C's Post W in Pontiac

December 16, 1982

CELTICS TIP PISTONS

Life without Chief isn't easy, especially when you go up against this team of greyhound guards and rocket-man forwards.

Playing their first full game of the year without Robert Parish, the Celtics clawed to a 108-104 victory over the talented and gutty Detroit Pistons in front of 12,147 in the suburban tundra of Pontiac Michigan least night.



The Celts trailed, 100-95 with 3:14 left, but roared back with eight straight points.

Cedric Maxwell started the surge with a post-up basket over Edgar Jones. After Larry Bird rebounded a Vinnie Johnson miss, Bird was fouled at the other end by Bill Laimbeer and made both to cut it to 100-99 with 2:07 left.

Bird rebounded another Laimbeer miss, fed Quinn Buckner, who fed Kevin Mchale for a fast-break jam to give the Celtics the lead for good, 101-100, with 1:31 left. After that, Maxwell stole a Laimbeer pass and fed Tiny for a layup: 103-100 with 1:06 left.

After a timeout, Scott May hit two free throws with 53 seconds left to cut it to 103-102, but Maxwell snatched a Bird miss at the other end and put it back in to give the Celtics a 105-102 lead with 32 second left.

When they came back down, McHale and Laimbeer got into a scrap on the floor and Mchale was called for a foul. Laimbeer made both with 17 second left to cut it to 105-104.

On the inbounds play, Quinn Buckner was fouled and made both with 13 seconds left to push the Celtics to a 107-104 lead with 13 seconds showing.

Detroit called time, set up a three-point shot, but they best they could do was Laimbeer from 30 feet. Bird got a piece of it, Buckner grabbed the loose ball and was fouled. He made one out of two to set the final score.

It was 81-81 starting the fourth period. A Bird jumper put the C's up, 83-81, but Detroit scored the next eight to take an 89-83 lead.

After getting outrebounded, 28-17, and outscored, 65-50, in the first half, the Celtics came out roaring in the third quarter. A 12-2 run at the start of the period cut Detroit's lead to 67-62 before the Pistons called time out with 8:43 left in the third quarter.

Bird, who'd been held to eight in the first half, heated up, scoring 11 points and grabbing nine rebounds in the third period. After a Cliff Levingston basket put the Pistons ahead, 77-70, the Celtics started running, scoring six points on thre consecutive fast-break layups to pull to within a point, 77-76, with 2:40 left in the third. After a time out, Bird was fouled by Vinnie Johnson and one to tie it with 2:19 left in the third. He made one to make it 77-77.

With 30 seconds left in the period, McHale grabbed a defensive rebound and hit Archibald on the left. Nearing midcourt, Tiny lofted a rainbow lead pass to Bird, who was streaking down the right sideline. Bird caught the ball, swooped under the hoop and laid it in with his left hand to give the Celtics an 81-80 lead. It was Boston's first lead since 2-0.

The great mystery of the evening was resolved when Bill Fitch finally named Rick Robey to start at center. Fitch guarded the decision as if he'd been asked to reveal the blueprint for the MX missile.

Though the Celtics were playing without Robert Parish for the first time all season, the Pistons were again without Kelly Tripuka (knee) and Kent Benson. Detroit has lost 50 player-games to injuries this year and are used to playing short-handed.

Beating Boston down the court, Scotty Robertson's bunch raced to a 12-4 lead in the opening minutes. With 4:36 left in the first period, Robey picked up his second foul and was replaced by McHale. Archibald replaced Danny Ainge with 4:07 left in the quarter and by then the Pistons had a 25-15 lead.

It got worse for the green team. Vinnie Johnson came in and scored 7 quick points and with 1:27 left in the quarter, the Pistons led, 36-20. It was a quarter in which Bird finally came back to earth, scoring only 4 points. Maxwell led the C's with 8 in the period which ended with Detroit leading, 38-24.

The Celtics were outrebounded, 14-8, in the quarter. The Pistons shot 60 percent (12-20) compared with Boston's 39 percent (9-23).

The Celtics couldn't get into their offense in the second quarter either. Meanwhile, Johnson stayed hot, Isiah Thomas ran the break and the Pistons continued to beat Boston underneath. The lead reached 19 (55-36) when Laimbeer took a rebound away from McHale and put it back in with 6:04 left in the half.

Foul trouble plagued the Celtics. Robey picked up his fourth with four minutes left in the half. Meanwhile, Charles Bradley, who'd been inserted to slow down Johnson, didn't do much better than the other Celtic guards. A Johnson basket with 3:09 left pushed the Pistons to their largest lead of the half, 63-43.

M.L. Carr (11 points in the first half) picked up the sagging Celts before halftime. The Celts scored seven straight to cut it to 63-50, but Piston rookie Cliff Levingston, after scaling two rows of fans to save a loose ball, tapped in a miss and it was Detroit, 65-50, at the half.