1986 Cs Move to 6-1

CELTICS POUND PISTONS 124-105


The Celtics are on a roll. They've won six straight and there's no end in sight - Boston plays host to the Indiana Pacers Wednesday night.


"I like the way we're playing," coach K.C. Jones said after Saturday night's impressive 124-105 triumph over the Detroit Pistons in the Pontiac Silverdome. "We're getting right into our full assignments at the offensive end.

We let Detroit cut our lead to nine by playing helter-skelter, one-on-one basketball, but then we started moving the ball and calling out assignments and moving bodies around. That is something we have not done consistently, and now that we see it working, it'll reinforce itself."
The Celtics were almost flawless in their 72-point first half against Detroit. They controlled the defensive boards, pushed the ball up the floor, exploited mismatches underneath (Earl Cureton was trying to guard Kevin McHale), and pitched it outside for easy perimeter jumpers when the middle clogged. It was textbook offense.

The K.C. AC has won its last three games by 15, 24 and 19 points. They're beating teams to death with frontcourt power and newfound depth (Jerry Sichting was 6 for 6 from the floor vs. Detroit).

One begins to wonder where the competition is going to come from over the next 75 regular-season games. There seems to be an extraordinary number of pushover teams, and Boston only plays the Lakers twice during the regular season.

Detroit was supposed to be a big test, but Boston vaporized the Pistons. McHale & Co. led by 24 before halftime. The Celtics find it easy to motivate themselves against the Pistons. "We don't like them and they don't like us," admitted McHale (28 points). McHale got into a small shoving match with the frustrated Cureton after halftime. There was also a mini-altercation between Danny Ainge and John Long and a brief fight between Dennis Johnson and Bill Laimbeer. DJ and Laimbeer were ejected.

Emotion and incentive are needed if the Celtics are to avert letdowns against a long string of overmatched opponents the rest of the way.