Celtics Meet Nets at East Rutherford

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Record 24-8
January 2, 1984

Winners of 15 of their last 18 games, and still only nine percentage points behind Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division's sizzling first- place chase, the Celtics meet the sagging Nets at the Meadowlands tonight (7:30, Ch. 4). Boston beat the Nets, 125-113, two days before Christmas, making it 22 wins in the 25 games the teams have played since 1979. "We match up well against them," says Celtics coach K.C. Jones, who would be the East coach in the NBA All-Star game if the Celtics can overtake Philadelphia by Jan. 15. "We beat them (the Nets) at home the last time we played, and now we have to go down there, and we know they'll be all geared up for us."

Jones admits he's a little concerned about the Celtics' turnover count. The Celtics gave the ball away 46 times in their last two games and are committing 18.1 turnovers per game, while forcing only 15.5 from the opposition. "It's been happening too often," says Jones. "We've discussed it and worked out with that in mind. I think maybe we're being too aggressive with the ball. We see an opening and try to put the ball there. We should be a little more conservative with our passing game."

The Celtics have played three more games than Philadelphia and have been in a virtual first-place tie for almost two weeks. "We still have a chance for the best record," acknowledges Jones. "But I'm not as concerned about the best record as I am about our play. We could be winning ugly, but it wouldn't be helping us overall. As long as we're playing well, I'll be happy." In the last four games, Larry Bird has averaged 31.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 56 percent (49-88) from the floor . . . Robert Parish is averaging 13.7 rebounds in his last six games. He's hitting .557 from the floor for the year and averaging 37.5 minutes per game . . . Kevin McHale is coming off his worst back-to-back performances in memory. He scored seven points in Houston, then five in Dallas, while hitting only five of 17 shots. He's only been held under 10 points two other times all year . . . The Celtics had the weekend off, but resumed practice yesterday at Hellenic College.

MISC

The Nets have lost four of five and eight of their last 10, and have dropped into the Atlantic Division basement. Otis Birdsong and Kelvin Ransey will be Stan Albeck's starting guards. Darwin Cook, Foots Walker and Micheal Ray Richardson are the first guards off the bench. Richardson has played three games since his latest return from drug rehabilitation. The Nets seem to run better when he's in there. Walker has been hurt most of the year, and Ransey is coming off a woeful one-for-eight shooting night against Indiana. Up front, Albert King is starting with Buck Williams and Darryl Dawkins again. King has been inconsistent all year, and was out of the starting lineup when the Celtics beat the Nets two weeks ago. Dawkins has fouled out of 12 games, including six of nine since the return of the regular officials and is ahead of his league-leading 1982-83 pace of 23 disqualifications . . . Sub forward/ guard Mike O'Koren scored a season-high 16 points against Indiana Friday. O'Koren is rumored to be headed for San Diego with Cook in exchange for Norm Nixon.