2/20/88
Doing what they seldom do on the road against a good team -- improve as the game goes along -- the Celtics got a routinely great performance from Larry Bird and a welcome relief job from Artis Gilmore as they took control in the fourth period and ran away with a 124-104 triumph over the Portland Trail Blazers. Artis Gilmore was a monster on the boards, and he was active offensively. Mark Acres wasn't bad, either, scoring 8 points and grabbing 8 rebounds, as the Celtics got valuable production from their pivotmen.
We start to get into the interesting part of this series, as KC Jones struggles over how much to use his bench. When Celtics fans look back on the 1987-88 season, we don't think of Acres and Gilmore as having been very productive. Yet here is some proof to the contrary.
When was the last time this year any Celtic posted 8 points and 8 rebounds off the bench?
You can check here. I bet the answer is zero or once. As we go forward, I will be curious to see how many minutes KC was playing his bench per game, and then contrast it with Doc's allocation.
Doc clearly wanted to win last night's game, as the starters played KC-Jones type of minutes.
Dikembe Mutumbo is an OK shot blocker at age 42. But can Danny find someone else who might make an impact on the offensive end? Our bench is clearly a work in progress, notwithstanding the 24-2 record.
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