January 19, 1983
BIRD LEADS COMEBACK; CELTICS WIN, 130-126
It was by far the largest home crowd of the season (11,889) at Market Square Arena, and they didn't show up because it was Shell Auto Care/Wrist Band Night. From all corners of the Hoosier State they came to see Larry Bird.
The Indiana Yahweh did not disappoint his people, or his team. He scored 32 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and keyed the crucial 22-6 stretch run that brought the Celtics back from a deep (120-108) hole in the final five minutes and led them to a 130-126 victory over the Pacers.
There was nothing easy or routine about this one. Ahead by 15 in the first period, down by 19 in the third, the Celtics needed 12 straight points and a closing blitz of 17-4 in the final 3:36 to steal a victory from the struggling Pacers. Bird started things by following a Kevin McHale miss, then canning a three-pointer to cut the margin to 120-113. After a basket by sensational rookie Clark Kellogg (32 points, 16 rebounds), the Celtics ripped off their dirty dozen:
1. Robert Parish (29 points) hit a soft 15-foot jumper. 122-115.
2. Quinn Buckner stole the ball from Kellogg and went the length of the floor for a layup. 122-117.
3. Parish rebounded a George Johnson miss and jammed over Herb Williams at the other end. 122-119.
4. Parish scored on a hook shot over Williams after Buckner rebounded a Butch Carter (23 points) miss. 122-121.
5. With 1:27 left, Bird blocked Johnson's shot, controlled the ball and passed to M.L. Carr. Carr slam-dunked and the Celtics led, 123-122.
6. Johnson was called for an offensive foul and Bird sank two to complete the run. Boston led, 125-122, with 1:15 left.
Carter broke the streak with a basket, but Parish hit at the other end and the Celts still led by three. After Johnson (19) cut it to one with 24 seconds left, Bird was fouled by Kellogg with 0:10 showing. French Lick's favorite son smiled and walked to the foul line.
"It was over when they fouled me," he said. "I knew it wasn't going to slip out of our hands, not with me in my home state taking two foul shots to put us up by three. They'd have needed a three-pointer to win at that point."
Bird made both and after a desperation miss by Jerry Sichting, Carr canned one foul shot with one second left.
Leave it to Danny Ainge to produce a rare quote from the lips of silent Cedric Maxwell: "Max said, It's like a game of spades and they didn't have any trumps left in the fourth quarter."
What Indiana (12-25) did have was one time out left, but coach Jack McKinney watched the game-ending 17-4 surge without calling time for his stunned troupe.
It was an evening of streak play. Fresh off a humbling, 90-86 loss in Cleveland Saturday night, the Celtics hit 14 of their first 17 shots and outrebounded the Pacers, 11-3, en route to a 36-21 lead with two minutes left in the first quarter.
Get this: From 36-21, the Celtics were outscored by a whopping 34 points (64-30) over the next 17 minutes. With 8:13 left in the third quarter, Boston trailed, 85-66.
It took a total breakdown of shooting, rebounding and defense to produce such a beating. With Kellogg and Carter running wild and Kellogg, Johnson and Williams sweeping the boards at both ends, the Pacers were able to do whatever they pleased. Once again, NBA paupers were having their way with the princes in Celtic green.
"We didn't get anything after we went to our bench in the first quarter," admitted Bill Fitch. "We didn't get any chemistry at all. Our running game disappeared when we went to our bench. That's when they got into their running game.
"It's easy for people with big egos to take a game like that and start pointing fingers and start withdrawing. But with the type of people we have, we wouldn't let that happen."
Not in Indiana. Not with Larry Bird on the floor.
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