Celtics Win 16th Straight

Celtics Improve to 53-15
1981-82 Boston Celtics

The Celtics weren't about to get beaten by the Chicago Bulls last night, any more than M. L. Carr was going to let Orlando Woolridge get to the basket. Woolridge was almost decapitated trying to score on a third-quarter fast break, and the Bulls were summarily beheaded, 110-103, at Chicago Stadium.

The Boston winning streak is now 16 and counting. If the Celtics beat Cleveland at the Garden tonight, they will tie the club record of 17 straight wins set in the 1959-60 season. It promises to be one of the great moments in the history of Boston
sports.

Nothing so symbolized the Celtics' streak as Carr's play on Woolridge. "Why does everyone want to talk about one play?" said Carr. "It was a great game." But it was an all-out hustle play, combining a little meanness and a little finesse that pretty well summed up the Celtics' state of mind.

The Celtics were leading, 80-72, when Woolridge, the former Notre Dame stringbean, sailed in full stride toward the Boston bucket. Carr intercepted him at the right stripe, grabbing the ball with both hands. There was a whiplash effect, and
Woolridge was down.

Woolridge got off the floor dizzy, and pointed at Carr. But Carr shook hands with him before play resumed and hostilities were averted. Woolridge hit his two free throws and Carr came right back with a 17-footer. Take that.

"I didn't go for his head," said Carr. "I went for the ball. He understood that afterward. Those things happen in this type of game. It was played with playoff intensity." It was a grind-it-out affair for the Celtics, who encountered a team grasping at a slim playoff hope. Cedric Maxwell was banged enough to get 16 free throws and was good enough to hit 15. Larry Bird spread the Bulls' defense with most of his 12 baskets from the perimeter. And Kevin McHale and Maxwell worked inside for seven buckets each. Carr was everywhere, scoring 17 points and dishing out six assists.

The 16th straight was accomplished without much from Robert Parish, who ran into early foul trouble against Artis Gilmore and played only 19 minutes, scoring seven points. McHale replaced Parish in the pivot and neutralized Gilmore (22 points, 14
rebounds) for long stretches.

Chicago's high-water mark came seven minutes into the game, when it ran off an 11-2 string for a 19-12 lead. But Bird entered the game, hit an eight- footer, and then hit three more buckets to haul the Celtics into a 30-30 tie at the quarter. Gilmore had 10 points in the first quarter, but an aggressive defense held him to two in the second.

"We couldn't work inside," said Phil Johnson, Chiacgo's asssistant coach, "and we don't have the good perimeter shooting to beat the Celtics." Woolridge's aggressive penetrations to the bucket held the Celtics to a 58-55 halftime lead, a Boston advantage which was courtesy of six Maxwell free throws and a follow-up six-footer before the buzzer.

The Celtics lost the lead momentarily at the start of the third quarter but regained it for good on a Bird layup. Chicago never fell behind by more than 10 in the third, getting another 10 points from Gilmore and three baskets from Ronnie Lester. Max scored eight straight points in the final two minutes of the quarter - on two free throws, a hook and two layups off Carr feeds.

A Tiny Archibald 17-footer and a Carr layup made it 94-84 at the start of the fourth. The Bulls got to within eight three times early in the quarter, but got no closer until just 14 seconds remained. And then there was only Cleveland to think of and No. 17. "A lot of guys got rest tonight," said Bird. "I know I'm fresh. If we do the same things we've been doing we can take care of Cleveland."