DJ, Danny, Gerald, & Quinn: Boston's Not So Fab Four

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Record: 13-6
12/6/1983

Gerald, Quinn, Danny and DJ. Boston's not-so-fab four continue to be the focus of attention as the Celtics near the three-quarter pole of their 1983-84 regular season. K. C. Jones doesn't go a day without being asked about his guard employment. When the Celtics lose to the Sixers in Boston Garden, fans want to know why Dennis Johnson did not get off the pine in the fourth quarter. Why did Ainge play 26 minutes to Buckner's 11? As the Celtics prepare to play the Bulls in Chicago Stadium tonight (8:35), here's an update on the changing of the guards in Celtic green:

JOHNSON: Let's be fair. DJ played a hearty 31 minutes against the Sixers, and Andrew Toney wasn't exactly scorching the nets while Johnson rode the bench in the fourth quarter Sunday night. Toney was on the bench for much of the quarter himself and didn't crack the scoring column until his memorable second-chance three-pointer with 13 seconds left. Still, fans were chanting for DJ and it's been widely assumed that fourth- quarter time against Philly was exactly why DJ was acquired. Why didn't Johnson play the fourth period?

"The people I had in there (Ainge and Buckner, then Henderson and Ainge) were hanging on to the lead for us," Jones said yesterday. "That was the way I decided to go."DJ seemed slightly miffed and shifted into quote cruise control when asked about the fourth quarter. "We played well, they forced us into turnovers, we lost," Johnson said. "I don't want to say anything else." In two games against the Celtics, Toney has scored 18 and 19 points on 14-31 shooting. But he buried the Celtics with key baskets at the end of each game. With DJ on the floor, Toney scored seven in Sunday's overtime. Johnson leads Boston's backcourt in minutes, points, assists and free throw percentage (an eye-popping .949; 75-79). Like Henderson, he has started all 19 games.

HENDERSON: He is playing the best basketball of his career. He was, after all, on the court when the Celtics raced to a 35-20 lead Sunday. Henderson and Johnson played so well that Billy Cunningham had Sedale Threatt and Franklin Edwards playing in place of Toney and Maurice Cheeks. Everybody makes fun of the guards' outside shooting, but Henderson is hitting 57 percent from the floor, an astronomical percentage for a non post- up guard. "I practice a lot," Henderson said. "Scott (Wedman) and I stay after practice almost every day and shoot jumpers." "I've known for quite a while that I'm capable of playing like that against the better teams."

AINGE: He has come to life when it appeared Jones might have given up on him. Ainge has played 23, 21 and 26 minutes in the last three games. Oddly enough, shooting has been Ainge's weakness. He has hit only 11 of 30 (37 percent) in his last four games. Ainge's minutes (16.5) and points (5 per game) are still well below last season's 25.6 and 9.9, but he no longer wishes to talk about his minutes crisis.

BUCKNER: He is fading into the sunset. In the last six games, Buckner has played only 62 minutes while hitting three of 15 shots and scoring a total of eight points. This is a guy with a career average of 25.8 minutes and 10 points. K. C. has made a decision to go with Danny instead of me as the third guard," said Buckner. "All I can do is stay in shape and be ready when I'm needed. When you're on a team with this kind of talent, you have to make sacrifices. I'm not a complainer."

MISC

Larry Bird sprained his left ankle slightly at practice yesterday but should be OK tonight. He has 39 rebounds in his last three games and has four triple-doubles in the first 19 games. Curiously, Bird has made only one of 16 three-point attempts . . . Philadelphia had 16 steals to Boston's five . . . Robert Parish played 45 minutes Sunday and is averaging 36.7 . . . For those who've asked, Boston could not inbound from midcourt (with 0:02 left) after Erving's clutch shot because the Celtics had called a 20-second time out. A team does not have the option of inbounding at midcourt after a 20- second timeout. Boston did not have any regular timeouts left.