11.12.2018

Celts Close Road 5-1 Road Trip with W (Parish 19 at half)

January 9, 1983

SOME LATE D IN BIG D SAVES CELTICS, 114-100

It somehow seemed that if it came down to a pressure finish, the Celtics knew they would win. The Dallas Mavericks may indeed be a future contender, but last night they crumbled down the stretch as if they had read a script and studied the parts.



The story of Boston's 114-110 victory over Dallas last night was not a pair of 28-point performances by Larry Bird and Robert Parish, although they were key figures in Boston's fifth straight victory that ended an excursion through the Midwest Division.

Rather, the game was won by the Celtics' defensive tenacity in the final two minutes.

Boston closed out this 13-day, six-city trip with a 5-1 record and will be off until Wednesday, when Golden State visits the Garden.

Bird did indeed get the winning basket. With Boston holding a 111-110 lead, he steamed past Dallas' Brad Davis for a stuff shot at the end of a fast break, was fouled and sank a free throw for the three-point play. But even Bird will tell you that he was merely the beneficiary of some heads-up basketball.

Dallas had the ball with 58 seconds left and set up a play for second-year man Jay Vincent, who shot with 44 seconds left. He was blocked by Parish, who then began a play that was pure poetry.

The ball came out to a spot where M. L. Carr, put into the game moments earlier for just such a possibilty, could reach it. Carr flicked the ball upcourt, and Quinn Buckner was in perfect position for a pass that would start a two-on-one break. Bird was the other Celtic down the floor, and Davis, frankly, never had a chance. Bird's thundering dunk startled the crowd of 17,134, which certainly had illusions of a grand victory after seeing the youthful Mavericks overcome a 15-point deficit.

Dallas, as a team, simply has not been around long enough to overcome pressure like this, and it showed immediately on the inbounds play. The Celtics were under orders from coach Bill Fitch to blanket the ball. Davis got the ball in, only to find a posse on his trail. Carr, Buckner and Cedric Maxwell came after him, and a loose dribble resulted in a flick into the waiting arms of Parish. Boston held on to win despite the fact Buckner missed two free throws with 21 seconds left.

"We had three different games out there tonight," said Fitch. "We were fortunate to get the lead at the finish. Most times, I feel bad about a 5 a.m. wakeup call, but after a trip like this I'm glad to get out of Texas."

Such a close finish seemed highly unlikely at first. Boston was in complete command in the first half, smothering the Mavericks with a strong inside game that produced 18-for-19 free-throw shooting and a 64-52 lead at halftime. Parish had 19 points at the break, and the game seemed a laugher for the Celtics, who held a 92-80 lead after three quarters.

But the Mavericks put on a 22-6 spurt to overtake the Celtics and lead, 102-98, with five minutes left.

At that point, Fitch went to the bench for all his starting guns. Bird, Parish, Buckner, Maxwell and Danny Ainge kept plugging until Boston got the lead for keeps at 111-110 on a layup by Maxwell.

"Robert made the play," said Carr, sharing the glory of his magic moment. "It's something we've done before. I saw Quinn out of the corner of my eye, and just tried to get it to him. Quinn seemed to know to be there."

Parish seemed to know that Carr was going to be there. "I was helping from the weak side," said the Chief. "I had a hunch that in the situation, he (Vincent) would try a shot like that. I knew M. L. was on that side. I'm sure they felt the pressure. But we didn't because we'd been there so many times before."

Buckner knew exactly what to do when he got the ball.

"Once I got it," said Buckner, "I knew we'd have a two-on-one break. I knew Larry was around, and I kind of sensed that he'd fill a lane. He did all the rest."

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