CELTICS FLY WITHOUT COWENS

January 28, 1980

He remains his own worst critic, which is probably why Larry Bird is no ordinary rookie. Even after scoring a career high 36 points, he is not satisfied.



"I knew we were in tough shape," Bird said after the Celtics routed the San Diego Clippers, 131-108, yesterday at the Garden before 15,320. "With Dave Cowens out and not knowing about the health of Rick Robey and Nate Archibald, I knew I had to come out shooting a little more. The shots were going down.

"But just because I'm scoring points doesn't mean I'm playing all that good a game. I let my man (Bingo Smith) get away a couple of times and I didn't play as well on defense as I should. We put together a team effort and won. But I didn't make as big a contribution to winning as I could have if I'd played better defense."

Bird is a 23-year-old rookie who plays forward, brings the ball up the floor on a fast break like a guard and played about four minutes at center yesterday as the Celtics ran away from the Clippers, who are still without their star center Bill Walton. Bird not only took over the Celtics' offense, but added 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

"There is no question that we were in trouble," said Celtic coach Bill Fitch. "We knew we had problems because we thought (Rick) Robey wouldn't be as good as he was. So we worked an hour 40 minutes Saturday on plays for Bird and Tiny Archibald, only to find out that Tiny had the flu. So Larry took over and his shots were going down.

"They were overplaying him, like they did on the West Coast and a lot of teams do. But earlier in the year, Larry was playing on a bad ankle. If he's healthy and you overplay him, he's dynamite."

There is a reason why the Celtics, who played before their 18th sellout in 26 home games, have lost two games in a row only once this season.

It has a lot to do with Bird, who is a catalyst rather than an individual star, and with Archibald, who dragged himself onto the floor and played 30 minutes, adding 14 points and 9 assists.

It also has a lot to do with the lineup Fitch surrounded his talented rookie with. Their talents complement Bird. Robey is no Dave Cowens from the outside, but his inside game may be stronger, and if he can continue to pull down 14 rebounds a game, the Celtics can run with any team.

The Clippers were torn apart on the boards as the Celtics used their second- and third-stringers and Bird at center.

In Friday night's 118-107 loss to Washington, Boston got very little out of an injured Robey (pulled right groin). Eric Fernsten was out of his element against big Wes Unseld. The Celtics' running game suffered, and finally the Bullets just overpowered them.

But yesterday Robey was able to run and rebound effectively for 35 minutes and was spelled at the 3:20 point of the second period by Bird. After the substitution the Celtics, who had led, 42-40, went ahead, 52-42. Bird went outside, knowing opposing center Swen Nater would not follow. Bird used his quickness to throw a hook over Sidney Wicks that had the crowd buzzing.

Bird said he doesn't mind filling in at center as long as he gets help to "take care of some of those big guys."

"We're still a running team," insisted Archibald, "and that's true whether Rick is playing center or Dave is. If we can establish our running game, we're capable of beating anyone. Larry can shoot the ball from outside, and if you can get Rick the ball down low, he's very tough. The key is to have confidence that even with injuries, you can win the ballgame if everybody executes and does his job."

Defense to the contrary, Bird did his job, particularly when he played center. It was the first time since his early college days that he'd played the pivot, and he admitted it felt slightly strange. He was burned once by a backdoor lob to Nater, but came right back to score four straight points. Bird had 23 in the first half. San Diego closed to within 61-57 at halftime, but never seriously threatened in the second half.

"We knew we had to control their fast break," said Clipper coach Gene Shue, whose club lost its sixth straight. "We couldn't do it. Nater has a sore knee and has been tired lately. With Robey and (Cedric) Maxwell, they took command of the boards (55-38). Bird was outstanding."

"What makes this a very important victory," said Fitch, "is that it sets us up for next week with confidence. Had we lost today - and San Diego can be a good team - it might have resulted in five straight losses going into the All-Star break. The schedule is that tough ( Chicago and Washington on the road, Cleveland at home Wednesday). We'll look back on this as a very important victory."