McHale Outplays King

Celtics 110, Knicks 92
Game 1 1984 Eastern Conference Semifinals


I don't think the Knicks have anybody who can stop Kevin," Larry Bird said after Kevin McHale scored 25 points, hitting 11 of 14 shots against the Knicks yesterday. "Today he played one of the best games I've seen any Celtic play this year." Knicks coach Hubie Brown added, "In our six-game series with Boston this year, their star performer was McHale . . . It's a tough matchup, because McHale is so much bigger than our forwards." McHale averaged 22.2 points on 57 percent shooting during regular-season play against the Knicks.

"He's probably going at 'em because he's mad they didn't sign him," joked Cedric Maxwell. In addition to leading the Celtics in scoring and snatching eight rebounds, McHale did a creditable job on Bernard King, who was "held" to 26 points (in 32 minutes) after averaging 42 in New York's five-game playoff series against Detroit. "I try to keep the ball out of his hands," McHale said of the 6-foot-7 King. "You don't want to give him any good lanes to the basket . . . Being taller helps, because you know the old saying - You can get tired and not jump as high, but you'll always be 6-10.' "

Danny Ainge on his 23-minute return to action: "It was great to be able to play again and contribute. I still have a lot of room for improvement, but hopefully this will help." McHale on Ainge, who had not played since April 6: "He came back from the dead. I put him in my dead pile for a while. I'm happy for him."

MISC
Dr. Thomas Silva, the Celtics' team physician, said Robert Parish (injured left foot) will play Game 2 Wednesday night and is optimistic about Bird, who re-injured his right ankle in the closing minutes. "I feel that this will calm down, and he'll be able to go Wednesday night," Silva said . . . Brown tried to be diplomatic when asked if he was surprised to see Bird still in the game with the Celtics leading by 26 late in the fourth but couldn't resist saying, "We kept our (top) guys out at the end. We realized there was no way we were getting back in and didn't want to pick up an injury at that time. Their first people did a number on our people."

The Knicks returned to New York last night and will be back in Boston Tuesday . . . A chant went up for Eric Fernsten, but the Big E never got off the pine . . . The victory snapped a year-long national television losing streak for the Celtics. In CBS' first three Celtic telecasts, Boston was trounced by Milwaukee and Philly during the regular season and lost Game 3 of the playoffs in Washington.