three by the time the buzzer sounded.

The victory was Boston's fourth straight. Only once in those four games have the Celtics trailed - when Washington held a 2-0 lead Saturday. "In the last three games, we've played the way we want to play," says Jones, who was happy about his triumphant return to the scene of his 1976 firing. "We've been getting out fast with the break and all of our defensive work has paid off. We've missed some shots and had some turnovers, but overall, the guys are sharing and picking up the load."

Quietly, Maxwell has been doing a lot of the sharing and picking up. He hit five of six shots from the floor, nine of 10 from the line and had 19 points Saturday. In five games he has averaged 33 minutes, 13 points and 6.4 rebounds while hitting 63 percent (17-27) from the floor and 76 percent (31-41) from the line. He's done all this while shutting down Cleveland's Cliff Robinson, Milwaukee's Marques Johnson (only 7 points vs. the Celtics) and most other rival small forwards.

"I probably had those same numbers at this time last year," says Maxwell. "People feel I'm happier this year, and that is reflected in my play. Basically, I always have the same role. Some nights I'm going to score a lot of points and some nights I'm not. Defensively, every game I'm picking up the other team's toughest forward. There hasn't been an easy one yet."

C's Down Bullets, Post 4th Straight Win

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Celtics 120, Bullets 117
Record: 4-1
11/6/1983

LANDOVER, MD.

NBA teams hate playing here. It's like putting up the storm windows, rotating your tires or cleaning the oven. It's a tough job and you know it can be done, but some days you just don't feel like working that hard. Last night, the Celtics worked. They ran. They pressed. They reduced the feared Beef Brothers (Jeff Ruland and Rick Mahorn) to a dried up heap of Beef Jerky. With dogged determination and an effective game plan, Boston built a 22-point fourth-quarter lead before letting the Bullets roar back to within striking distance.

No problem. When the buzzer finally sounded, the Celtics were 120-117 winners. It was Boston's fourth-straight victory and elevated the Celtics to their rightful place - tied for first with the Philadelphia 76ers. If the NBA is anything, it's predictble. Most teams are only five games into the season, and already the Atlantic Division is in order. Beating the Bullets has to be K.C. Jones' proudest moment of the early season. After all, this is where Jones was unceremoniously dumped after compiling a .630 winning percentage as head coach. And need we mention that the Bullets smoked the Celtics three times in six tries last year, including twice in three games at the Capital Centre?

For three quarters, it looked like the Celtics were finally going to get a breather in suburban Maryland's chamber of horrors. The Celtics shot a scalding 66 percent (27-41) in the first half while shutting down foul-plagued Mahorn (zero points and one rebound) and Ruland (six points and four rebounds). Washington's Ricky Sobers (20 points) opened the evening's scoring with a jumper from out top. The basket broke a week-long Celtic streak: In victories over Cleveland, Milwaukee and Indiana, Boston had never been behind.

The deficit didn't last. Cedric Maxwell (19 points) posted up for two, and when Larry Bird (28 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists) followed with a jumper from the right corner, the Celtics went ahead to stay. Boston led, 12-6, when Mahorn picked up his third personal foul. He was replaced by Tom McMillen while the Celtics were in the middle of a 10-0 run that produced an 18-6 lead. Gerald Henderson (10 of his 16 in the first quarter) scored 6 of the 10 on a drive, a fastbreak layup and a jumper from the left corner. Bird capped the spurt with a fallaway from out top, his fourth consecutive conversion.

"In the first half, we got our offense going and we played good defense," said Bird. "The shots were falling for Robert (Parish) and me, but everybody did the job on the offensive end." The Celtics led, 32-23, after one. Washington cut it to seven briefly in the second quarter, but after Bullets coach Gene Shue called time with the Celtics leading, 47-32, Boston ripped off eight straight points to take a whopping 55-32 lead with five minutes left in the half.

Ruland still hadn't scored. He broke up his shutout with two minutes left in the half, but it would prove to be too late for the Bullets. Parish and Bird each had hit seven of nine floor shots in the half and Boston led, 65-48, at intermission. The margin was 20 (97-77) after three and 22 when Scott Wedman opened the fourth period with a basket. Sobers and Mahorn led an 8-0 run to cut the Bullet deficit back to 14. Then Washington rookie Jeff Malone (11 for 19, 24 points) went into his Andrew Toney imitation and got some help from Greg Ballard (14). The Celts supplied the rest of the help by standing around under the basket and missing six of seven free throws during a crucial stretch.

"Our guards weren't hitting the shots," said Jones. "We got in foul trouble and Malone started hitting, and they got back in the ballgame." "They're a tough team to go lights out on," added Kevin McHale (15), who hit a crucial turnaround as he was fouled by Mahorn with 1:06 left. He made the free throw to give the Celtics a 116-108 lead. That was enough. "They are a very stubborn ballclub," said a sore Parish. "They are physical and present problems for us inside." True, but last night Parish, Maxwell, Bird and McHale combined for 85 points while Mahorn was held to six and Ruland scored only 13.

Unspoken Lethargy

I was just thinking about how long we can keep this game and stretch this game and then make a run in the fourth quarter.

--Doc

So when the Boston Celtics appear to be sleepwalking through games, waiting for the fourth quarter to see if they can steal a win at the end, well, that's exactly what they're doing. My question is whether this is openly discussed or just kind of a shared, but unspoken mental state? I doubt the players say, "yeah, I just don't know if I can play four quarters tonight. So let's keep it close for as long as possible and try to win it at the end."

Instead, an overall lethargy among the team is probably palpable enough to make words unnecessary.

Remember Steve Stipanovich?

1983-84 Boston Celtics
November 5, 1983

In other years, he might have been just another talented rookie sitting on the bench. But Steve Stipanovich won't have that luxury this year for the Indiana Pacers. That's because Pacers coach Jack McKinney thinks the University of Missouri product has not only the talent to step right into the NBA as a center, but is smart enough to make up for whatever shortcomings he might have with hard work and intelligence.

Stipanovich, a 7-footer, was the second player chosen in the draft this year behind Virginia's Ralph Sampson. Right now, says McKinney, there is a gap between the two men in talent, not to mention salary. But he doesn't think it will take Stipanovich - who scored 16 points and had five rebounds last night - long to close the distance. "Steve has the potential to be a good NBA center," said McKinney. "Not a great one, yet. But a very good one. When we played Houston the other night, you had a chance to compare their talents, and Sampson was ahead in the numbers. He had something like 21 points and 18 rebounds to 12-8 for Steve.

"But Steve showed that he has skills in other areas. He can be intimidating and is a good outside shooter. He helps out on defense and other things that might not show up in box score." McKinney feels no qualms about force-feeding Stipanovich to the NBA lions, because of his intelligence and the fact that his defensive skills are much better than advertised. Against Sampson, Stipanovich blocked a shot from behind and effectively cut off Sampson's inside game.

Stipanovich says he is just glad to be able to play and to learn what the NBA is all about. It's a good situation for me," he said. "We're a young team and we've got a chance to grow together. The pro game is different from the college game in a lot of ways. I had a little trouble with Parish at the end. But he's beaten a lot of centers with his jump shot."

