Green Improves to 43-11
Nobody can be sure exactly how Dr. Naismith meant the game to be played, but until one of his relatives submits a carefully documented piece of correspondence to the contrary, we will presume he had in mind something similar to the version demonstrated by the Celtics in the fourth period last night.
In apparent danger of dropping their -- horrors! -- second game of the season to the worst team in the Central Division, the Celtics compressed a month's worth of someone else's highlights into 12 minutes, resulting in a 113-98 dispatch of the Indiana Pacers.
The fourth-quarter explosion (which included a run of 26-8) enabled the capacity gathering of 15,124 to go home raving about Larry Bird's 33d career triple-double (30 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists), Robert Parish's 27 points, 15 rebounds and 6 blocks, and Scott Wedman's 8-for-11, 19-point offensive display. Most of all, the fans could go home secure in the knowledge that they had seen the best team passing show any basketball enthusiasts are likely to witness in the next three months.
With 14 fourth-quarter assists among their 17 baskets, the Celtics submitted a number that should speak for itself. But numbers will never convey the pull-you-out-of-your-seat excitement of the passes thrown by Dennis Johnson (five of his seven assists) and Bird (four of his 12). The Celtics neither missed cutters nor took prisoners during the fourth-period destruction of a 19-37 team that had the temerity to make a game of it for three quarters.
The Celtics entered the final quarter tied at 78, and only arrived at that fortunate juncture thanks to a 30-foot, buzzer-beating heave by Johnson. The Pacers then scored the first four points of the last quarter. It would have been very nice for the team wearing the ugly blue jerseys if the Civic Center lights had then gone out, or if the roof had collapsed again, because the next eight minutes were very embarrassing.
A DJ jumper started the Celtics off. Then came two big plays by Jerry Sichting, who first stuck in a jumper and then drew an offensive foul on Bryan Warrick on the subsequent inbounds pass. Bird fed Wedman for a jumper, and the Celtics were ahead to stay at 84-82.
The fun had truly just begun, because the Celtics, who had found the Pacers unduly resilient during the first three quarters (the largest lead either team could construct was six), were determined to leave no doubt in the mind of any patron exactly which was the Have and which was the Have-Not.
Translation: the Celtics committed themselves to quality defense. "About that time," said DJ, "everybody said, 'Let's get going and end this as quick as we can.' By the time we had it up to 11 or 12, they started to lose confidence."
Perhaps the Pacers just got tired trying to find the ball. The Celtics made sure it didn't linger in anyone's hands too long.
"We let up with our intensity, especially on defense, in the fourth quarter," said Indiana coach George Irvine. "We didn't put pressure on the ball. We kind of backed off, and they picked us apart. Boston is very smart. They take whatever the defense gives, and they react very well. We also panicked on offense, too. That's a bad combination."
The five breaking open the game were Bill Walton, Bird, Wedman, Johnson and Sichting. They authored an 18-5 run that turned that 82-78 Indiana lead with 11:22 remaining into a 96-87 Boston advantage at the 5:52 mark. Parish entered the game for Wedman at this point, and the effect was downright obscene. The Chief helped himself to a turnaround one-on-three facial, a layup from Sichting, a dunk on a spectacular feed from DJ and, finally, a layup on a gorgeous feed from Bird.
The Celtics had the adoring crowd nervous and fretful during the first three quarters. They appeared unwilling to get back on defense in the first quarter ("Our minds and legs were still on the West Coast," said K.C. Jones), and they struggled to keep pace with the Indiana kids. It was 25-all after one, 55-53 Boston at the half and 78-all after three, and it seemed that Indiana wanted the game more at the 36-minute juncture.
No comments:
Post a Comment