The Mark Acres Chronicles

KC Jones Goes to His Bench Late in the Season, and the Bench Responds
3/29/88

"Bench" is a five-letter word that, at times, has been a synonym for "torture," as far as the Celtics are concerned. Last night it was a synonym for "victory" over the Nets.

Take away Mark Acres and Jim Paxson and the Celtics would have had another miserable road experience. But Acres gave K.C. Jones a very productive relief performance, scoring 12 points on 6-for-6 inside shooting while grabbing 8 rebounds in 22 aggressive minutes before fouling out with 5:09 remaining. Paxson did exactly the kind of thing his resume said he would do, which is make smart plays that help you win ballgames.

Paxson never hit a jump shot, but his four layups were killers, particularly the inside three-point play with 32 seconds remaining that provided the Celtics with a 106-105 victory. Twice he missed long jumpers, scampered after the rebounds and took the ball to the hoop for scores. Once he drove the baseline. On one very important occasion he just hung around the right place, took a pass from Danny Ainge and made the three-point play that won the game.