7-1: Celtics 86, Nets 76

Celtics 86, Nets 76

Recap Box Score Play-By-Play Shot Chart Photos Conversation

	1	2	3	4	T
BOS (7-1)	18	21	20	27	86
NJN (0-7)	19	21	21	15	76

Final

7:30 PM ET, November 7, 2009

IZOD Center

East Rutherford, NJ

BOSTON CELTICS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Kevin Garnett, PF	33	3-13	0-0	3-3	0	13	13	4	3	0	1	1	-4	9
Paul Pierce, SF	32	5-8	0-0	6-7	0	0	0	7	2	1	2	4	+2	16
Kendrick Perkins, C	24	3-5	0-0	3-6	1	7	8	1	0	1	2	4	+6	9
Ray Allen, SG	41	5-13	0-3	2-2	1	3	4	4	0	0	2	0	+7	12
Rajon Rondo, PG	30	8-11	0-1	0-2	0	4	4	3	5	0	1	1	-5	16
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Rasheed Wallace, FC	24	3-10	0-4	3-3	0	4	4	0	4	1	1	2	+4	9
Eddie House, PG	18	0-3	0-1	2-2	0	1	1	0	2	0	0	0	+14	2
Brian Scalabrine, PF	20	2-3	1-1	0-0	0	0	0	1	3	0	1	3	+11	5
Shelden Williams, PF	15	2-3	0-0	4-4	1	2	3	1	0	0	1	0	+15	8
J.R. Giddens, SG	3	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	0
Lester Hudson, G	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Marquis Daniels, SG	DNP PERSONAL REASONS
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF		PTS
		31-69	1-10	23-29	3	34	37	21	20	3	12	16		86
		44.9%	10.0%	79.3%
Fast break points: 14 Points in the paint: 34 Team TO ( points off ): 12 (15) +/- denotes team's net points while the player is on the court.
NEW JERSEY NETS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Bobby Simmons, SF	34	3-6	2-3	2-2	0	5	5	2	0	0	2	3	+1	10
Josh Boone, C	37	4-10	0-0	0-0	4	8	12	1	1	0	3	3	+1	8
Brook Lopez, C	41	10-16	0-0	3-3	2	5	7	1	0	2	3	4	-5	23
Rafer Alston, PG	44	7-16	3-6	3-4	0	1	1	7	1	1	6	3	-2	20
Trenton Hassell, SF	37	1-7	0-0	1-2	1	3	4	1	1	0	2	5	-20	3
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Eduardo Najera, PF	12	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	1	1	2	2	0	2	3	-13	0
Sean Williams, PF	5	2-2	0-0	0-0	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	1	-1	4
Terrence Williams, G	30	4-14	0-1	0-3	1	8	9	2	1	0	4	2	-11	8
Devin Harris, PG	DNP STRAINED GROIN
Yi Jianlian, PF	DNP STRAINED MCL
Courtney Lee, SG	DNP STRAINED GROIN
Chris Douglas-Roberts, SG	DNP FLU LIKE SYMPTOMS
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF		PTS
		31-72	5-11	9-14	9	31	40	16	6	4	23	24		76
		43.1%	45.5%	64.3%
Fast break points: 5 Points in the paint: 30 Team TO ( points off ): 24 (19) +/- denotes team's net points while the player is on the court.

Celtics Seek to Stop Slippage against the Nets

They can see the slippage. We’ve showed it on film. We talked about it. [Maybe] it's easier for them to believe you after an ‘L.’But it’s tough to do something about it until you can get some real practice time, and we’ll get that on Monday.

--Doc

Let's not wait until Monday, Gang-0-Green. Let's get 'er done tonight in Brooklyn, er, I mean New Jersey.

Celtics Subdue Pacers (3-1)

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Celtics 121, Pacers 105
Record: 3-1
11/5/1983

BOSTON, MA

Say all you want about the new defensive notions of the Celtics this year. What they still do best is overwhelm you with the toughest inside game in the National Basketball Assn. The Indiana Pacers found out the hard way last night as victims of a three-pronged attack, suffering their 17th-straight road loss in falling to the Celtics last night, 121-105. Robert Parish led the Celtics' big front line with 34 points, 29 in the second half. That was only a little ahead of Larry Bird, who finished with 31. For good measure, Kevin McHale came off the bench and added 20 points.

The victory was the third in four games this year for Boston, which has now won six in a row from Indiana at the Garden. The Pacers had a strong inside game themselves, with Herb Williams and Clark Kellogg each with 21 and rookie Steve Stipanovich adding 16. But their bench was no match for the Celtics, who built up a 17-point lead in the third quarter and fought off every charge by Indiana after that.

The Celtics began the night very leery of the rejuvenated Pacers, whom they beat four of five times last season. The loss was 130-101 March 29. Boston was coming off a 119-105 victory over Milwaukee in its home opener Wednesday night. The Pacers lost their first two games but beat Houston last Tuesday, 116-108. It didn't take long to figure out that Indiana would have a long night if they couldn't find a way to stop Bird. Boston shot to a 12-6 lead in the first five minutes, with Bird scoring eight of the first 12. He did it with a variety of jump shots and a delicious lefthanded hook after a steal. Indiana stayed close mainly on Stipanovich's inside shooting.

Bird gave Boston a 14-7 lead by hitting his fifth shot in six attempts. Then the Celtics fast break started to cook, with Bird and Dennis Johnson scoring the next six points as Boston's lead grew to nine points, 20-11. Indiana again stayed close behind with baskets by Stipanovich and Williams. When Jim Thomas drove the middle with three minutes left, the Boston lead was cut to five points at 23-18.

At this point, both clubs decided to go to the benches, and here, the Celtics edge was obvious from the moment McHale and Quinn Buckner entered the game. Boston went on a 14-6 tear, led by McHale and Parish. Bird chipped in with a three-pointer, giving him 18 for the first quarter, and Boston a 34-22 lead. The quarter ended on a three-point play by Parish, and Boston leading, 37-24. Parish had seven rebounds in the period. Bird hit seven of nine shots.

In the second period, it was McHale's turn to lead the Celtics charge. With Boston leading, 37-26, he threw in three straight baskets to widen the gap, 43-28. McHale also scored three of the next five Celtics points to give his team the biggest lead of the night at 46-30. But slowly, Indiana began to inch back, and, behind Butch Carter and Kellogg, pulled to within 11 points with 4:26 left in the period, 48-37.

Bird returned and helped Boston to a 52-37 lead. But then the Pacers spurted and, with 2:20 left, trailed by 10 points, 52-42. The Celtics then a got a break as McHale was fouled, and he sank two free throws. Then Pacer coach Jack McKinney was called for a technical foul, and Boston led by 15 points again, 57-42. Indiana outscored Boston the rest of the way, but the Celtics led 59-48 at halftime.

After a sluggish start, Boston picked up right where it left off in third period, with Bird and Parish combining for the first 11 points, seven by Parish, as Boston took a 17-point lead at 70-53. But then the Pacers ran off six straight points and made it a 70-59 game with 6:50 to go in the third. When Carter hit a layup and George Johnson followed with a basket, the Pacers completed a 10-point run and trailed by only seven points, 70-63. The Boston drought of 3 minutes, 8 seconds ended when Buckner, in for Henderson, hit a jumper with 5:20 left. With 4:30 left, Parish completed a three-point play, and Boston's lead grew to 11 points, 76-65.

Fatigue and foul trouble began to catch up with the Pacers, who somehow managed to stay close. Indiana sprinted to within seven points, 82-75, but a few minutes later trailed by 11 points, 88-77. After three quarters, Boston led, 90-80.

NOVEMBER	OPPONENT	TIME (ET)	TV	LOCAL TV	RESOURCES
Sat, Nov 7	@ New Jersey	7:30 PM		CSNN	Tickets | Travel
Wed, Nov 11	Utah	7:30 PM		CSNN	Tickets | Travel
Fri, Nov 13	Atlanta	8:00 PM		CSNN	Tickets | Travel
Sat, Nov 14	@ Indiana	7:00 PM		CSNN	Tickets | Travel
Wed, Nov 18	Golden State	7:30 PM		CSNN	Tickets | Travel
Fri, Nov 20	Orlando	8:00 PM		CSNN	Tickets | Travel
Sun, Nov 22	@ NY Knicks	1:00 PM		CSNN	Tickets | Travel
Wed, Nov 25	Philadelphia	7:30 PM		CSNN	Tickets | Travel
Fri, Nov 27	Toronto	7:30 PM		CSNN	Tickets | Travel
Sun, Nov 29	@ Miami	6:00 PM	NBA TV		Tickets | Travel

6-1: Suns 110, Celtics 103

Suns 110, Celtics 103

Recap Box Score Play-By-Play Shot Chart Photos Conversation

	1	2	3	4	T
PHO (5-1)	29	28	28	25	110
BOS (6-1)	27	24	32	20	103

Final

7:30 PM ET, November 6, 2009

TD Garden

Boston, MA

PHOENIX SUNS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Grant Hill, SF	24	4-9	1-1	3-3	0	4	4	2	0	0	1	4	-4	12
Amare Stoudemire, PF	33	8-13	0-0	6-6	0	7	7	2	0	1	1	4	-9	22
Channing Frye, C	37	3-7	1-4	1-2	0	5	5	2	2	0	1	3	+5	8
Steve Nash, PG	36	5-11	3-6	3-4	1	2	3	12	0	0	6	3	-7	16
Jason Richardson, SG	38	10-16	6-7	8-11	1	9	10	2	1	0	2	2	+7	34
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Louis Amundson, PF	18	3-4	0-0	0-2	3	2	5	0	0	1	1	2	+10	6
Jared Dudley, SF	31	3-6	2-5	2-2	1	1	2	3	2	0	0	1	+14	10
Goran Dragic, PG	15	1-4	0-1	0-0	1	2	3	3	2	0	2	0	+12	2
Earl Clark, F	7	0-4	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	+7	0
Jarron Collins, C	DNP COACH'S DECISION
Alando Tucker, SF	DNP COACH'S DECISION
Taylor Griffin, F	DNP COACH'S DECISION
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF		PTS
		37-74	13-24	23-30	7	32	39	26	7	3	15	21		110
		50.0%	54.2%	76.7%
Fast break points: 12 Points in the paint: 36 Team TO ( points off ): 16 (15) +/- denotes team's net points while the player is on the court.
BOSTON CELTICS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Kevin Garnett, PF	35	13-20	0-0	0-0	3	5	8	4	2	1	0	1	+9	26
Paul Pierce, SF	42	5-15	2-5	4-6	0	4	4	6	0	1	3	2	-2	16
Kendrick Perkins, C	25	4-6	0-0	4-8	0	7	7	1	0	4	2	1	-1	12
Ray Allen, SG	31	7-11	2-4	0-0	3	4	7	4	2	0	1	5	+3	16
Rajon Rondo, PG	38	7-12	0-1	0-3	2	0	2	11	3	0	1	3	+4	14
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Rasheed Wallace, FC	24	4-12	0-6	0-0	1	4	5	1	1	0	1	3	-8	8
Eddie House, PG	11	0-3	0-1	0-0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	-12	0
Marquis Daniels, SG	23	4-7	0-1	1-1	2	2	4	3	1	0	3	3	-14	9
Shelden Williams, PF	12	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	4	4	0	0	1	0	2	-14	2
J.R. Giddens, SG	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Brian Scalabrine, PF	DNP BACK SPASMS
Lester Hudson, G	DNP COACH'S DECISION
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF		PTS
		45-87	4-18	9-18	12	30	42	30	9	7	12	22		103

Rondo v. Nash and Hill v. Daniels

Ah, the Phoenix Suns.

