Celtics Throttle Nets

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Celtics 125, Nets 113
Record: 22-7
12/24/1983

Christmas came early to the Celtics last night in the form of a road-weary New Jersey team that had played everywhere but Fort Wayne since Thanksgiving. One sharpshooting quarter seemed sufficient to put the Nets away early, and when Boston shot 83 percent for the first one, that was plenty. Thus did the Celtics wrap up their 1983 home season with a 125-113 triumph at Boston Garden that was never in doubt after the first eight minutes.

The Nets arrived on Causeway street woozy from eight games in 14 days (six of them on the road) but buoyant from Thursday's victory over Dallas that snapped a four-game losing string, their longest in more than a year. New Jersey coach Stan Albeck had brought usual starters Albert King and Darwin Cook off the bench that night and liked what he saw. So he decided to use the same strategy last night, substituting Reggie Johnson for King and Kelvin Ransey for Cook and starting them alongside Darryl Dawkins, Buck Williams and Otis Birdsong.

In the early going, the experiment worked nicely enough, as Jersey jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first 2 1/2 minutes while the home crowd rustled uncomfortably. Dawkins produced the high/low point, stealing the ball from a flatfooted Larry Bird and going in for a soaring dunk, capping a six-point run. That indignity brought Bird - and Boston - to life. With Bird popping in half a dozen points, the Celtics put together a spirited 11-2 run in less than two minutes and grabbed the lead, 13-11.

And after Birdsong had kept the Nets alongside with seven straight points, Robert Parish chipped in four of a quick eight to send Boston away clean, 25-18. With just under two minutes left in the quarter, it was 33-24 and Albeck was sticking gamely to his starters, leaving King and Cook on the bench. Not until he sent Mike Gminski in for a foul-prone Dawkins with 1:23 to play did Albeck substitute. Not that it made much difference. The Celtics were burying nearly every shot they took. At the quarter, Boston led, 37-26, and had shot a faintly incredible 83 percent (15 for 18). Since the Nets were shooting roughly half that well, they were happy to take what deficit they could get.

From there until the halftime buzzer, it was merely a matter of maintenance for Boston and several hands helped out. First it was Dennis Johnson, his shooting woes apparently solved. Then Kevin McHale, with a fine assortment of sweeping hooks. And, as always, Bird, who flicked in a jumper every half minute or so on the way to 20 points in the first 24 minutes. When the count reached 48-33 less than four minutes into the second quarter, Albeck was hollering for a timeout. From there, King and Cook provided a modicum of damage control and at intermission it was Boston by "only" 11, 69-58. Their shooting average had cooled to a mere 73 percent.

By now, Dawkins was wearing four fouls. When the second half began, Gminski was spelling him and dumping in eight points in less than half a dozen minutes to keep New Jersey in contention. For a shining moment, the Nets cut the Boston lead back to single digits (85-76). But within 30 seconds the Celtics had reopened the wound as Parish hit a hook and DJ scored on a break. That made it 89-76 and had Albeck calling for time again. No use. Water was pouring in from too many sources - from Cedric Maxwell underneath, from Gerald Henderson beyond the three-point fringe (twice), from McHale in the lane, from Bird anywhere he pleased. After three quarters it was Boston 99, New Jersey 84, and the numbers loomed large. The Celtics were 19-2 this season in games they led after three periods. They were also 20-5 in games where they'd scored 100 points.