C's Win Sixth Straight
The Celtics elevated the phrase "cruise control" to new heights when they utilized exemplary team play to flatten the Indiana Pacers by a 127-108 score that accurately reflects what took place at Boston Garden last night.
Collectively, the Celtics did not appear to be working hard enough to merit the expenditure of a solitary drop of water from a showerhead. That's because this was a triumph of ensemble role playing, not a vehicle to promote a star. We're talking "Big Chill" here, not "Norma Rae." Even You-Know-Who was nominated for Best Supporting in this one.
"They are the eptiome of a basketball team," said Indiana coach George Irvine. "They move the ball, and they're so unselfish.. They are great players. You see great players on other teams, but they don't play as unselfishly as these guys do."
The stat sheet may require a polygraph test now and then, but the running sheet is a piece of paper brimming with integrity. And the running sheet reveals that at the conclusion of the third period the five Boston starters had the following point distribution: Robert Parish 20, Kevin McHale 20, Larry Bird 18, Danny Ainge 18 and Dennis Johnson 14. As a result, the Celtics were sitting comfortably on a 96-80 lead.
There was no suspense whatsoever. The Cavaliers crept ahead twice the night before (admittedly, those two one-point leads totaling 27 seconds on the clock did not create panic in the Celtic camp). The Pacers got no closer than one in the final 46 minutes of the game. That occurred when Herb Williams (24) powered in on the baseline to make it 17-16, Boston, with 5:02 remaining in the opening period.
Boston's response was to spring Parish for an acrobatic finish on a fast break. It was one of those artful inventions that a George Mikan or Larry Foust could never have conceived of, and it wound up as a three-point play.
At this point K.C. Jones took out Bird, McHale and Ainge in favor of Bill Walton, Scott Wedman and Jerry Sichting. Regardless of the Celtic team identity, the Pacers never came closer than four (the last at 37-33) again.
The Celtic frontline as a group proved to be indefensible, but the primary problem was the marauding Parish. He introduced himself to Steve Stipanovich on Indiana's maiden possession by switching over from Williams to ram a Stipo jumper down his esophagus. The ball was extracted quickly enough, and when DJ (eight assists having the feel of 28) looped one into Bird on the baseline, Larry laid it in left-handed and the Celtics were officially in control.
Parish hit the Pacers with 12 of his season-high 28 points and seven of his game-high 17 rebounds in the first quarter. Whether posting up, banging the boards or running lanes, he was an insoluble problem to the Pacers.
It was 33-26 at the quarter, 66-55 at the half and 96-80 after a third period in which the Celtics scored 30 points and went up by as many as 20 on two occasions (92-72 on a Parish lefty follow-up) and 94-74 (an Ainge jumper) without a discernible spurt. The attack was methodical and relentless.
The main sub-plot was the curious refusal of Bird to shoot the ball. Perhaps he was insulted when Irvine put 6-foot-3-inch Clint Richardson on him to start the game ("I jumped off the bench real quick when I saw that one" -- Jones) or perhaps he worried that he was getting too much publicity lately (just think back to his Indiana State behavior). Whatever the case, he kept passing up routine 18- and 20-footers.
"I have no idea what he was thinking," said Jones, "because he was open. He seemed to feel better down low -- then he had work to do. When he was open, he was hesitating and not taking the shot. That's as much as I know."
Bird repeatedly teased the crowd by feigning three-pointers, finally taking (and missing) one from the left corner with 8:58 remaining in the game. He contented himself with creative passes from the wing, the highlight being a bullet to a cutting Ainge for a reverse lay-up that made it 115-100. If ever a case can be made that Larry sometimes plays for his own private amusement, last night's game was a prime courtroom exhibit.
The victory was the team's sixth straight, as well as the 21st straight at home. If you're figure conscious, that ties a franchise record. "All I think about," said K.C. "is the next ball game. Someone mentioned 21 straight and that surprised me. That's how much streaks mean to me."
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