A lot of the Celtics' games involve sub-plots we are aware of, but forget about until forced to remember. For example, KG and Amare have had a "thing" for sometime, where "thing" means competitive and chippy battle of one-upsmanship pretty much since Stoudemire came into the league. How will the latest chapter in that battle be impacted by the current state of KG's knee?

Another example is the way Rajon Rondo has made a point of making Steve Nash look bad every time the two face each other, and by "bad" I mean Nash has often looked like a rich man's version of Dan Dickau in games played against Rondo, not something easy to do for a two-time league MVP (Dickau, BTW, was with the Suns during NBAx, but eventually was cut).

But my favorite sub-plot will undoubtedly involve Grant Hill and Marquis Daniels. Celtics' fans remember that Danny Ainge pursued Grant Hill last summer, a pursuit that included Ray Allen and possibly others making personal appeals for Hill to join the Celtics. Hill responded by appearing to drag out the decision-making process longer than necessary, before choosing Phoenix over Boston (and New York). In New England, the snub was perceived as a choice between playing time for Hill in Phoenix and a championship ring in Bston. And, indeed, Hill is averaging 31 MPG this season, while Marquis Daniels, who the Celtics' ended up signing for less money than Hill got from the Suns, is averaging 21 MPG.

I will be curious to watch how this shakes out, and not just the individual performances of Hill and Daniels. Since certain Celtics made personal appeals to Hill, they may have taken the snub personally, and thus those players may be out to prove the magnitude of his mistake via a blow out. Orlando beat Phoenix by 22 earlier in the season, in Orlando. So that adds another nuance to tonight's game, as Orlando was missing certain key players in that game. Can the Celtics administer a beatdown in a similar fashion?

The Quest for 70

Before the Celtics even played a game this season, Wallace stated last month to the Connecticut Post that he thought the Celtics could get the Bulls record. Bold? Yes. Off-base? No. Entering tonight's tilt in Philadelphia against the 76ers, the 4-0 Celtics are 1/18th of the way to 72 wins with a long, long, long, long way to go.

But it's obvious even this early that this version of the Green has a chance to be historically good -- even great. Through four games, the Celtics are averaging 100.5 points per game and allowing only 81.3. Opponents are shooting 39.1 percent from the floor against them. Six players are averaging nine points per game or more -- Paul Pierce (21.8), Ray Allen (17.8), Kevin Garnett (13.3), Rasheed Wallace (10.0), Kendrick Perkins (9.8) and Eddie House (9.0) -- and that doesn't include nouveau riche point guard Rajon Rondo, who has been content to pass up shots and dish out dimes. The 72-win Bulls had a Big Three of Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. You had the greatest player of all-time, the most versatile player in the league at the time, and arguably the greatest pound for pound rebounder ever on the same team.Boston's Big Three can't match that, but the Celtics have three elements that Bulls team didn't have -- a deep bench with Wallace, Marquis Daniels, House and Shelden Williams, a true playmaking point guard in Rondo and a center who is not afraid of his own shadow and can get out of his own way in Kendrick Perkins.

Injuries aside, the biggest impediment to running with the 95-96 Bulls is the schedule. Ten losses doesn't leave much margin for error. The Celtics opened the season by downing the LeBrons in Cleveland, but they still have three more games with King James. They have four games with Orlando, the first of which is Nov. 20 at TD Garden, when the Celtics could be 12-0. The Eastern Conference foes play Christmas Day in Orlando, which will be good for Celtics coach Doc Rivers from a personal standpoint, if not a professional one.

Boston plays the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers on Jan. 31 at home and in LA on Feb. 18. They're at San Antonio on Dec. 3 and host the Spurs on March 28. There are road games on back-to-back nights in the Lone Star State against Houston and Dallas in March. The feisty Atlanta Hawks always get up for their games with the Celtics and the teams renew their rivalry next Friday. They play an ESPN game on Jan. 8 in Atlanta and then play at the Garden again three days later. In the ultimate look-ahead game, the Celtics play the Hawks on the road two days before they come home to face the Lakers for the first time.

Those are 17 tough games for the 17-time NBA champions, but going 8-9 or 9-8, still leaves room to catch the Bulls.

LINK

This is a good analysis. Really, it is. Where it fails is by omitting the possibility of losing games to bad teams like almost happened on Wednesday. The Boston Celtics won 66 games two years ago, three of those losses coming in a row right after the All-Star break. All three losses were to bad teams. No biggie, of course. The Celtics were still on break. Now we're two years older. Can we really expect to avoid such pot-holes this time around?

Regardless, Doc and Danny both are downplaying the quest to win 70, and this makes me happy.

Celtics Out to Improve on 33-8 Home Record

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Record: 2-1
11/4/1983

The season is only three games old and already K. C. Jones has become a master of understatement. The new Celtics' coach wants his team to win every game played in Boston Garden, which despite a new paint job will never be confused with the Holy Land by most NBA teams. Jones was speaking of Celtics' intimidation, which at the ancient edifice is not a new notion, but one that in recent years could not be taken for granted. "We have to go out from the start and play aggressively every game, but especially so on our home court," Jones said. "It's important to let teams know they can't walk in here and think they can beat the Celtics."

Most coaches would find last season's 33-8 record at home - including 2-1 at Hartford - acceptable, considering the growing number of quality clubs, but that won't satisfy K. C. It goes against the Celtics' tradition started in the '60s when enforcers such as Jim Loscutoff, Gene Conley and Bob Brannum made oppponents coming to the Garden shudder in anticipation of a physical pounding.

And it goes against the legacy of the '70s, when the Celtics won two World Championships with players like Dave Cowens, Don Nelson and Paul Silas, who used a combination of brains and brawn to accomplish the same end. "We've got to go after teams and start doing some of the things they have been doing to us," he said. "I'm not talking muscles.

"It starts with putting pressure on the ball and playing with smarts. We did it with Cleveland and Milwaukee and you saw the results. The idea is to be aggressive, and if you get burned, have a support system there to take up the slack." Robert Parish added that the support system is not something that can be turned on in the fourth quarter.

"You've got to fight fire with fire," said the big center. "There are some things you can't do, but that doesn't mean you can't get after teams and play with great intensity. We need to develop the killer instinct early." Then there is the confidence factor, because once a team beats the Celtics at the Garden or in Hartford, it seems to give that team even more confidence on its home court against Boston.

"That's what has happened with Detroit," said Jones. "They match up well and they come here knowing they can beat us because they've done it before. That's what you have to change. Indiana is coming to town and they seem to play well against us." Perfection is the goal, added Jones, but right now he will settle for a balanced team effort. "That's because the level of talent is so good in this league that there will be nights when you're simply not going to stop a player."

Sidney Moncrief of the Bucks had 28 points Wednesday night, but "we were able to shut down players like Marques Johnson and Alton Lister," Jones pointed out. "Moncrief didn't hurt us all that much because he didn't get going in bunches. That's what the support system is all about." Steve Stipanovich, the No. 2 overall draft selection, will make his Garden debut tonight (7:30) with the Pacers. The former Missouri center has become the third member of the youthful but talented Indiana front line with Clark Kellogg and Herb Williams, both from Ohio State.

More from #13, More on #13

Like I’ve said all the time, a good amount of players are good once they find the right fit. Take a look at Shannon Brown. He couldn’t play in Charlotte but he was good enough to play for (the Lakers) on an NBA championship team (last year). That just shows you.

--Sheldoon

He’s benefited a great deal from where he is.People haven’t seen Shelden, and I think he shot to the forefront of the league with this team. Now people want to know about him. People are hearing about his journey, and it brings his value up. It brings our value up.

--J.Shuttlesworth

He was a 12th man, an afterthought, someone Doc Rivers could bury at the bottom of his depth chart and hide at the end of his bench. Essentially, Williams' main purpose was to lie in waiting until injuries arose and his services were needed.

