Knicks Force a Game 7

Knicks 106, Celtics 104
Game 6 1984 Eastern Conference Semifinals
Series Tied 3-3

NEW YORK

Start spreadin' the news. The alleged talent gap is suddenly insignificant. Hubie Brown's overachievers have the Celtics facing the eve of destrucion. After 13 days, six games, one brawl, three ejections and a few dozen insults, the Celtics and Knicks are tied at 3-3.

Saint Bernard King, who scored 44 points in New York's 106-104 tearing of the Green last night, took a deep breath when it was over and said, "I take pride in the fact that although this basketball team is not as talented as the Boston Celtics, I think we have heart."

There were no arguments from the losers' locker room. "There's no way we thought we'd be in this situation," admitted Gerald Henderson. "I think we may have been looking around, seeing what other teams were doing . . . like Milwaukee and New Jersey. We were thinking about who we'd play next."

Eight days ago, the Celtics seemed to be laughing at the Knicks after taking a 2-0 series lead. Suddenly, the Knicks aren't very funny any more. This is no fluke: New York is 9-9 against Boston over the last two years.

The Knicks never trailed last night. Taking advantage of the absence of Dennis Johnson (bruised right shoulder) and Robert Parish's 30-minute coma (six points, six fouls), the Knicks built a 10-point, second-quarter lead and went ahead by as many as 13 (100-87, with 4:31 remaining).

The Celtics could have tied it at the buzzer, but Larry Bird's drive from the right side resulted in a hard bank shot that caromed into the hands of Cedric Maxwell. Max put it back up, but his shot clanged off the rim as the buzzer sounded and the Knicks booked seats on the shuttle for tomorrow's parquet Armageddon.

"I didn't have control of it all the way," Maxwell said of his final fling. "I just got in position to shoot it and thought it might fall in."

The Celtics had waited too long. King had 18 in the first 12 minutes and 29 at halftime. Not coincidentally, New York led by 30-28 after one and by 59-51 at intermission.

In a move reminiscent of Gary Waslewski starting the sixth game of the 1967 World Series, K.C. Jones started Scott Wedman in the backcourt in place of DJ. Wedman came into the game with a 38 percent shooting average (10-26) in the series and did not play a minute during Boston's blowout victory on Wednesday night. Last night he went 1 for 5 in 21 minutes, lowering his percentage to 35 percent.

It was a bad sign for the Celtics when the Knicks jumped to an 11-4 lead. Did anyone need to be reminded that the home team had taken a first-quarter lead and gone on to win every game in this series?

Brown got nice results when he used Cartwright and Marvin Webster together in the second quarter. Cartwright finished with 14 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocks; Webster had 5 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Early in the third, Boston cut the lead to two (70-68), but Cartwright hit a turnaround and King tossed in a free throw to make it 73-68. Meanwhile, the catatonic Parish picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench.

Bird was routinely superb through it all. He had 18 by the half and finished with 35 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists.

It was 82-75 after three. Early in the final quarter, Parish helped cut it to 84-81, then went to the bench with his fifth foul as Ray Williams assumed the task of adding to New York's lead while setting basketball back about 15 years. Williams finished with 14 points, 8 assists and 5 turnovers.

Outrageous Ray-Ray hit a left-to-right jumper to make it 91-83 with 8:38 left. Four minutes later, the Knicks came back with two free throws and a devastating lefthanded bank in the lane by Louis Orr. That made it 98-87. Jones called for time.

After the pause, King rebounded a Bird airball and went coast-to-coast for a vicious slam that made it 100-87 and effectively sent the series back to Beantown.

But the Celtics came back. McHale (16 points, 10 rebounds) went to work underneath, but King answered with two baseline jumpers each time while wearing a pair of Celtics. The second backbreaker came after King and McHale threatened to duke it out. It was 104-91 with 3:31 left.

Bird broke loose with a steal and was mugged by Williams and Rory Sparrow. Sparrow was ejected and Bird made the free throws. When Henderson banked in a transition jumper, it was 104-97 with2:24 left. The Knicks called time.

After the pause, the Knicks were tagged with a 24-second violation. McHale tapped in a Bird miss, then Bird got a free throw after a Ray-Ray turnover. It was 104-100 with 1:32 left.

The Knicks regrouped and set up Cartwright underneath. Mr. Bill was fouled by Parish, a foul that put the Chief out of his misery. Cartwright hit both to make it 106-100 with 1:13 showing.

Two free throws by Quinn Buckner and a dazzling Danny Ainge drive cut it to two. And when McHale rebounded a Williams miss, the Celtics called time with six seconds remaining.

Then Bird and Max missed. See you tomorrow.