Celtics Improve to 15-3
1990-91 Boston Celtics
Remembering the 29-5 Start
Larry Bird had a touch of the birthday blues, but his teammates allowed No. 33 to age gracefully last night and instead celebrated the opening of their Texas trip with a thumping of the outmanned Mavericks.
Bird had only 6 points in Boston's 112-104 victory, a total which reflected a nightmarish game from the floor (2 for 11) and an atypical game from the line (two misses). But he also had 11 assists and 8 rebounds, so his measly scoring on his 34th birthday was merely a minor hindrance to the Chris Ford Juggernaut.
Several Celtics willingly stepped up to offset Bird's subpar night. Chief among them was Robert Parish, who prepared for his Weekend of Potential Suffering (San Antonio, Houston) with a season-high 26 points. Reggie Lewis shook off a bad back and had 23, and Kevin McHale contributed 21.
"That's the way this team is," said Ford. "We have other people who can score. Robert was tremendous. As far as I'm concerned, he still is among the elite and someone has to take his spot."
It was the 11th win in the last 12 games for Boston -- and its sixth in eight games on the road. Never mind that Dallas (6-10 and loser of four straight) is off to its worst start in nine years and has lost 9 of 11 since Roy Tarpley and Fat Lever went down. Or that Bird had averaged 31.5 points in Reunion Arena and once had 50 here.
Even though Dallas was struggling and had led for all of 25 seconds, it still seemed to be very much a game early in the fourth quarter. Dallas was getting most of its offense from the usual suspects, Rolando Blackman (35) and Derek Harper (22) with occasional flurries from Rodney McCray (17) and James Donaldson (14).
But it never seemed to be enough. The Celtics never allowed the Mavericks to have any measurable streak or run and proceeded to stifle Dallas in the fourth quarter until a
wild final minute made things somewhat interesting.
"As usual, we got careless at the end," said Parish, who was 12 for 17 from the field and also had a team-high 14 rebounds and 3 steals. "But overall, I thought we played a pretty good game."
Leading, 85-80, the Celtics began a run which gave them a seemingly unapproachable 104-89 lead with 2:36 to play. It started with a McHale layup, the trigger on an 8-2 burst which built the lead to 93-82 with 7:09 remaining.
Also contributing in that stretch were Parish (a put-back), McHale (a jump hook) and Dee Brown (a foul-line jumper). The Mavericks called time, but they slid further into the abyss by shooting 29 percent from the field over the first 11 minutes of the quarter.
"Yes, this is getting old, but we have to work hard and making excuses will not change anything," said Harper, who also had 12 assists. "We've had some bad luck. But we can't look back and get this thing to change."
Two McHale free throws made it 104-89 and Reunion Arena emptied in fire-drill speed. But Dallas crept back as the Celtics went frigid from the line and a Blackman trey got it to 107-102 with 35.7 seconds left.
After Kevin Gamble (14 points, 3 blocked shots) bricked two free throws, Herb Williams missed a short turnaround which really could have made things interesting. Bird was fouled with 22.8 seconds left, made one, and that seemed to finally put a lid on the evening's activities.
Until Boston's late run, the main question among the sellout throng was Bird's offense. They were accustomed to big games from the franchise forward and this bricklaying was a whole new experience for them.
Bird had a scoreless first half, so even the latest of the late-arriving stragglers could go home and say he didn't miss anything. But Parish and McHale were there as Boston clung to a precarious 50-48 lead.
Lewis had 17 in the second half, 11 in the third quarter. He also had his hands full with Blackman.
As late as yesterday, the club medical people weren't even sure he'd play because of the sore back. But the lithe Lewis (8 for 13) got limbered up and went 36 minutes.
"It didn't hamper me at all," he said. "Once I got loose, I felt fine. I just tried to stay loose when I was on the bench."
So stop No. 1 on the Texas swing was a success. Tonight it's Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood and the Celtics can expect a much more hostile host.
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