As it turned out, that time came a lot sooner than the Celtics were expecting. With the thumb injury that shelved Glen Davis less than two weeks ago, Williams became a key part of the Celtics' rotation overnight, and he hasn't shied away from the challenge. Suffice it to say that Williams has already surpassed the Celtics' expectations for him. And it's still early November. Through six games, Williams' per-game averages off the Celtics bench are very solid: 7.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.5 blocks. He's shooting 57.1 percent from the floor and 84.0 percent from the free-throw line. And he's only getting 17 minutes a night.

--NESN

He played well in the season-opening win in Cleveland, scoring four points and grabbing three rebounds in 13 minutes. As his time on the floor has increased, so has his production. He had 12 points, nine rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block in 22 minutes against Charlotte, and then put up a double-double effort in 24 minutes against the Bulls — 10 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

In fact, Shelden Williams is a big part of why the Celtics are 4-0, part of a bench that has equaled — and at times surpassed — the starting unit in the early going. His defense has been big, even if he hasn't quite figured out the Celtics' help defense just yet.

"Pretty much where I've always been, you're responsible for your man, and that's something they don't stress here," he said. "Everybody has to jump back. That's something pretty much all my life I've been the last line of defense, and I've had to get the stops myself. I'm still at the point where I'm looking at my man, and I'm not looking to help. That's something I'm still working on."

--TIM WEISBERG

KG has Career Night in Loss

KG's Rookie Year
11/16/1995

The Timberwolves have difficulty with the San Antonio Spurs, and Wednesday night's game at Target Center was no exception. The Spurs' 105-96 victory was further proof that the Wolves' turnaround has not yet begun. The loss was the third straight for the Wolves (1-5) despite a career night for 19-year-old rookie Kevin Garnett. Garnett had 19 points and eight rebounds. The Wolves dropped to 3-28 lifetime against the Spurs.

Whenever the Wolves play the Spurs (5-2), the focus usually falls on David Robinson. Last season's NBA most valuable player didn't let a teen-ager upstage him, pouring in 30 points and collecting 12 rebounds in 29 minutes. Sean Elliott complemented Robinson with 21 points. Tom Gugliotta, doing most of the inside work with Christian Laettner on the injured list with an ankle sprain, finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds. But Gugliotta, like his teammates, wilted in the second half. Gugliotta had only four points in the second half. The Wolves shot 39 percent (31 of 78), the fourth game in which they shot below 40 percent.

Spurs guard Avery Johnson made a free throw and fed Robinson for an alley-oop dunk to build a 95-87 lead with 3:53 remaining. The Wolves trailed only 91-87 with 6:56 left after Sean Rooks' hook shot over Robinson. They had three chances to tie or take the lead but came up empty on each possession. Gugliotta missed two shots, one a three-pointer, and Micheal Williams had the ball stolen by Johnson.

Behind Garnett's inspiring play, the Wolves cut into a 13-point deficit to trail 85-78 by the end of the third quarter. Garnett blocked a shot by J.R. Reid and scored the Wolves' last six points of the quarter, four on impressive tip-ins. Robinson's jumper had given the Spurs an 82-68 lead with 3:28 left in the third quarter. The Wolves seemed to get caught flat-footed trying to locate guard Vinny Del Negro. Del Negro got the Spurs off to a fast start in the period with 12 points, including two three-pointers over Doug West.

Already angered by Del Negro's flurry, West lost his cool when Gugliotta hit the floor hard on a drive to the basket and a foul was not called. Replacement referee William Kennedy hit West with two technical fouls, an automatic ejection. Robinson made the technical free throw to put the Spurs up 76-66 with 5:09 left in the quarter. West's outburst came when the Spurs were taking over the game after a sluggish second quarter.

The Wolves took advantage of cold shooting by the Spurs in the second quarter and Robinson's foul problems to take a 59-57 lead at halftime. Robinson picked up his third foul with 7:16 left in the quarter and sat out the rest of the period. If not for the foul trouble, Robinson might have had even more impressive numbers. He had made six of his first nine shots to open with a quick 15 points, 14 in the first quarter.

After Robinson left the game, the Spurs made only four field goals the rest of the half. They finished the second quarter shooting 5 for 22 (23 percent), which helped the Wolves make a run just before halftime. Trailing 52-47, the Wolves went on a 12-2 spurt highlighted by two fast-break baskets by rookie Mark Davis. Garnett started the run with an inside move. Rooks added two free throws and Gugliotta converted a layup and two free throws.

Gugliotta, who posted his fourth double double (points and rebounds) this season in the first half, was the Wolves' most active player. He had 16 points and 10 rebounds at intermission.
Nine of his points came at the free-throw line, an indication of the Wolves' determination to take the ball inside with Robinson playing soft because of foul problems.

Best Defensive Teams

You may recall that the Celtics were a pretty good defensive team two seasons ago, when Kevin Garnett was healthy and they won their 17th championship. In fact, they were the best defensive team of the last 10 years when you compare their defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) to that of the league average that season.

Top Five Defensive Teams, Last Decade

Team Season Defensive Rating NBA average Differential Boston * 2007-08 96.4 104.7 -8.34 San Antonio 2003-04 91.7 100.0 -8.31 Detroit * 2003-04 92.6 100.0 -7.5 San Antonio * 2004-05 96.1 103.1 -7.0 Chicago 2006-07 97.1 103.7 -6.6

* = won NBA championship

This season, with the best teams in the league getting better, the Celtics may just have to be even more suffocating defensively than they were two seasons ago if they want to win banner No. 18. The question is: How do they do that?

LINK

Shelden is Fitting In

When we first got Shelden Williams, he was so used to running down to the post and asking for the ball. Early on we explained that, 'We have Paul Pierce and Ray Allen; your job is this.' He's doing it, accepting it. He's been a big pickup and the one thing he does, too, is rebound.

Doc

It is interesting to see how much success or failure in the NBA can be reduced to understanding, accepting, and fulfilling a role. When you're the fifth pick overall in the NBA draft, the presumption is that you are Moses Malone, and thus GIVE ME THE FREAKIN' BALL NOW is your role. When that role doesn't pan out, you need to find a new one.

It is clear to me that Shelden's role is to do the little things, nothing more and nothing less. Get rebounds, block out, defend, take up space, set picks, roll, take 'er to the rim, hit your free throws, and keep the boneheadedness to a minimum.

There's not much glory in that job description, unless you play for the Celtics, in which case, if you play your role well enough, your prize is immortality. Not bad, huh?

C's (2-1) Exact Some Measure of Revenge for Playoff Sweep

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Celtics 119, Bucks 105
Record: 2-1
11/3/1983

Ancient philosopher Juvenal claimed, "Revenge is always the delight of a mean spirit, of a weak and petty mind." Maybe. But Juvenal probably couldn't go to his left or make the outlet pass to start a fast break. He certainly never experienced the indignity of being swept 4-0 in the playoffs.

The Celtics finally beat the Milwaukee Bucks last night, and it had to feel good. Commemorating the sixth-month anniversary of the Milwaukee May Day Massacre, Boston extracted a pound of flesh from the aged Bucks, beating Don Nelson's gang, 119-105, in the old-yet-new Boston Garden. Boston's 38th home opener was played in front of the 121st consecutive Garden capacity throng, a group which included striking officials who paraded to the tune of "Joe Hill" early in the first quarter.

You can thank Larry Bird and Quinn Buckner for this one. Bird scored 22 points in the first three quarters as the Celtics built an 11-point lead. Buckner came off the bench and was a catalyst in each half, stealing, assisting and scoring like the man who used to play the point for the Bucks. He got a lot of backcourt help from new Celtic Dennis Johnson in the second half.

The Celtics hit 80 percent of their first-quarter shots, led, 32-27, after one and never trailed. The tightest moment came when a seven-point halftime lead vaporized early in the third quarter. As old fried Tiny Archibald went coast to coast for two, the Celtic lead was trimmed to 69-67 and K. C. Jones called time. Led by Bird and Buckner, the C's outscored Milwaukee, 20-11, in the final eight minutes of the third and led, 89-78.

Junior Bridgeman caught fire for the Bucks in the fourth, but the Celts had too much muscle underneath and the Bucks never got closer than eight. Archibald received a not so Tiny standing ovation when the starting lineups were announced. Then the real fun started. It was a little tense at the beginning. Two announcements calling for eviction of any fan caught blowing a whistle had been made, and when centers Robert Parish and Bob Lanier set themselves for the opening tap, a coterie of policemen lined the the perimeter of the court. The Celtics and the Garden were intent on averting the type of ugly scenes that have taken place elsewhere.

Adding to the tension was the presence of Darrell Garretson, the only veteran referee who has elected to ignore the strike. Bird shifted the emphasis momentarily by canning an 18-footer out top to open the home season. The Celts were pressing and running, and another bomb by Bird (11 points in the quarter) quickly made it 8-2.

