He was at the Celtics ' home opener dressed in street clothes. He stood in the runway after the game and said, "I'm going to stick around town for a while and see if anything happens."
Something finally happened yesterday. On the day he was to play his first game with the Bay State Bombardiers of the CBA, David Thirdkill was called up by the Celtics .
Thirdkill will be wearing No. 45 when the Celtics take the Boston Garden floor against the Portland Trail Blazers tonight (7:30, SportsChannel). It will be the start of his fourth NBA season. A No. 1 draft pick of the Suns after a three-year career at Bradley, Thirdkill spent one season in Phoenix, one in Detroit, and played 18 games last year for the Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks and San Antonio Spurs.
The Celtics signed Thirdkill this summer after trading Cedric Maxwell to the Los Angeles Clippers. Boston figured it might have an occasional need for a small, quick forward who could play defense.
Thirdkill's chances of making the team were hurt when Boston subsequently signed another 6-foot-7-inch forward, Sly Williams. Red Auerbach wanted to give the oft-troubled forward one more chance.
Thirdkill still almost won a job. In six preseason games, he shot 60 percent (15 of 25) from the floor and played excellent defense. He scored 13 points in nine minutes in a game against the Lakers. He also did a credible job guarding LA forward James Worthy.
Rick Carlisle and Thirdkill were finalists for the 12th roster spot when it came to cutdown day. When Carlisle got the job, Thirdkill made a wise decision: He refused to comment. Clearly disappointed, he resisted the temptation to burn a bridge.
In retrospect, the Celts also made a smart move. They knew that Carlisle would have been scooped up if he'd been cut. They figured Thirdkill would still be available later. They figured right. Now they have both players.
The roster spot became available Monday when Williams was abruptly dumped by the Celtics. He'd missed a flight on the second weekend of the season, then disappeared altogether after going home to Connecticut for hemorrhoid surgery. The Celts decided they'd had enough.
Auerbach, general manager Jan Volk and the Boston coaches met early yesterday and decided to hire Thirdkill. The 6-7 forward was in Bangor prepping for last night's CBA opener.
"We're a little crushed," said Bombardier GM Steve Warshaw. "We wish we could have had David for just one game."
Thirdkill flew to Boston, where he was picked up by teammate Sam Vincent. Then he went to the Celtics' offices and signed a contract. If he's still on the team Dec. 20, the Celtics will have to pay him for the remainder of the season.
The Trail Blazers have lost 8 of 12. Injuries, poor shooting and weak rebounding have hurt Portland. The Blazers have been outrebounded in 13 of their last 15 games . . . Look for Jim Paxson and Darnell Valentine to start in the backcourt with Sam Bowie, Clyde Drexler and Mychal Thompson up front. Kiki Vandeweghe is not with the team. He suffered a bone bruise in his lower right leg Tuesday that was originally feared to be a stress fracture. He might play tomorrow night in New Jersey. Meanwhile, Bowie missed five games with a sore big toe (left foot) and Drexler missed six with a stress fracture of his left leg. He's been back for three games. Thompson isn't hurt, but scored only two points with no rebounds in 12 minutes against the Hawks Wednesday. Dr. Jack Ramsay used nine Blazers for 20 or more minutes in Atlanta.
The Celtics beat the Blazers, 128-127, in what might have been last season's best regular-season game at the Garden. Larry Bird scored 48 and won it with a buzzer-beater from the left corner . . . Bird has missed 13 consecutive three-point attempts . . . Danny Ainge is 18 for 21 from the floor in his last two games, and 36 for 38 (95 percent) from the line for the year . . . Robert Parish is in a three-game slump, averaging six shots, 6.3 points and 5.7 rebounds . . . The Celtics have the weekend off and play Atlanta at Hartford Tuesday. Boston needs victories tonight and Tuesday to match last season's 19-2 start. A win tonight would give the Celtics 10 straight victories. They won 10 in a row twice last season.
3 comments:
thirdkill played for tanduay in the pba back in the eighties.
btw, since you're knowledgable about the old school nba, can you tell me who's better? James Worthy or Scottie Pippen?
I'd go with Pippen, but not by much.
You?
i like worthy more. he raises his game in the playoffs (1988 finals mvp). he's one of the best lowpost games in the small forward position. if only amare had his moves...
re pippen, his defense remained at a high level during the postseason, but the offense usually suffered. i see him as mentally weak on crunch time.
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