Healthy Bird to Return as Reserve

C's Post 8-Game Winning Streak
Five without Bird, Eight without Tiny
1981-82 Boston Celtics

What does it all mean?

Celtics followers must be puzzled. A streak that began innocently 14 days ago with a 132-90 dispatch of the semipro Utah Jazz has now matched the longest of the 1981-82 season. Since all eight victories have been achieved without Tiny Archibald and the last five have come without Larry Bird (four on the road, no less), the question arises: What's going to happen when the missing stars return?

Well, Bird intends to suit up against Indiana tonight (WRKO, 7:30) - his first appearance since sustaining a fractured cheekbone a week ago Sunday. According to coach Bill Fitch, he'll be used in an auxiliary capacity. It's strictly play-it-by-ear time, as Bird discovers how his body will respond. Fitch will start the same front line that carried the team to victories over Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, New York and Detroit; namely, Robert Parish, Cedric Maxwell and Kevin McHale, all of whom have responded magnificently in this time of crisis.

When Bird is ready to resume his starting role, however, how will things be affected? Will Maxwell, averaging 43 minutes a game since Bird's departure, and McHale, averaging 40, maintain their high level of effectiveness playing fewer minutes? If and when Archibald returns, will Gerry Henderson be able to play up to his new standard of excellence with reduced minutes? Will the team be able to revert to its former style? After all, Archibald and Bird handle the ball a great percentage of the time when they're in the game. The team has learned to live without Tiny's unique brand of penetration and Bird's outside shooting, gearing itself more to an inside power game.

The possibility is that the absence of Bird and Archibald has served to broaden the team's horizons. Henderson has matured immeasurably as a floor leader in the past three weeks. Danny Ainge, who would have been put on the back burner for the remainder of the season, has taken advantage of the missing Archibald minutes (as well as the ever-diminishing Chris Ford minutes, but that's another story entirely) to make himself a spot. Ainge has had a big role in three of the non-Bird triumphs (Dallas, New York and Detroit). A team that has been crying for a bench shooter since Paul Westphal departed may now have its own answer to the likes of Brian Winters, Andrew Toney, Purvis Short, et al. Mix in the return to form of M.L. Carr and the team could enter the playoffs deeper than it's been in three seasons.