While all this was going on, the striking refs (who bought 15 obstructed- vie w tickets) starting strolling the aisles behind the loge boxes. It was then that you could hear a few of the 2000 whistles that had been handed out by the striking officials before the game. When Dennis Johnson stole the ball and fed Bird for another jumper to make it 13-5, Milwakee coach Don Nelson called time with 9:08 left in the quarter. Then the picket gang tried to move down to the area behind the Celtics' bench. They were stopped, backed off and disappeared into the night.

When play resumed, Parish hit a turnaround to make it 15-5. The Celtics were on their way to hitting 12 of 15 shots in the quarter, and another run by late in the period made it 24-13 before the Bucks started fighting back. Eight straight points by Milwaukee cut Boston's lead to 24-21. As usual, Sidney Moncrief was everywhere (10 in the period) and Boston's margin was down to five (32-27) after one. Archibald scored two points in the first half.

The Bucks pulled to within one point briefly, but Buckner and Danny Ainge had success pressing Milwaukee at halfcourt, and when Buckner converted a steal into a layup, it was 46-37 with 7:12 left in the half. Boston took advantage of height mismatches (Marques Johnson on Kevin McHale), and two more baskets by Bird pushed the Celts to their biggest lead of the half (54-41), but the Bucks cut it to 63-56 by intermission.

Not a Bad First Six Games for the Beast

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SEASON AVERAGES

Season	Team	G	GS	MPG	FG%	3p%	FT%	OFF	DEF	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF	PPG
09-10	BOS	6	6	26.3	0.615	0.000	0.583	0.8	4.7	5.5	1.2	0.0	2.3	2.50	2.30	9.2
Career		370	256	21.1	0.552	0.000	0.613	1.8	3.9	5.7	1.0	0.3	1.4	1.55	2.80	5.7

I was gathering autographs before a recent game when I told the Beast "10 more years and #43 will be hoisted to the rafters."

"Yeah, right," he responded, as he finished signing my SI championship book.

He's certainly no KG, Paul Pierce, or Ray Allen. Hey may not even be an All-Star or All-Defense . . . yet. But he's already got one ring, and who knows how many more he'll win. Does anyone doubt his indispensability to this team? If Don Nelson's number can get hoisted, is it really that hard to imagine a jersey-raising ceremony for the Beast?

Rondo scored 10 points over a 2:48 span, all resulting from moves in the lane, tying the score at 68 with 2:34 remaining in the third quarter. "The way they were trapping," Rivers said, "we just lifted Ray way up and kept telling them, either they are going to leave Ray, or Rondo is going to get layups. That's why we left Rasheed [Wallace] in, because usually it's the big that drops, but he can't drop because he's got Rasheed and we've got Ray. We threw it to Kevin, and so we had four shooters and Rajon. We tried to force them to trap and if they did trap, we get a layup."

This was indeed an important juncture of the game. Doc had made a decision to substitute Perk for Sheed. Perk took the floor, Sheed went to the bench. Then a time-out was called. Doc reversed his decision during the time-out, putting Sheed back out on the floor. And then the above happened. Doc is a damn good coach, and it's nice to see him coaching well when our boys play less than stellar ball. Rondo saved the game last night.

I say as the season unfolds, we're gonna see Rondo asserting himself more when the other starters are hibernating, which, from the looks of it, might be quite often in the first quarter.

Slimmer Quinn Buckner Making a Difference

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Celtics 119, Bucks 105
Record: 2-1
11/3/1983

If you ask Quinn Buckner, he'll tell you he owes his success to clean living and target practice. Translated, that means the veteran Celtic guard is off to the kind of season he envisioned a year ago when he came here from Milwaukee. Before the Celtics' 119-105 victory over the Bucks last night in their home opener, all eyes were on Milwaukee's Tiny Archibald. But afterward, most of the sellout crowd at the Garden was singing the praises of Buckner, who scored 16 points and gave Boston an unexpected lift with the kind of outside shooting that he didn't have a year ago.

"I've really been shooting well since training camp," said Buckner. "The way I thought I would when I came here a year ago. I owe a lot of it to keeping my weight down and shooting all summer, with Junior Bridgeman of Milwaukee, would you believe. Since training camp, I've been shooting with Larry Bird. They are two pretty good shooters, and maybe some of it rubbed off."

On paper the Bucks figured to have a slight edge because they could bomb away outside with the likes of Sidney Moncrief, Bridgeman and Archibald. No team with a Larry Bird can be called bashful about shooting from the outside, but it was thought that if Gerry Henderson got into foul trouble, the Celtics had only one other pure shooter at guard, Danny Ainge. Sure enough, Henderson did get into foul trouble in the third quarter, with Boston leading by only 69-67. In came Buckner, who had hit 4 of 5 shots in the first half, and out went the best-laid plans of Bucks' coach Don Nelson. With Boston leading, 72-70, Buckner hit a 16-footer from the right baseline to give the Celtics a four-point lead, and the Bucks never came any closer.

"Quinn did just a super job," insisted Celtics' coach K.C. Jones. "He showed that he's not only a great defensive player, but also that he's a leader. He hit some big shots from the outside." Nelson, the man who let Buckner go to Boston for Dave Cowens, agreed that Buckner's play was an important factor in Boston's victory. "On defense, we had a lot of problems getting by him," said Nelson. "He's improved a lot. I think it is because he approached the season well. His weight is down and he is playing well on both ends of the floor."

Buckner's fine play off the bench is something that future Celtics' foes will have to think about. If he is successful as an outside shooter, it will mean that Boston has four interchangable guards. Dennis Johnson and Henderson are the starters. "Right now," said Buckner, "we're able to get a lot of versatility out of the guard situation. D.J. is playing very well inside, and I'm trying to make whatever contribution I can make.
"Right now, the jump shot is going. Defensively, I'm just playing aggressively. I think that's what we have to have, guards playing aggressively to get the forwards and centers playing the same way."

Buckner said the key for him was his preseason approach. He lost 10 pounds by dieting right after last season, and spent the whole summer keeping weight off and working his shot. "It paid off," he said. "I was aware of the guard situation when I came to camp. All I had to worry about was getting my game in shape, and learning what was expected of me and my teammates. "I feel better than I did last year. I thought I was going to shoot like this then. But I got hurt in training camp and I didn't get started the way I like. You live and you learn in this game."

Tiny Returns to Boston in Bucks Uniform

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Celtics 119, Bucks 105
Record: 2-1
11/3/1983

Tiny Archibald held court before his return to the Garden in a Milwaukee Bucks uniform last night. Asked about his relationship wth ex-Celtic coach Bill Fitch, Archibald said, "I talked to Bill when I saw him. I don't think Bill is bitter about me and I'm not bitter about him. Maybe I stepped out of line saying certain things, but I still feel I wasn't used as I should be used. But I don't think Bill hates me or anything.

In his first two games as Milwaukee's playmaker, Archibald played 47 minutes, hit 8 of 11 from the floor, 2 of 2 from the line and doled out 6 assists. "Tiny's playing great," said backcourtmate Sidney Moncrief. "He's a welcome addition . . . He has a different personality, but he's never given me the impression of a pouter. He likes to win and, in the process, play a lot. That's no different than any player."

Moncrief didn't play in Milwaukee's loss in Detroit Tuesday night due to a sore right shoulder. "I hurt it in a freak accident," said the All-Star guard. "I've had trouble since training camp, but it should be OK in the next couple of days." . . . Ancient center Bob Lanier still has trouble playing two nights in a row due to his wobbly knees. In Detroit Tuesday, Lanier tagged Pistons' center Bill Laimbeer with a wicked elbow. No foul was called.

Speaking of fouls, picketing official Jack Madden had this to say about the 2000 whistles that were handed out outside the Graden by striking referees before last night's game: "Our objective is to pass them out to the fans as a symbol of referees. Once the game starts, we don't expect them to blow them. We wouldn't want somebody to disrupt the game. We did this in Chicago in '77 and it had a very positive affect."

Bucks' coach Don Nelson faked out the striking referees. He had the Bucks enter through a back door instead of in front of the Garden, where union leader Richie Phillips had organized his picket line . . . Moncrief on new Celtic guard Dennis Johnson: "He's a tough, intelligent ballplayer. He always created problems for my game." . . . New Celtics' owners Don Gaston, Alan Cohen and Paul Dupee got their first look at the Celtics in a regular-season game.

DJ's Attitude is Just Fine in Boston

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Record: 1-1
11/2/1983


He has always carried a label of being a free spirit in the purest sense. In good years and bad, it is what made Dennis Johnson's approach to playing professional basketball different. When Johnson came into the NBA in 1976, it was thought that the Seattle SuperSonics had goofed in making a 6-foot-4 shot-blocking guard from tiny Pepperdine (Calif.) College their second-round draft choice. But in seven seasons, that same Dennis Johnson has developed into the prototype of the big defensive guard that almost every NBA club now feels it must have.

