Sixers Take Stranglehold on Series

4/26/1980

The 76ers tried awfully hard to give a game away, but the Celtics refused to accept it, and as a result, Boston is now just one game away from 1980 playoff elimination. Somehow surviving a 16-point final-period display of offensive ineptitude, the Sixers grimly held on to carve out a 102-90 triumph over the Celtics last night and take a 3-1 series lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final.

The Celtics played an atrocious ballgame in many respects, but they did battle, and with 3:16 to go, they were down only five at 92-87. But two big misses prevented any victory chances. The first was a heartbreaking in-and- outer by Larry Bird, who was all alone in the left corner. That resulted in a loose-ball foul by Dave Cowens and two free throws by Darryl Dawkins. The next big chance came with 1:23 to go, and the Celtics again trailing by five, this time at 94-89. Bird had just sprung Chris Ford loose on a fast break following a Julius Erving (30 points) throwaway, but Ford missed the layup with Maurice Cheeks on his tail, and Tiny Archibald was hit with a loose-ball foul. Cheeks sank one of those, and the Celtics were never again as good as minus-five with the ball.

All things considered, it could have been a lot worse at the half for the Celtics, who were never able to achieve much offensive momentum and had to call a timeout with 1:27 left to prevent themselves from being blown out onto Broad street.

From a 57-45 Sixer advantage at that juncture, the Celtics clawed back until they entered the locker room trailing by a more manageable 59-52 score.

There were only two lead changes in the first half, and they had come in the first quarter, which was rather slow starting (as in 5-5 after 3:17). The Sixers took an 11-9 lead at the 5:03 mark and broke the final first-half tie of 17-all with a run of eight straight that propelled them into a 28-21 one- period advantage, the final three coming on a super bomb by Henry Bibby from the 35- to 38-foot range with two seconds to play.

With substitutes such as M.L. Carr, Rick Robey and Gerald Henderson playing prominent roles, the Celtics came back from a 34-25 deficit early in the second period to twice pull within a point, at 38-37 and at 40-39. They would also once be down two with the ball at 45-43. But they could never tie or go ahead, despite some decent chances.

The real turnaround began when the Celtics emerged from a timeout at 2:53, trailing by four (49-45) and in possession of the basketball. Their next four possessions yielded the following:

- Bird suffered through an in-and-out 18-foot banker, which was eventually answered by an unmolested Steve Mix inbounds layup (one of two such transgressions committed by the Celtics in the half).

- Carr couldn't knock in a short low-post turnaround over Bibby, and Mix - a big factor in the second period as the Sixers played the last 16 minutes of the half without foul-plagued Caldwell Jones - sank two fast-break free throws on the transition.

- Cowens missed a pick-and-roll inside flip, and his man, Dawkins, wound up slamming home a 2-on-1 fast-break dunk.

- And finally, the crusher: Cedric Maxwell slipped a pass underneath to Cowens. But Mix blocked the shot from behind and then finished off the spurt with a 12-foot baseline jumper at the other end. Now it was 57-45, and Bill Fitch wisely called time. When play resumed, Bird (13) fed Maxwell for an underneath three-point play to start the Celtics' push back into the game.

Erving had gotten off to a dramatic start, scoring 11 first-period points on a nice variety of shots. But offense definitely was not the key word during the first 10 minutes, during which time the 76ers contributed greatly to the Celtics' cause with a stream of turnovers. But Boston really wasn't shooting well (8 for 21 in the period) and couldn't take full advantage of the Sixer largesse.

Bird only got off three shots in the first period, but he did manage to get rid of Caldwell. Unfortunately, that only meant that he then saw Bobby Jones, who went on to score eight points and play his normally disruptive style of defense. Still, Bird did get loose often enough to become Boston's first-half high scorer.

It had been hoped that Cowens would become more of an offensive factor, but at the half he was only a 2-for-6 shooter, and he had yet to attempt an outside shot. Another big man for the Sixers, incidentally, was Dawkins, who played within himself to match Ervng's game-high 15 points at the half. The young monster shot 7 for 8 from the field.

After creeping within three points at 59-56, the Celtics almost allowed the game to slip completely away from them, finally slinking into the final period trailing by an 86-74 score.

The Celtics scored the first two baskets of the half, forcing Billy Cunningham into what proved to be a propitious timeout. For when the Sixers emerged, they hit the Celtics with a 17-5 run over the next 4:37 to go up by a crowd-pleasing 76-51 score. Included in that spurt was a three-pointer by Erving, who finished the third quarter with 12 points to give him a game-high three-period total of 27.

The Celtics were being beaten in every category. The Sixers were shooting and defending better, and they were quicker to every loose ball. The Celtics got a pair of free throws by Maxwell and a sneakaway dunk by Carr in the final minute to creep within that dozen-point margin.