Bird Runs Out Of Gas in 148-140 Win

Celtics Improve to 14-3
1990-91 Boston Celtics
Remembering the 29-5 Start

One could forgive Larry Bird, two days shy of his 34th birthday, for calling a timeout in the second half of the Celtics-Nuggets dual track meet last night at Boston Garden.

"I got a little winded there. I like a good run like tonight's, but once a week would be fine," smiled Bird, whose 43 points and 13 assists were sorely needed on a night when Celtics coach Chris Ford was happy only with the 148-140 victory.

"Larry hit some tough shots -- but everyone contributed to playing to Denver's tempo rather than our tempo," said Ford, whose frustration peaked when he slammed down his clipboard following an Orlando Woolridge offensive rebound conversion over Kevin McHale that gave Denver a 5-point lead early in the fourth.

"That was just to get their attention," said Ford. "You're fearful of these games because they made us play at their tempo until the last five minutes. We pushed the ball up the floor, we didn't get into our break pattern. We rushed everything. We settled for quick shots.

"We fell right into the tempo that Paul Westhead wanted to establish. Larry made some great shots. He got us going offensively. But I'm not pleased with anyone's performance, including my own."

All that being said, there was one major element that upset Westhead's game plan -- Bird, who played 44 minutes, including the entire second half.

"Larry was vintage tonight," said the Denver coach. "He kept going deeper and deeper with his shots. We couldn't make some key shots at the end, and Bird 14 for 26, including three 3-pointers was unstoppable tonight."

Bird, who was 2 points shy of his season high, against Charlotte, was happy to get back in the flow.

He scored just 11 points in 30 minutes Monday night against Seattle, taking only seven shots.

"I needed a game like this to get going a little bit," said Bird. "We haven't done much the last couple of days and I felt pretty good out there at times.

"This was really a lot of fun," added Bird, who was in Woolridge's jersey down the stretch. "After playing Denver, you feel the next night's an easy night. But if we had lost, I guess I wouldn't think it was so much fun."

Bird had 21 points at halftime to keep pace with Denver sparkplug Michael Adams -- who wound up with 31 points and 17 assists, but faded in the fourth quarter.

"Adams made things happen for them. He made the big difference compared to the way they played us in the exhibition games," said Bird. "He gets right in the middle of your defense."

But Adams, who scored his last points with 10:35 to play, couldn't put on the stretch drive that Bird provided for his team.

Bird had 10 points in the fourth quarter without a breather and dished out four assists. His 18-foot jumper with 1:58 left (142-134, Celtics) signaled the beginning of the end for Denver and his two free throws a minute later made it a 10-point game.

"You get caught up in a game like this going up and down the floor and even the coaches forget to call timeouts," said Bird. "You can't use them for the next game."

Indeed, Ford had five full timeouts and a 20-second timeout at his disposal in the second half, and by game's end, he had one remaining.

"I knew I had a lot of timeouts down the stretch, and Larry, after he was fouled, called one so he could get an extra blow, too," said Ford.

"We finally kicked in," he added. "But it was not a good game. You've got to give the Denver Nuggets credit. They made us play their style and they almost pulled it out."

The difference was Bird.

"If they left me open, I was going to shoot," said No. 33. "And at least I know I can run like this once in a while."