Two Centers, 48 Minutes, Two Rebounds

October 15, 1980

Add this to the list of reasons why the Celtics were so distraught over not walking away from the Omni with a win last night: The victorious Hawks committed 12 turnovers in the first period alone . . . Robert Parish did a lot of nice things in his 25-minute stint, scoring a team-high 23 points and blocking three shots. However, he only grabbed one defensive rebound, a figure matched by Rick Robey in his 23 minutes of action. Two defensive rebounds by the starting centers just won't cut it . . . Larry Bird struggled badly en route to a 19-point evening. He shot 5 for 19 and at times his shot looked as confused as Mike Schmidt's Astrodome swings. He is rebounding (10) and passing (17), but he is neither shooting nor playing the type of consistent defense of which he is eminently capable.

Incidentally, after committing those 12 turnovers in the first period, the Hawks came up with only 13 more the rest of the game . . . From M.L. Carr: "We beat ourselves. We were basically outhustled. It was obvious on the boards. We just didn't play ball." . . . Gerald Henderson played as if a fortune teller had told him this was a Super Triple Down Day or something . . . However, that was All-World compared to the display submitted by Tiny Archibald. His out-of- control play was completely reminiscent of the '78-79 Archibald, who led the universe in wild dashes to the hoop. The team's erstwhile floor leaders combined for four assists in 48 minutes.

Had the Celtics pulled this one out, a major reason would have been the second-half offensive play of Chris Ford, whose 15 points all seemed to come at crucial times. He swished a top-of-the-arc three-pointer to make him 2-for- 2 on three-pointers this season . . . Cedric Maxwell sank both of his outside-shot attempts . . . Oh, yes, some observations from Hawk coach Hubie Brown. On why the Celtic guards didn't do as much as they had against Cleveland: "When you play teams that are not of playoff caliber, the guards have a field day. When you play good teams, guards drive the lane and get knocked on their ass."