Celtics Finally Win One

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Celtics 109, Hawks 102
Record: 10-5
11/26/1983

It wasn't very pretty, but when you're fighting your way out of a locked closet, you don't particularly care what you look like when you finally break down the door. The struggling Celtics resorted to second-half defense and inside muscle to snap a four-game losing streak and defeat the Atlanta Hawks, 109-102, last night at the Garden.

It was Boston's first victory since Ray Flynn was elected mayor, and it prevented the Celtics from slipping into third place in the Atlantic Division. On a night when Larry Bird was again Doctor Zhivago (8 for 19), the arctic chill spread throughout the Green Team. It is a tribute to Boston's defense and rebounding that the Celtics were able to win despite hitting only 39 of 94 floor shots, their lowest percentage (.415) of the season.

Borrowing a line from the 1983 Chicago White Sox, Celtics coach K. C. Jones said, "I'll take ugly wins any time." "We're the most brutal shooting team in the NBA right now," added Kevin McHale. "But winning ugly is better than losing ugly, which is what we've been doing." Dennis Johnson led the Celtics with 25 points. Bird and Robert Parish followed with 22 each. But this game was won on the boards. The Celtics outrebounded the Hawks, 54-40, and had 29 offensive rebounds to the visitors' nine. The Celtics also limited themselves to a season-low 10 turnovers.

The burning of Atlanta was accomplished in the final eight minutes. The Hawks led, 86-82, when Boston erupted for nine in a row to take the lead for good. Parish started the drive, converting a Kevin McHale feed. After a steal by Bird, Quinn Buckner scored on a followup off the break, and when the Celtics rebounded another Atlanta miss, McHale scored on a follow to give the Celtics an 88-86 lead. Parish hit a jumper after another Hawk miss, and one free throw by DJ completed the 9-0 run and gave the Celtics a 91-86 led with 4:53 left.

Eddie Johnson (22 points) and Dan Roundfield (23, 11 rebounds) did their best to keep the Hawks alive, but it was too late. Atlanta never got closer than three the rest of the way.Borrowing a line from NFL coaches everywhere, Atlanta's rookie coach Mike Fratello said he'd have to view the films to account for Boston's sudden surge, but admitted, "When you get outscored, 9-0, in a stretch like that, either you're taking bad shots or committing turnovers, or the defense is so tenacious that you can't get the shots you want."

"I was very impressed with our defense," said Jones. "We could have folded early the way we were shooting, but we worked hard defensively." The Celtics held the Hawks to 33 percent shooting in the third quarter and outrebounded Atlanta, 13-3, in the fourth. In the first half it was the Celtics who shot an anemic 33 percent. Bird was 3-12, and Gerald Henderson and McHale missed 9 of 11. The Hawks, meanwhile, started out taking the highest percentage shots. Atlanta's first four baskets were dunks, two each by Wilkins and Rollins.

Atlanta's Right Stuffs didn't prevent Boston from running to a 13-8 lead and forcing Fratello to call time. With Bird still clanging everything off the rim, the Hawks outscored Boston, 10-2, to take an 18-15 lead. DJ brought the Celtics back to a 26-26 tie at the end of one.In the second quarter, Wilkins led a 14-3 run, giving the Hawks their biggest lead (48-39). Boston's offense was in utter shambles, and the Celtics weren't able to close the gap much before intermission. Atlanta led, 53-47, at halftime.

The Celtics outscored Atlanta, 16-5, at the start of the third and led by five before the Hawks ripped off seven straight to regain the lead. The big moment of Atlanta's surge was a summit meeting in which Tree Rollins (five blocks) effectively blocked a shot by Parish. Dominique Wilkins (21 points) followed with a jumper. Slowly working his way out of the arctic circle, Bird hit a jumper to give the Celtics a 70-69 lead, then stole the ball and set up a McHale foul-line turnaround. After a couple of EJ free throws, Bird canned another out top beforethe start of the fourth.