Eastern Conference Semifinals
1981-82 Boston Celtics
In some future record book the line will be innocuous.
1982 Playoffs, Eastern Conference Finals: BOSTON 4, WASHINGTON 1.
That's all it will say. Now let it be said that with 100 percent of the precincts reporting in that this one has been declared the most bizarre five-game series in NBA history.
Game 2 was won by Frank Johnson's monster three-pointer. Game 4 was won in overtime. And as for Game 5, would a month's worth of "Dallas" episodes ever include more intrigue than the final 30 minutes of last night's series-ending 131-126 double-overtime Celtics' conquest of the Washington Bullets?
The Celtics blew it. Twice. They came back. Twice. They were up by 18 (82-64, after an awesome 20-4 tidal wave), and they were up by 13 as late as 103-90 (4:16 left in regulation). On the flip side, they were down by three at 119-116 with 28 seconds left in the first overtime, and they were down by four at 125-121 with 2:50 remaining in the second overtime. They pulled the game out with a 10-1 run that began when Bill Fitch, in a move that would have left him open for about 17 eons of second guessing had the team lost, replaced his backcourt of Larry Bird and Tiny Archibald with M.L. Carr and Gerry Henderson.
The final heroes were Hender-son, whose only basket of the game put the Celtics ahead to stay at 127-126; Robert Parish, whose three-point follow-up with 41 seconds left gave the Celtics a comfy four-point cushion at 130-126, and Kevin McHale, as remarkable a clutch performer as there is in the NBA. His deceptive stat line of 14 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks belies his immense importance.
With a 103-90 lead, momentum aplenty and a raucous home gathering of 15,320 fans behind the Celtics, how in the name of Silky Sullvan did Washington find itself in an overtime? A simple answer suffices: Frank Johnson.
The delightful Wake Forest guard, silent since his game-winning three- point swisher in Game 2, erupted in unprecedented playoff fury, tossing in three three-point net ticklers in the span of three minutes. The first one (105-98) had the crowd murmuring. The second one (105-101, with 2:29 to go) had the crowd buzzing. And the third . . . that had the crowd screeching in Hitchcockian terror. That straightaway bomb brought the Bullets within two at 106-104 with 47 seconds remaining.
The final two points in the astounding Washington comeback came via a pair of free throws by Jeff Ruland (a career-high 33) with 24 seconds to play. The best Boston could do with its final possession was get a turnaround miss by a hemmed-in Parish.
Boston had seemingly put the period, match and series away with a 20-4 third-quarter blitz that featured just about everything the team was capable of at both ends of the floor. From a 58-58 state of affairs, the game suddenly exploded in Washington's face, until a Parish drive made it 82-64 with 2:56 remaining.
The Bullets managed to creep back within 13 at 86-73 by the period's end, but after a few little feints at the lead in period four, they were still 11 down (101-90) with 4:52 left when something key occurred. After Henderson was called for an offensive foul, Rick Robey (playing a strong fourth quarter) and Johnson had a beef. Before play was resumed the benches had emptied and a good five minutes had elapsed. And from then on the rest of regulation belonged to the Bullets.
"It wasn't so much that they were inspired," said Fitch, "but we lost all our momentum after the fight."
But fight or no fight, the man who created the OT was Johnson. "We were starting to creep up," recalled Gene Shue, "and just at the right time Frank hit the three big three-pointers. They were devastaing, absolutely devastating. We had the momentum, and we kept it well into the first overtime. Then we really screwed up."
The Bullets seized the lead in the first OT on two Ruland free throws at 108-106 (their first lead since 48-46), went up by as many as five at 117-112, and were still in control, 117-114, when McHale stepped in, picking off a sloppy Greg Ballard-to-Ricky Mahorn pass, and sailed all the way for two points. Mahorn responded with a jumper, and now it was 119-116 with 28 seconds to go. An Archibald foul shot got it down by one seven seconds later, and the Celtics had to foul. Ruland was selected, but it was a no-shot deal and the Bullets had the ball out on the side with 10 seconds to go, leading by two.
Ballard in-bounded to Johnson, and he was immediately double-teamed by Bird for a jump ball. Larry batted the tap to Archibald who drove in for a wild, off-balance prayer. The ball ricocheted off the glass, but McHale was there to guide it home, laying the ball down like a mother putting her baby in for a nap. Time ran out (the Bullets did protest that they should have had a second left), and the Celtics had five more minutes to live.
The dominant figure in the second OT was referee Jake O'Donnell, who made first four foul calls against Boston as the Bullets were building up the 125-121. Here Fitch made his big substitution ("I was looking for fresh bodies"), and Maxwell, maker of clutch free throws all night en route to a 26- point game, snaked in for a runner. McHale's turn came next, and after rejecting a Ruland inside move he tied the game with a patented low post jump hook. Johnson gave Washington its last lead, 126-125, by making the second of two free throws with 1:37 to play, but that would be Washington's only point in the final 2:50.
The call here was a high post two-man game for Henderson and Parish. When Johnson, guarding Henderson, sank to the lane to force Henderson left, two things did not happen. Ruland didn't show, and weak side help never came. Henderson exploded to the hoop for a key basket.
"Frank pushed me to the baseline but he had no help," explained Henderson. "Any time you do that I only need one step to get to the basket." Nor was Gerald's work done, for he promptly went down and deflected a Johnson jumper. Up one and with the ball, the Celtics went in deep to Maxwell. He missed and McHale missed a follow-up before Parish shoved home a basket and free throw for a four-point lead. Two Johnson three-point misses and a Maxwell free throw with 10 seconds left constituted the remaining action.
The Celtics will welcome a rest after the last two games. "I thought we'd win in five," said Chris Ford, "but this was probably the longest five-game series ever played."
The longest, and thanks to the fortitude of the 43-39 Bullets, one of the stickiest. The Celtics have just become the first team ever to win a five-and- a-half game playoff series.
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