1981-82 Boston Celtics
These people are crazy, certifiably insane.
Where else would fans watching Larry Bird score 30 points in a performance that included a flawless 10-minute guard stint; watching Gerry Henderson execute a "42d Street" number by stepping in for the flu-ridden Tiny Archibald and scoring a career-high 27 points that included making 11 of his first 14 shots; watching Kevin McHale devour another foe with a casual 17-point, 8- rebound display; and watching Rick Robey turn the game around with an earthshaking rebounding and running display in the first half then endanger its collective vocal cords with a sonic boom of a cheer for one routine jumper by a newly-activated guard?
It could only happen in Boston, where people seem to think that great players and championship flags are written into the city charter.
Really, now. Danny Ainge must wonder exactly what he has gotten himself in for. If one little 15-foot bank shot with 4:10 remaining, a basket that gave the Celtics a 107-93 lead, can produce such a reaction, then what, he must wonder, would an 11-1-23 box score produce?
Ah, well, Ainge's presence in the Boston lineup did entice the crowd and contribute to the general merriment during a 109-100 dispatch of Larry Brown's young New Jersey Nets. But if the truth be told, this game really needed no enlivening. The basketball expertise of the aforementioned Celtics' players had more than justified the price of admission. The Ainge thing was definitely a pleasant bonus.
Boston had to work to win this game, because the Celtics played the first six minutes of the opening quarter in the same listless style that produced the infamous Saturday Night Disaster in New York. Not until Robey entered the game (4:20 left in the period and the Nets holding a 20-10 lead) did Boston begin to stir, but with Rick hitting the boards and running the lanes, the team seemed to acquire a sense of purpose.
By quarter's end the Celtics were clearly in the game, even with the Nets holding a 31-23 lead. A jumper by McHale created the game's first tie at 34, and when the Minnesota Monster flipped in a jump hook to give the Celtics a 38-36 advantage, the lead would prove to be non-refundable. Indeed, the Celtics hit New Jersey with a 25-7 blast in the first 6:19 of the second quarter en route to posting a trio of 10-point margins, the last at 52-42.
Fitch had started Bird at guard in the second quarter, and New Jersey reacted as if the first earth visitor from Uranus had checked into the game. Bird began by posting Ray Williams for a turnaround three-point play on the first possession; and continued with a tap-in on the second. He would later apply a Ray Williams-type corner facial to Otis Birdsong (a smooth 28). Amazingly, he was not scored upon by either Williams or Birdsong during the seven minutes of guard he played in this stretch.
Ainge's NBA debut came with 1:47 remaining in the half, and before those 107 seconds had expired he had been run into his first Big League pick, a Lenny Elmore 5.4 on the Richter scale, and been the recipient of his first terrible NBA call, when Ed Middleton ignored Ainge's good defensive position and called him for blocking Birdsong. His second stint, deriving from a fourth-quarter stint, was also full of adventure, as the crowd cheered in anticipation of anything Ainge might do.
The game was put away during the third quarter, when the Celtics made 13 baskets from the outside among 15 field goals in their best shooting display of the season. On five separate occasions a double-teamed Celtics' player found an open mate, who responded with a jumper.
"That's what I like about them," said Brown. "They make the extra pass. And it all stems from the top man. When your best player is committed to Team, you're in good shape."
It was, in a true sense, a baptism. Ainge was introduced into the Celtics' extended family, an entourage that now appears to include half the population of New England. Welcome, Danny, to the only town where you get cheers for what you might become
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