Bird Saves C's as Time Expires

February 27, 1983

BIRD's 25-FOOTER AT :01 SAVES CELTICS,

PHOENIX

Larry Bird's buzzer-beating 25-foot jumper gave the Celtics a stunning 103-101 victory over the Phoenix Suns last night.



The Celtics appeared beaten when Larry Nance tapped in his own miss to give the Suns a 101-100 lead with one second left. The Celtics wisely called a timeout, took the ball out at midcourt and when Cedric Maxwell's pass landed in Bird's hands, he put the game away with a three-pointer, giving him a whopping 38 points for the night.

Boston fell behind, 12-2, and didn't threaten again until late in the third quarter. In that period, the Celtics showed why there is still plenty to look forward to. When they could have folded, after letting the Suns get ahead by 19 (71-52), the Celtics played great team defense and outscored the Suns, 22-8, in the last 8 1/2 minutes of the period.

Bird keyed the rally with eight points in the final 3:14 of the third. At one point, the Celtics ran off 10 points in a row, six on long jumpers by Bird. It was 79-74 Phoenix after three.

Three power baskets by Maurice Lucas gave the Suns an 11-point lead early in the fourth quarter. Dominating the boards for a change, the Celtics were able get back in it and with 3:59 left, Bird converted a three-point play to tie it, 94-94.

Phoenix came down and missed two shots. Gerald Henderson came up with a loose-ball rebound, and the Celtics broke down the floor. Bird found McHale underneath, and Boston had it's first lead (96-94) since 2-0. The clock showed 3:28 and Phoenix coach John MacLeod finally called time.

With 2:11 left, Dennis Johnson made one of two from the line to cut it to 96-95. Then Bird threw one in from downtown Tombstone and it was 98-95. After DJ hit two free throws to cut it to one again, Parish was fouled by Lucas and made both to make it 100-97 with 1:27 left.

The Celtics were hit with an illegal defense technical, and Kyle Macy made the free throw to cut it to 100-98. Then McHale blocked a shot by Macy, Parish came up with the ball and the Celtics called time with 55 seconds left and a two-point lead.

Bird missed and DJ rebounded. Macy was fouled with 32 seconds left and the 86 percent shooter made only the second of two attempts: the Celtics still led, 100-99.

When Henderson proceeded to miss a long jumper, Macy came up with the rebound and called time with seven seconds left. The Suns missed two shots, the second by Nance, but he tapped in his own miss and the Celtics called time. There was no reason to suspect that Boston might win the game.

The saddest news of the night for the sellout crowd was the announcement that the famed Gorilla mascot was unable to perform because of a ruptured Achilles tendon. That may sound like a joke, but the Phoenix throng greeted the news as if they'd just been told the Pope had been shot.

It looked like a blowout when the Suns ripped off 12 straight points after Parish (18 in the first half) opened the game with a short jumper.

Walter Davis (who hit 15 straight floor shots in scoring 36 points Friday night) hit a pair of jumpers and Nance (18 in the half) contributed a couple of inside hoops.

Meanwhile, Larry Bird missed his only three shots of the quarter and Parish suddenly went cold. Bill Fitch tried a timeout in the middle of the dirty dozen, but the Suns stayed hot.

Two free throws by Tiny Archibald broke the string, but the Celtics were behind from 8 to 10 points for the rest of the quarter. Bird didn't score until he hit two free throws with 38 seconds left in the period. A long jumper by Macy gave Phoenix a 33-24 lead after one.

Lucas, who had missed four straight games due to a calf injury, came off the bench and hit two baskets at the start of the second quarter. The Celtics couldn't get in their offense, kept turning the ball over, and were unable to get closer than seven.

Nance and Johnson keyed a 6-2 run which increased the Phoenix lead to 11 (49-38) midway through the second quarter.

Fitch tried another timeout, but things only got worse. The Suns scored four more to take a 53-38 lead before Bird (10 points in the second quarter) snapped an eight-point Sun streak with a jumper from the right corner.

McHale, playing like a cigar store Indian, picked up his third foul late in the half and was replaced by Scott Wedman. The Celtics trailed, 64-52, at the half.