'86 C's 6-0 with Wedman Subbing for Injured McHale

2/6/86

'86 C's 6-0 with Wedman Subbing for Injured McHale

Kevin McHale, originally scheduled for bench duty, was scratched moments before game time last night.

Celtics coach K.C. Jones had hoped McHale would see some action, but his damaged Achilles' tendon stiffened up, so once again starting duties went to Scott Wedman,

"Scott (The Lip) Wedman will start," said Jones. The mentor was, of course, alluding to the mouth injury sustained by Wedman in the first half of Sunday's comback conquest of Seattle. Wedman's teeth actually went through his upper lip, and the wonder is that the wound was closed with a scant four stitches.

McHale played 12 first-half minutes Tuesday in Milwaukee, abusing Alton Lister & Co. for 12 points on 6-for-6 shooting, and then retired for the rest of the game when his ailing tendon stiffened.

The Celtics entered last night's game with a 21-1 home record . . . Washington has hung tough through the usual assortment of injuries which are endemic to the franchise by the Potomac. The Bullets arrived here without their best player. Jeff Ruland, who had not been back for long after missing 22 games with an avulsion fracture of the right ankle, reinjured the ankle Saturday night against Detroit . . . With rookie Manute Bol at center for those 22 games, however, the Bullets went a respectable 12-10, which assistant coach Fred Carter thinks is remarkable. "What Manute has done," said Carter, "is like a guy coming out of high school and working for, let's say, General Dynamics. That's basically what it is." Carter says that on a scale of 1 to 10, Bol is up to about a 6, with his offense still in the learning stages . . . The 7-foot-7-inch Sudanese rookie is leading the league in blocked shots, having averaged almost seven a game since becoming the starting center in Ruland's absence.

The Celtics were 3-0 against Washington this season before last night . . . Boston was 6-0 with Wedman in the starting lineup, and during those six games, Wedman had averaged 18.2 points on 53 percent shooting . . . This was the final game before the All-Star break for the Celtics, as well as their final Boston Garden appearance until Feb. 26.