While playing in Seattle and then Phoenix, Johnson became known as the complete two-way player. His defense frequently overshadowed his offensive production. But he always seemed to have the ball when the big shot was needed, and usually he hit it. It is hard to find fault with a man who has been named to the All-NBA defensive team a record tying five seasons and has averaged over 15 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists a game. Yet, one owner, Sam Shulman of Seattle, and two coaches, Len Wilkens of Seattle and John MacLeod of Phoenix, have either publicly or privately complained of Johnson's "attitude."

Such are the contradictions in the life of the man called D.J., who does not deny there have been problems but quickly adds that people don't judge books solely by their reviews and the same should be true for an NBA player. "Sure, I've had some personality problems," says Johnson, who will be making his home debut as a starter for the Celtics tonight. "But they didn't come from a coaching or player standpoint. It came from management.

"It can happen easily. Somebody is going to say that Dennis Johnson has been on three teams and that means he must have a problem. But how many teams has Tom Nissalke coached, or Bill Fitch? What's the deal there? They don't have a problem?" It is still difficult to fathom how the Celtics, of all clubs, were able to land a player with the talents of Dennis Johnson. He was acquired in June for backup center Rick Robey in a deal that raised more eyebrows in Phoenix than in Boston. He had apparently won his three-year battle with Suns management and was at peace with the world.

Johnson played well enough in his three years in Phoenix, a club that has replaced Philadelphia as the perennial NBA bridesmaid. But the peace he thought existed was a mirage. It had been well known but never publicly acknowledged that for two years the Suns felt they had a man clearly cut from the wrong mold, and that they had made a mistake in trading Paul Westphal to Seattle for him.

"Attitude" is a catch-all phrase in the NBA and usually means a player is not well liked by his coach. Johnson's record has been one of excellence on the court and does not contain even a hint of a drug problem, the current professional sports sickness. His "attitude" problems mean his relations with front offices over money and over basic philosophy, as in Seattle, where Wilkens once called him a "cancer" to the Sonics.

Johnson had been the MVP of the 1979 NBA playoff finals, won by Seattle. But even before Wilkens' "cancer" outburst, the Sonics were unhappy because Johnson had demanded and won a five-year contract, which still has two years to go. Wilkens and Johnson feuded, with Wilkens claiming D.J. was uncoachable and uncooperative. After Johnson was traded to Phoenix in 1980-81, that one quote haunted him. When he sought to renegotiate his contract in the summer of 1981 - the year Magic Johnson was given a million-dollar contract - he found resistance from the front office and finally had to bury the hatchet publicly to quiet newspaper stories that he was holding out.

Johnson knew his actions didn't endear him to management, but he still felt that his performance in the last two years had redeemed him in the eyes of the fans and his peers. One source close to the Suns, however, indicated that while MacLeod publicly praised Johnson, he didn't like his off-court manner and training habits. Johnson admits his "attitude problem" did exist at one point. He agrees that his run-in with Shulman was a classic example of how not to conduct player-owner relations, and things went downhill from there. When Johnson left Seattle in a huff, the whole experience left bad feelings on both sides.

But things were different after his trade to Boston, as the Suns were roasted by their media. Johnson had heard that the Suns were looking for a trade to beef up inside, but he said there was no hint that he would be the bait, particularly since the Suns are still minus a big defensive guard and have shifted Walter Davis to the backcourt. "At Seattle," said Johnson, "I just wanted a raise and he (Shulman) didn't want to give it to me. At times it left me bitter and left him bitter. I admit that it affected me in a different way and did carry over into my playing. But not totally.

"When I got traded, everybody, I guess, took a cue from that. I may have given that impression, I may not have. To prejudge or not to prejudge is an individual right. But nobody really asked me anything at that particular time. People automatically made judgments about me, and I let them think they were right. I didn't say anything. I let it be whatever they wanted it to be. But in the last three years, I've proved them totally wrong."

The trade to Boston did catch Johnson by surprise.

"My wife and I were shopping for a new home," he said. "I was surprised and shocked. I was bitter for the minute. But I'd faced it once and thus it wasn't all that hard to deal with this time. I said it means go to Boston, find me a place and get settled. "The first trade was one in which I was made the biggest focal point. But it was nothing that really bothered me beyond the first two or three months I was at Phoenix. I faced everything as best I could. I had my family behind me. I probably grew there mentally more than any place."

Johnson feels he has already won a measure of acceptance in Boston, especially from his teammates. He reported to training camp with the rookies, and coach K. C.Jones rewarded his hard work by giving him a starting job opposite Gerry Henderson. "I'm the type of player that can't have too bad a year. I'm not a pure shooter, " said Johnson. "Nobody counts on my shot going in every time like a Larry Bird or a Robert Parish, but I can shoot. The thing I do best is play defense, and I can't afford to slack on that even a little bit. My game is flexible."

But so are the Celtics.

"Between K. C., the other coaches and the players, I've probably been made to feel more welcome than any team I've ever been on since I left Seattle," Johnson said. "My trade happened real quick, but they made me feel welcome. "The day that one guard can dominate on defense is probably over. But I plan to get back as close to it as I can this year. It's going to take a lot of hard work."

6-0: Celtics 92, Wolves 90

Celtics 92, Timberwolves 90

Recap Box Score Play-By-Play Shot Chart Photos Conversation

	1	2	3	4	T
BOS (6-0)	22	19	31	20	92
MIN (1-4)	27	22	23	18	90

Final

8:00 PM ET, November 4, 2009

Target Center

Minneapolis, MN

BOSTON CELTICS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Kevin Garnett, PF	35	6-13	0-0	0-0	2	9	11	2	1	3	1	1	-1	12
Paul Pierce, SF	41	3-12	0-1	4-4	1	1	2	5	0	0	1	2	-2	10
Kendrick Perkins, C	32	6-7	0-0	1-2	1	7	8	1	0	3	2	1	-2	13
Ray Allen, SG	33	6-13	1-7	1-1	0	3	3	5	0	0	1	0	-2	14
Rajon Rondo, PG	35	8-16	0-0	2-2	2	2	4	6	3	0	2	3	0	18
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Rasheed Wallace, FC	19	2-7	2-7	1-2	1	4	5	0	0	0	1	3	+2	7
Eddie House, PG	13	2-8	2-4	0-0	0	1	1	1	2	0	1	0	+5	6
Brian Scalabrine, PF	4	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	+8	0
Marquis Daniels, SG	18	2-5	0-0	2-6	0	1	1	3	2	0	0	2	0	6
Shelden Williams, PF	9	2-2	0-0	2-2	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	+2	6
J.R. Giddens, SG	DNP COACH'S DECISION
Lester Hudson, G	DNP COACH'S DECISION
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF		PTS
		37-83	5-19	13-19	8	28	36	23	9	6	9	13		92
		44.6%	26.3%	68.4%
Fast break points: 13 Points in the paint: 46 Team TO ( points off ): 10 (8) +/- denotes team's net points while the player is on the court.
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Ryan Gomes, F	35	5-7	0-1	1-2	1	6	7	3	2	0	1	1	+6	11
Oleksiy Pecherov, PF	34	9-14	1-4	5-5	1	7	8	1	1	0	2	3	+12	24
Al Jefferson, C	36	8-17	0-1	2-3	0	4	4	3	1	0	2	2	+3	18
Corey Brewer, SF	39	6-16	0-2	1-1	0	3	3	5	1	0	1	3	+2	13
Jonny Flynn, PG	33	4-6	1-1	1-1	1	4	5	5	0	0	2	1	+3	10
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Ryan Hollins, C	14	2-5	0-0	0-0	2	2	4	1	0	2	2	4	-11	4
Damien Wilkins, SG	5	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	1	-8	0
Sasha Pavlovic, SG	13	2-3	0-1	0-0	1	3	4	0	0	0	2	0	-8	4
Ramon Sessions, PG	15	2-3	0-0	0-0	0	4	4	2	0	0	3	1	-5	4
Wayne Ellington, G	4	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+1	0
Brian Cardinal, PF	12	1-3	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	-5	2
Nathan Jawai, PF	DNP COACH'S DECISION
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF		PTS
		39-75	2-11	10-12	6	34	40	22	5	2	17	18		90
		52.0%	18.2%	83.3%
Fast break points: 2 Points in the paint: 36 Team TO ( points off ): 18 (17) +/- denotes team's net points while the player is on the court.

Celts Meet Bucks for First Time since Playoff Sweep

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Record: 1-1
11/1/1983

Some folks remember the Maine. Others remember the Alamo. Still others try to remember the kind of September. The Boston Celtics remember the Milwaukee May Day Massacre. The NBA's schedule maker must be a clever fellow, blessed with either a macabre sense of humor or a keen feel for the dramatic. Here it is, two days after Halloween, and the Milwaukee Bucks are in town to help the Celtics open their 38th home season tonight at 8.

