Eastern Conference Semifinals
1981-82 Boston Celtics
Chalk this one up to the Wounded Bear Syndrome.
The Boston Celtics were a grim bunch yesterday. Stung not so much by Wednesday's defeat but by the nature of that setback, they exacted revenge yesterday afternoon with a grinding, 92-83 triumph in a game that will never be shown during intermission at the Bolshoi Ballet.
Defense (83 is an opponent's season low) and rebounding, plus a superb clutch performance by Robert Parish, enabled the Celtics to gain a 2-1 advantage in this best-of-seven NBA Eastern Conference semifinal series before a somewhat disappointing Capital Centre crowd of 15,035, 4000 under capacity.
But Bill Fitch denied that the means of victory were as important as the fact of victory. Were the score 151-150, it would have been all the same to him.
"I'm just pleased with the win, period," declared Fitch. "I don't care what kind of autopsy is done by the press. All I care about is that we won this game. The only thing important today was to come in and get this win."
The Celtics were in control from the start. Cedric Maxwell (20 points, 7 rebounds) squirmed in for a game-opening inside three-pointer, and with that, the Celtics were ahead to stay. The Bullets were within one point only with their first basket, a Spencer Haywood (19 points) foul-line jumper.
The lead went to 5-2 when Parish made the first of the Celtics' 16 blocks, rejecting a Haywood shot that led to a nice Larry Bird lefthanded tap-in of an M. L. Carr miss. Washington would never be in position to tie or lead again.
By this time, slippery Frank Johnson, the hero of Game 2, had already gone 0 for 3 to establish another trend. Before this young man's gruesome afternoon was completed, he would shoot 3 for 22 to confirm his reputation as a trick- or-treat player.
The Celtics were ahead by 10 (28-18) at the quarter, 10 (48-38) at the half and 11 (71-60) after three periods. They had the proper response to every Washington incursion.
The Bullets never had any offensive continuity, what with their bricklaying from the outside and their inability to get past the Boston front wall inside. Their last, and best, chance to steal another victory came late in the game when a run of seven straight points (Jeff Ruland layup, Johnson three-pointer and Greg Ballard runner) sliced an 84-71 lead to 84-78 with 2:31 remaining, forcing Fitch to call a timeout.
When play resumed, the Celtics went to Parish, whose 25 points, 13 rebounds, 6 blocks and assorted clutch plays made him the key man in this game. He delivered a nice 13-foot jumper from the lane to relieve the pressure. Tiny Archibald followed that with a jumper, and it was history at 88-78 with 1:36 left.
It would have been better had the game ended right there, because eight playing seconds later, a festering situation erupted when the ever-aggressive Ricky Mahorn fired the basketball at Gerry Henderson and was promptly ejected as a peacekeeping measure by referee Paul Mihalak. Before play was resumed, there were peripheral, hockey-style confrontations featuring Parish and Mahorn, Jim Chones and Rick Robey, Kevin McHale and Mahorn, and Charles Bradley and Ruland.
The game was an all-too-typical playoff bruiser, and it was tightly called by Mihalak and Jess Kersey, the result being foul trouble for Don Collins (three in the first six minutes, Maxwell (three in the first quarter), Bird (three by the first minute of the second half and five by mid-third quarter) and Haywood (four by early third). That being the case, bench contributions wereparamount, if only to stay afloat rather than to gain a lead.
The Celtics received just such a lift in the third period when Bird, who had come out rebounding hard (eight of his 13 in the opening period) picked up his fifth foul with the Celtics leading by a 61-53 score with 4:25 left.
Fitch inserted McHale and Chris Ford for Bird and Carr, and for the next 11 1/2 minutes, the Celtics kept the lead between six and 13 with those two in the lineup and the other two out. When Bird returned with 4:56 to play, the Celtics were in front by 11 (82-71).
What won this game was the ancient playoff Daily Double of Defense and Rebounding. Boston didn't score a fast-break basket in the last 31 minutes, surviving offensively due to Parish and some timely second shots.
But Washington could never unshackle itself at its offensive end, nor could the Bullets duplicate Wednesday's Herculean rebound effort, and therein lay the difference between Game 2 and Game 3.
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