Larry v. Magic: Game 12 (Part 8)

1984 NBA Finals Game 5

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Summary

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Media Coverage

THE CELTIC MYSTIQUE LINGERS

The Celtics threw a roast for the Lakers Friday night, gave them the Bird. This was no Laker giveaway. The Celtics' 121-103 victory in the 97-degree cauldron that was Boston Garden was a thorough stomping, one that leaves the reeling Lakers one game from elimination and, for the first time, doubting themselves.

Incredible. There must really be something to that Kelly-green mystique, the ghosts of championships past, the tradition handed down from Cousy, Russell, Sharman, Ramsey, Heinsohn, Havlicek, the Joneses, Cowens, etc., etc., to Larry Bird.

The ease with which the Lakers won two of the first three games fooled people, made them (yes, me) give up on the Celtics. Were we dumb. How can you give up on a team that has Larry Bird?

Bird had 34 points and 17 rebounds Friday night. He made 15 of 20 shots, including two three-pointers. His shooting touch, which had been off, was deadly.

"The man who made the difference was Larry Bird," Lakers' Coach Pat Riley said. "He's one of those young-old veterans who really knows how to play the game. Every movement he makes out there has a purpose, and he does whatever he has to to win."

Not bad for a guy who can't run or jump. Kids, if you want to know how the game should be played, watch Bird box out, watch him work for a shot, watch him look for a teammate and find him, watch him play defense, watch him work his fanny off every second he's on the court.

"History will prove that at his position, he is the best all-round player ever," Houston Rockets' Coach Bill Fitch said. "Rebounding, stealing, passing, scoring. The greatest. Ever. He makes his teammates better."

That's the ultimate compliment, of course, aourse, and never was it more deserving. Take Bird off this Celtic team and it would be ordinary. With him, they're a game away from their 15th championship.

Don't talk to Bird about tradition. He cares only about the present.

"I mean it's fine they won those championships," he said. "I'm glad they did. But they can't sell me on what somebody else accomplished. If you're a player, you don't want to hear about a tradition, you want to be part of one. Personally, I'd be a lot prouder of one flag I helped win than all the others they've got hanging up there." Said Celtics' Coach K.C. Jones, "I've been in this league 20 years, but I've never seen anyone in the history of the game who has the total involvement of Larry. And I was around with Bill Russell and Oscar Robertson." Then Jones broke into a big smile. "And he's slow and he can't jump."

Bird may have significantly contributed to the amazing Celtic turnabout from last Sunday's 33-point humiliation with a single sentence uttered in disgust afterwards.

"We played like sissies, like we needed 12 heart transplants."

He admitted the insult had been calculated, an attempt to get his teammates fired up. They got so fired up in Wednesday night's overtime victory, several fights nearly broke out. The muscle game is not the style favored by the Lakers, a flying, finesse team. Riley, after reviewing films, said the Lakers had played like "a bunch of thugs" and had escalated the series into an "all-out war." Therefore, he would not forbid his players from retaliating, "not when someone's trying to take their basketball lives away."

Riley may have been trying to psych his players up, but it didn't work. There were no fights, but the Celtics again beat the Lakers up off the boards (51-37), got fine outside shooting from Dennis Johnson (10 of 20) and actually outran the deer in purple and gold.

And the two Laker superstars, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, had lousy nights. Jabbar made only seven of 25 shots, consistently missing the skyhook. Magic, harassed all over the court by DJ, had a quiet 10 points and only five rebounds.

Jabbar commented on the heat. "It's like going to a local steambath with all your clothes on, doing 100 pushups and then running up and down."

Blame that for his sub-par performance.

"I couldn't shoot the ball," Jabbar said. "I had no spunk. I played poorly."

On the other hand, the Celtic superstar sizzled. The heat and humidity were so oppressive that ref Hugh Evans went out at halftime with dehydration, but nothing stopped Bird.

He had a lousy shooting night Wednesday, yet hit a tough fallaway for the game-winner with 16 seconds left in OT. When it's on the line, he's a monster, and it was on the line Friday night. Going back to L.A. Sunday down, 3-2, would have made it awfully tough for the Celts. Now they know that at worst, they're coming back to the steambath Wednesday with a tie.