1986 Cs Beat Rockets, Move to 51-13

Just your basic Message Game, the message being, "We didn't win 50 games by bribing the schedulemaker."

This was the Celtics ' team you brag about when you call your cousin in Kalamazoo, the Celtics ' team that has a definite Big Game mindset, the Celtics ' team that possesses the most diversified offensive portfolio in basketball. They needed to let people know that handing two straight games away on the road did not signify anything other than an attack of the March Blahs, and they did so last night, putting the Rockets away, 116-104, at the Summit.

Unlike the giveaway proceedings in Landover and Dallas, this was a demonstration of basketball power and intelligence. The Celtics led by eight at the half (69-61) and by eight after three quarters (95-87), and when they were still leading by eight with 6:13 remaining (105-97), they did the things they should have done the night before, when they piddled away a 13-point lead with 5:35 to play.

Specifically, they gave the ball to the people who should have it -- Larry Bird and Dennis Johnson. "It's what we should have done in Dallas," said Bird (routinely brilliant with 31 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists). "Just put the ball in me and DJ's hands, hold the ball till there are about 10 seconds and then make a move."

Of course, that's easy for him to say, because when he "makes a move," it's not always the move someone else would make. There was, for example, the three-pointer he swished from the deepest right corner with 4:56 left, a murderous missile that took the last bit of fight out of the Rockets.

"It's very discouraging to have him make the three-pointers when he does," sighed Bill Fitch. "You set your defense to stop the 18- and 20- footer, and he throws it in from 23."

But Bird was hardly the only assassin on hand. The list of Boston heroes also included Kevin McHale, who had vowed to atone for a poor showing in Dallas (9 points, 4 for 11), and who did exactly that with 25 post-up points; Robert Parish (14 points, 10 rebounds and some timely third-quarter baskets); DJ (25 points, 8 assists and a disproportionate number of vital plays); and, finally, the invaluable Bill Walton, whose 25-minute, 16-rebound, 7-point contribution was simply the latest in a string of bench performances that should earn him serious consideration for the Sixth Man Award.

After a torrid start which featured a combined 11 fast-break baskets in the first quarter (when 16 of the first 34 points came via transition), Boston assumed control in the second quarter because when Fitch called for substitutes, they were named Leavell, Wiggins and Reid; and when K.C. called for substitutes, two of his nominations were named Walton and Wedman. With Parish missing the entire second quarter with three personal fouls (a situation directly attributable to some excellent play by Ralph Sampson), the Celtics nevertheless expanded a three-point (36-33) one-quarter lead to as many as 14 (67-53) thanks to the play of Walton (8 rebounds, 6 points), Johnson, Bird and McHale.

Houston kept making little runs at the Celtics, most notably a third- quarter spurt of 12-2 that brought another 14-point deficit down to four at 81-77 with 5:25 left. But here the Rockets lost all sense of offensive direction, the CRK (Certified Rally Killer) being Robert Reid, whose ill- advised 20-foot bricks were the equivalent of seventh-inning 6-4-3s.

"We decided they had to beat us from 20 feet at this point," explained DJ. Added Houston's John Lucas, "We had struggled so hard to get back in the game, and you just can't always get the shots you want."

Whatever, the facts remain that the Rockets went six consecutive offensive possessions without a good shot, that Boston was allowing no second shots (a 50-37 rebound edge) and that by the end of the quarter, the Celtics were back up by an eight-point margin that had the feel of security. At no point in the final period were the Celtics really in trouble. And so, boys and girls, that's how you play winning basketball. Make sure you ask your mommy and daddy to let you see the videotape of this one. It shows you what the Celtics are all about.