12.23.2009

Michael Jackson's Thriller is the Music of Choice in C's Locker Room

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Celtics 113, Bullets 104
Record 27-8

January 7, 1984


It didn't take a long time for the Celtics to get thrilled about last night's victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. In fact, the most excitement the club got was not on the Garden floor, but in the locker room session after the game.In a marked departure from the Bill Fitch days, the clubhouse came alive after the game when someone put the Michael Jackson "Thriller" video on the locker room recorder, and interviews - print and electronic - had to be conducted to a disco beat. Punster M.L. Carr finally turned off the recorder, saying, "Bill would not have allowed this." But K.C. Jones seemed too busy enjoying the music to care.

Dennis Johnson provided one fun moment in the game, a rare dunk shot over Cleveland's Geoff Huston, which earned him raves from the crowd and the entire Celtic bench. "I usually don't jam one until the playoffs," he said. "You can get hurt doing that if a player goes under you. But Huston was already there, so I just went up a little higher, and my knee at least hit his chest" . . . Danny Ainge found his old groove, hitting 8 of 11 shots and scoring a season-high of 17 points. "I had a chance to think about what I've been doing wrong while I've been on the bench," said Ainge. "Luckily, I got to play 17 minutes in a row. I was confident, and playing so long helped my consistency."

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