These are the same Bucks who spit on the once-proud Celts in four straight games last May. Milwaukee's flashdance sweep was the first ever suffered by the Boston franchise, and it opened up the gates for a tumultous summer that saw several key members of the Celtics' cast wave goodby. One of tonight's multiple subplots is the return of Tiny Archibald in a Bucks uniform. Boston's floor leader for five seasons was unceremoniously dumped in midsummer, then signed with the Bucks. Tiny will be Milwaukee's starting playmaker tonight, but memories of The Sweep remain the Celts' primary motivation.

"I think we'll have some extra incentive," said Cedric Maxwell. "It's unusual to be pumped up for an early game, but I think our pride is still probably wounded. We weren't prepared and they beat us handily last year. I think we'll be up a lot more this time. You can't gain it all back - what we lost as far as our pride goes - but this would be a start." "I'm sure we haven't forgotten the way we ended last year," adds Robert Parish. "This should be a very intense contest. We have to establish ourselves against a good ballclub, especially since our first outing (Friday's 127-121 loss in Detroit) wasn't exactly pretty."

"Ugly" is the best description of the Milwaukee Massacre. The Celts were beaten in straight sets, 116-95, 95-91, 107-99 and 107-93. The Bucks advanced to the Eastern Conference finals against Philadelphia while the Celtics staggered home for an endless summer of "What happened to you guys?" "The Bucks embarrassed us," says M.L. Carr. "I'd like to beat Milwaukee six times this year, then meet them in the playoffs and beat 'em again. I don't want to take aything away from them, but it could have been any team beating us the way we were playing then. It could have been Phoenix. It could have been New York. It just happened to be Milwaukee."

Bucks' coach Don Nelson, who burned some bridges with mentor Red Auerbach during the sweep, says, "This is just one of the early tough games for us. The sweep was nice, but it was just one step for us. Our goal last spring was to win a championship and we didn't, so I don't feel very triumphant coming back to Boston." Nelson will start Archibald in the backcourt with Sidney Moncrief. Marques Johnson, Bob Lanier and Alton Lister will start up front. Archibald and Lanier played only 21 and 23 minutes respectively in Milwaukee's season opener vs. Indiana. Charlie Criss, Junior Bridgeman, Paul Pressey and Kevin Grevey are Nelson's spare guards, and Harvey Catchings, Paul Mokeski and rookie Randy Breuer fill in underneath.

Listor plays some center when Lanier is out of the game, and Nelson has been looking at Pressey as a small forward. The Bucks are the oldest and most experienced team in the league. "I worry that older players have the tendency to get injured more and may not recover as quickly, but I like my squad," says Nelson. "We have respect for them, but we know we can beat them, " says Larry Bird. "They embarrassed us and the only way to get back at 'em is to go out and beat 'em." "Let's put it this way," adds Kevin McHale. "If we have to beat a team Wednesday night, there's nobody I'd rather beat than Milwaukee. We have to vindicate ourselves."

Negotiators for the NBA and the NBA Referees Assn. met for four hours yesterday and NBA
legal counsel Russ Granik reported "no significant progress." Granik also said, "We are prepared to go all season with the substitute officials. We think they'll get better each week." The NBA said it had filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against the referees' union for allegedly "engaging in a pattern of attempted coercion and intimidation" of substitute refs . . . Archibald hit 4 of 4 floor shots and 2 of 2 from the line in the Bucks' opener. "I think the fans will show their appreciation for the things Tiny did while he was here," says Carr . . . Moncrief has a slightly bruised shoulder but expects to play . . . Milwaukee assistant coach Gary St. Jean scouted the Celtics last weekend.

Bad Blood Brewing Between Ainge & Nellie

1983-84 Boston Celtics
November 1, 1983

It sounds as if there is still bad blood between Danny Ainge and Milwaukee coach Don Nelson. Prior to the third game of the Bucks' four-game sweep of Boston last May, Nelson publicly labeled Ainge "a cheap shot artist." Ainge was booed by Milwaukee fans every time he touched the ball in the next two games.

After the series, Celtics' general manager Red Auerbach refused to congratulate Nelson and said, "They beat us, but what they did to Ainge wasn't fair." Nelson was fined by the league and sent a letter of apology to Ainge. "I think Danny is a good player," Nelson said Monday. "I wrote Danny a letter at the end of the season, but I'm not going to comment on any of that stuff."

"Yeah, he sent me a letter of apology, if that's what you want to call it," Ainge said yesterday. "It wasn't much of a letter of apology. I think the league made him send it. He told me that I should learn how to take an offensive charge during the summer. "I've never hurt anyone in my life and I doubt any of his players are threatened by my presence.

"What he said didn't affect me, but it affected the fans and the officials. I had three brutal fouls called on me in the first quarter of the next game. I thought what he did was totally wrong. It didn't show much class, and the sad part is, it worked. He got the officials and the fans - not just the fans of Milwaukee - against me. I think that's stooping pretty low."

On Tuesday, the Celtics actually trailed 12-4 early and went nearly six minutes without a point with the starters on the floor in the first quarter.

LINK

Six minutes without scoring a point. It's hard to imagine this ever happening to the second unit. Possible. But difficult to imagine.

The Bill Walton Effect

There are many things I remember about the 1985-86 Boston Celtics' bench. Jerry Sichting shooting .570 from the floor and .924 from the stripe. The Celtics' posting a 15-3 record with Scott Wedman filling in for an injured Kevin McHale, and more than holding his own. Rick Carlisle coming up big against the Lakers in the Forum. David Thirdkill making the most of his minutes. And Bill Walton totally dominating Kareem in two games against the Fakers that season.

But the most vivid memory I have is the look on the faces of opponents when Bill Walton got up off the bench and walked over to the scorer's table. You could see the heads and shoulders of opposing players slump. Others cursed in disgust. Think Kobe Bryant after Paul Pierce hit his second three in a row during game 1 of the NBA Finals (I absolutely love this vid. Kobe's entire body slumps. Also note that right before the second three, PJ Brown rejects Kobe!).

Now let's turn our attention to this year.

If you read any Sixers' blogs, you'll find that their fans were congratulating themselves for playing our starters close in the first quarter of last night's game. Bravo. But then the Celtics' reserves came in, and the momentum of the game changed--immediately. This is par for the course over the first 5 games of the 2009-10 NBA season. If this continues, it won't be long before the sight of Celtics' reserves standing up and moving over to the scorer's table will strike fear in every opponent Boston faces the rest of the year.

Fakers' Bench Scores 6 Points in OT Win over OKC

LINK

Yes, that's right. Five quarters. Six players. Six points. Will this give the pundits pause before droning on and on about how deep the Lakers' bench is this season???

Anti-Bynum Bias?

Andrew Bynum had 10 rebounds Tuesday in the 101-98 overtime win at Oklahoma City and seemed to please Jackson, maybe, in a way, perhaps. "He had a 10-rebound game and we like that," Jackson said. "His help defense was better tonight. I'd like to see him block a couple shots that come in there." Bynum actually blocked a big one down the stretch, getting a piece of Kevin Durant's 17-footer with 23.9 seconds left in overtime and the Lakers ahead, 99-98. But Bynum was not credited with a blocked shot by the official scorer and finished with none in the final box score."Of course not," Bynum said with a shrug. "I never get my stats."

LINK

"I never get my stats." Wow. So there is an anti-Bynum conspiracy among official scorers in the league??? Ah. I get it. The Zen Mistress has taught young Andrew well. If something doesn't go the way you want it to go, point the finger of blame! After all, isn't that what Phil Jackzen has done over and over again throughout his coaching career?

No Distractions in Tinseltown

Mike Bresnahan used to be a sports reporter. You know, I'd write about games and players and teams. Now I don't even recognize myself anymore. I write the name "Khloe Kardashian" all the time, and I'll probably do more of the same for another budding Lakers romance, seeing how reserve guard Sasha Vujacic is dating tennis star Maria Sharapova. Vujacic deflected several questions about the relationship before briefly confirming it to The Times. "Yes, I'm happy," he said. "Everything's good." I'm now qualified to begin a second career as a People magazine correspondent.

LINK

CELTICS' Offensive Efficiency: 118 points/100 possessions (league-leading)

CELTICS' Defensive Efficiency: 83 points allowed /100 possessions (league-leading)

LINK

This despite the fact that the Celtics are 20th in the league at protecting the ball, and only ninth at forcing turnovers.

Indulge the Guilty Pleasure

The Celtics, who are 5-0 and are outscoring opponents by an average of 22 points per game, won easily without significant contributions from Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Kendrick Perkins. Both Garnett (23 minutes) and Perkins (20 minutes) had 3 points and six rebounds, their teammates jokingly accusing them of taking the night off.

