February 11, 1980
What did you expect? Detroit came to town with five rookies and two newly acquired veterans, a healthy Bob McAdoo sitting on the bench, and warmups that were straight out of a comic book. That's what the Pistons were when they arrived yesterday and that was the position they kept when they left, bowing to the Celtics, 128-111.
But to analyze Boston's performance before its 21st Garden sellout crowd of the year (a franchise record), in the first half the Pistons laid claim to the small pieces of property underneath the baskets. Kent Benson, playing his second game as a Piston, looked liked Kareem Benson as he scored 25 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, both game highs. Benson, Leon Douglas and Greg Kelser crashed the boards, setting up guards Eric Money and John Long for fast-break, stop-and-pop baskets which gave Detroit a 31-27 lead after one quarter.
The Celtics, using Tiny Archibald, Eric Fernsten, Larry Bird, M.L. Carr and Jeff Judkins, put a little life back into the crowd in the second quarter. After a cute back-flip layup by Bird to make it 36-38, Carr hit a jumper at the right of the key to tie it, 38-38, with 7:57 remaining.
With 5:56 left before halftime and the Celtics down, 45-42, Pete Maravich made his entrance. Giving everybody an indication of why he is wearing Celtic Green, Maravich scored 10 of his team's last 15 Celtics points, helping Boston earn a 57-57 halftime tie. His last basket was a flamboyant layup at the buzzer that brought the house down.
The momentum Maravich helped generate in the second quarter carried over into the third. Boston blew out the Pistons, outscoring them, 27-9, during one stretch and 36-18 in the quarter. Coach Bill Fitch relished his team's seventh straight victory without ailing Dave Cowens. "I thought Tiny and Max (Cedric Maxwell)
did an excellent job in keeping us in the game," Fitch said. "Larry had his problems in the first half with his shooting. But what went unnoticed was his rebounding.
"With Dave out we've had to learn how to do some things we didn't before because Dave could cover up for us. But it will make us a better team when he's back."Maravich, who had 14 points and 4 assists, was "both good and bad," according to Fitch. Maravich ran out of gas in the second half, because, as he put it, a "lack of oxygen to the brain."
In that devastating third quarter, Piston coach Richie Adubato saw the team concept that kept his squad in the game turn into a one-on-one nightmare. "We had Douglas in foul trouble in the second half. Kelser jammed a toe in the first half so he couldn't go to the basket as well. So we were hurt in the inside," Adubato said.
He was also hurt by Bird, who had pulled down 8 of his 11 rebounds in the second half. Bird, who also scored 24 points, and Archibald, conducted a second-half passing clinic. In a stretch highlighted by a slap pass and cute around-the-body feeds to Rick Robey, Bird hit a three-pointer from the right baseline to make the Celtics' lead 76-67 - and growing. Archibald added a nasty blind feed on a fast break to Fernsten for an easy layup to make it 80-68.
And Fernsten, who scored 5 points, flew past everyone for a layup. He was fouled and completed the three-point play as the Celtics ended the quarter ahead, 93-75. Much of the fourth quarter was a matter of watching the clock wind down as the Celtics built leads of 20 points and more. The Pistons tried to claw and scratch their way back into it, but not even Ronnie Lee, who dove gallantly for loose balls, could generate a comeback.
Some Celtic lapses during garbage time allowed Detroit to get within 14 at 116-102. But Jeff Judkins fired in two straight three-point field goals to kiss those comeback dreams away.
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