1980 Celtics All Growed Up

February 7, 1980

The Celtics demonstrated to the Philadelphia 76ers last night that they have grown up beyond all comprehension as the Green and White erupted for an 82- point second half to crush their chief Atlantic Division rivals by a 129-110 score.

The most enthusiastic Garden crowd since John Havlicek Day roared compete approval as Cedric Maxwell, Tiny Archibald (his best game in at least a month) and, of course, Larry Bird rescued them from a 12-point (59-47) halftime deficit with a sensational third-quarter display. The Celtics were trailing by a 76-66 score with 7:10 remaining in the half when the game turned completely around behind the penetration and fast break wizardry of Archibald, plus the all-around play of Bird, who finished with 32 points, 22 in the second half.

But it was Maxwell who had kept them from falling into the Mystic River with his offensive boardwork in the beginning of the period. He had 15 of his 19 points in the second half, with seven of his third period points coming via second shots.

The winning surge in this game came in the final period when the Celtics broke a 90-90 game open with a 16-2 run. A key man was Eric Fernsten, who captivated the crowd with an up-fake on Julius Erving (35) and left-handed lay-up following an in-bounds pass. This gave Boston a 104-92 lead with 6:47 to play. Philly called time, but the first major act after the time out was a Bird bomb from the corner that launched the Celtics on another spree.

Beating the Celtics at their own pet transition game, the 76ers used a 34- point second period to grab a 59-47 halftime lead.

The Celtics had come back from an early 7-2 deficit to move into a 23-l3 lead with 4:45 left in the opening period as Bird continued the sensational play he had begun a week ago Sunday against San Diego. Bird seemed to be involved in everything at both ends, with 10 of those 23 points coming on a variety of shots.

In one sequence, he really dazzled the crowd, blocking an Erving shot from behind and going all the way to finish off the break with a banked runner from down the middle, a la Havlicek.

But that shot proved to be Boston's peak, both artistically and on the scoreboard. The Sixers immediately ripped off six unanswered points, and from this juncture on, they dominated the game, finally outscoring Boston by a 40-20 margin when a Steve Mix sneakaway gave them a 53-43 lead with 2:10 left in the half.

Boston had entered the second quarter with a 31-25 lead, but Philly scored the first eight points of the period to go ahead at 33-31. The Celtics rallied to regain, 36-35, the lead on a technical foul shot by Don Chaney, and Rick Robey, who led all Boston first-half scorers with l4 points, was later to put them ahead at 41-37 on a foul-line jumper.

It was at this point that Mix, who has been a Celtic killer for the past six years, started the visitors on the road to their impressive halftime lead. Mix scored six straight points, and from then on the Philadelphia running game surfaced.

The Sixers had 18 fast-break points in the second quarter, and 10 of them came in the final four minutes, with two more second-chance points also the result of excellent transition. Mix continued his outstanding play and even duplicated one of Bird's favorite moves when he slap-passed a fast-break pass to The Doctor for a dunk, one of five Dr. J first-half jams.

There was a key Boston time-out at 3:09 when the Celtics were still down by only six, 49-43. Fitch told the team to think about going off tied at the half, but instead the Celtics handed over four quick points to give the Sixers their first 10-point lead, 53-43. The Celtics had actually lost their poise. They were taking quick shots, and their fear of Philly's inside defense was obvious. In addition, Bird was unable to connect on anything in the second quarter, partially because of the defense of Bobby Jones and partially because of the fact that he was ill before the game.

Along with Mix, a key man for the Sixers was Cheeks, who really pushed the ball up, and who made them run. Erving hustled on the break, and he had the pleasure of scoring the last three Philadelphia baskets on dunks, the final one coming when Caldwell Jones slapped a long offensive rebound to him for an unmolested stuff.