The Sixers pulled within 15 after three quarters, but the Celtic reserves turned it into a rout. Eddie House and Rasheed Wallace hit 3-pointers in the first 5:53 of the quarter, and a Lester Hudson trey increased the advantage to 95-61 with 4:59 remaining. “They take a lot of pressure off us,’’ Paul Pierce said. “We saw it early, the potential of our bench. Hopefully, they’ll continue to do the things to make them play great. “The more rest the better. That means we’re playing well, and, knowing it’s a long season, it’s going to pay off late in the season.’’

Pierce said the intrasquad scrimmages have improved both the starters and the second unit. “It’s tough to stop them, actually, and that’s why I think our defense is so good,’’ Pierce said, “because if we stop them, we can pretty much stop anybody.’’ Wallace scored 20 points and was 6 for 8 on 3-pointers.

“The best part is, when one guy has it going, they make a concerted effort to make sure that guy is getting the next shot until somebody stops him. You don’t see that a lot from a lot of benches. “They’re veterans, they understand the game, they’re playing to win, they have no agendas. Those three guys [Marquis Daniels, House, Wallace] kind of set the table.’’

LINK

Go ahead. Admit it. The thought has crossed your mind. The Boston Celtics' bench is better than their starters. There's nothing wrong with this guilty pleasure. It's not even a four-letter daydream, depending on how you go about comparing the effectiveness of the first and second units. There is no doubt the second-unit plays every second on the floor like the starters played every second of the 2007-08 season.

Let's get a couple of things straight. The 2009-10 Boston Celtics' bench is ahead of schedule. If the barometer is the 1985-86 bench, then the 2009-10 bench is way ahead of schedule. Look here and you'll see how Bill Walton embarrassed himself in the first game of the 1985-86 season. Look here and you'll see that the bench was still underperforming and disappointing as late as December 11th, 1985. It wasn't until the end of December 1985 that the 1985-86 bench started to gel and show some promise.

So my question is if the 2009-10 bench is playing this well now, what will they look like come December and January, especially as we start to prepare to play that one team from the other coast?

The Sixers, who entered the game with a league-leading .526 shooting percentage, shot 36.3 percent, the fourth Celtic opponent out of five that has failed to hit 40 percent.

KG Just Ain't Right

At intermission of the Hornets' game, I said that KG had just finished the worst half of basketball I could remember him playing . . . ever. He improved in the second half. Indeed, a few local fish-wraps went so far as to say that KG's second-half performance against the Hornets was his best yet since his return. I strongly disagreed. But figured that maybe I just wasn't paying attention. Either that, or my Haight-Ashbury days were finally catching up with me.

Midway through the fourth brick KG hoisted in the first half of tonight's game against Philadelphia, the jury had seen enough evidence to render a preliminary verdict. KG just ain't right. His open jumpers look bad, and he's not getting much lift on the contested jumpers. His maneuverability for inside moves is limited. On defense, he's tentative and sometimes even passive, letting guards drive around him for lay-ups.

There's nothing we can do about it, other than keep throwing him out their on the court and hope things improve. I think they will. I'm just not as certain as I was earlier in the season.

We Need More Rondo in the First Quarter

Whomever Doc hired to choreograph the Celtics' games this year is doing a good job, especially to start the games, because they all play out almost identically. The Celtics' starters come out listless, bored, uninterested. They fall behind quickly, playing like they're all over 40 years of age. The second team is inserted, and the deficit is closed just as quickly, and pretty soon the lead is reclaimed for good, at which point, typically, the rout is on. In more grade-school terms, it might be spelled out something like this: Snooooooooooore. Then, BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

If we really are as good as we think we are, this is probably understandable. Why expend energy to start the game when you don't have to? One answer to this question might be that we don't want to develop bad habits. Assuming this answer has any merit, please let me make a suggestion.

We need more Rondo in the first quarter. We need him driving to the hoop, driving through the lane, and otherwise wreaking havoc on the court. This usually fires up his teammates at best, and awakens them from their slumber at worst. He is the quarterback of the team after all, and a very rich one now, I might add. He increasingly looks like a player who can dominate stretches of games by simply flipping a switch.

When you have lightening in a bottle, it's tempting to save it for when you need it. But just for a change of pace, how about if we uncork it to start a game now and then?

5-0: Celtics 105, Sixers 74

Celtics 105, 76ers 74

Box Score Play-By-Play Shot Chart Photos Conversation

	1	2	3	4	T
BOS (5-0)	19	25	25	36	105
PHI (2-2)	17	19	18	20	74

Final

7:00 PM ET, November 3, 2009

Wachovia Center

Philadelphia, PA

BOSTON CELTICS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Kevin Garnett, PF	23	1-7	0-0	1-4	0	6	6	2	0	0	5	2	+3	3
Paul Pierce, SF	31	8-13	1-3	4-4	1	7	8	4	2	0	3	2	+12	21
Kendrick Perkins, C	20	1-3	0-0	1-2	2	4	6	2	0	2	3	3	+3	3
Ray Allen, SG	31	2-8	0-1	1-1	1	0	1	2	1	0	2	2	+14	5
Rajon Rondo, PG	28	5-7	0-0	1-1	2	0	2	5	4	0	3	2	+10	11
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Rasheed Wallace, FC	24	7-10	6-8	0-0	0	6	6	2	2	1	0	4	+30	20
Eddie House, PG	15	4-5	4-5	0-0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	+24	12
Brian Scalabrine, PF	5	2-2	1-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-2	5
Marquis Daniels, SG	28	3-5	0-0	0-0	0	3	3	4	1	0	0	0	+31	6
Shelden Williams, PF	23	5-8	0-0	1-2	1	6	7	1	0	0	0	2	+28	11
J.R. Giddens, SG	6	1-2	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	-3	2
Lester Hudson, G	7	2-2	2-2	0-0	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	2	+5	6
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF		PTS
		41-72	14-20	9-14	7	32	39	27	10	4	17	21		105
		56.9%	70.0%	64.3%
Fast break points: 14 Points in the paint: 38 Team TO ( points off ): 18 (14) +/- denotes team's net points while the player is on the court.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Elton Brand, PF	28	2-6	0-0	2-4	2	2	4	0	1	1	0	3	-9	6
Thaddeus Young, F	37	4-16	0-4	3-4	1	1	2	2	1	0	4	0	-29	11
Samuel Dalembert, C	24	3-5	0-0	2-2	2	6	8	0	0	1	3	1	-7	8
Andre Iguodala, SG	36	7-14	0-2	3-4	0	1	1	3	3	0	2	0	-25	17
Lou Williams, G	31	3-10	0-4	1-2	1	2	3	5	2	0	2	3	-22	7
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Jason Kapono, SF	11	2-4	0-2	0-1	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	4	-4	4
Willie Green, SG	12	3-7	0-1	1-1	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	-6	7
Rodney Carney, SF	9	0-2	0-1	1-2	2	1	3	0	0	0	0	1	-8	1
Jason Smith, PF	15	0-3	0-1	2-2	0	2	2	1	0	0	0	1	-11	2
Marreese Speights, PF	24	3-11	0-0	0-0	3	6	9	0	0	1	1	2	-22	6
Jrue Holiday, G	13	2-2	1-1	0-0	0	1	1	3	0	0	1	1	-12	5
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF		PTS
		29-80	1-16	15-22	11	23	34	15	7	3	16	16		74
		36.3%	06.3%	68.2%
Fast break points: 13 Points in the paint: 32 Team TO ( points off ): 17 (18) +/- denotes team's net points while the player is on the court.

Walton Reflects on Wooden's 99th Birthday

“I can remember when I played, I wouldn’t shake anybody’s hands after a loss,” Bird said.

Said Johnson: “The Celtics and Lakers, we never shook anybody’s hands.”

Bird: Lakers are Playing in the Weaker Conference Just Like in the 80s

In this conference call with Magic Johnson, Larry Bird was asked to compare today's Celtics-Lakers rivalry to the rivalry in the '80s. "Nothing's changed," said Bird. "All the powerhouses are in the East and the Lakers will cruise in the West.

Amen to that, Larry. Pissed me off twenty years ago, and pisses me off today.

Celtics Seek to Handle the Ball Better against Philly

The Boston Celtics had seven turnovers in the fourth quarter against the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday, though only six mattered, as the seventh was a shot-clock violation in the final seconds of the game. Six is still a ridiculous number for the fourth quarter of a close game. Last season the Celtics were 28th in the league at protecting the ball. I'm so accustomed to the green throwing the ball away that 15 turnovers for one game actually sounded low. Let's see if maybe we can start protecting the ball better tonight. We're on the road, and the Sixers are sure to be motivated.

Early in the season last year, when Doc said we weren't playing very well even though we had won 19 games in a row on the way to a 27-2 start, he was talking mostly about sloppy play and turnovers. Hopefully Rondo can start putting all that money he just pulled down to some good use.