12.03.2018

Bird Takes Control

3/7/83

BIRD'S SURGE FOILS NETS

There are certain things a team can try to do to stop Larry Bird. Tonight, nothing the Nets tried worked. After sitting out the first six minutes of the final period, Bird scored 13 of Boston's next 19 points and finished with 30 as the Celtics defeated the New Jersey Nets, 121-114, at the Civic Center.



Most of Bird's points were scored against Albert King. But King, when he wasn't shaking his head in frustration, performed well at the other end of the court, scoring a career-high 31 points.

"Albert felt bad," said Nets' Coach Larry Brown. "But I told him, 'Hey, that's such a great player, there was nothing you could have done.' "

'Like a Second Coach'

"When we needed a pressure shot, Bird made it," said Boston Coach Bill Fitch. "When the game is on the line, we want Larry. He's like a second coach out on the floor."

When Bird took over Fitch was not even coaching; he had been ejected after drawing a second technical with 6:56 left in the third quarter.

Buck Williams scored 14 points for the Nets (38-23) and had a teamhigh seven rebounds. For the Celtics (44-16), Cedric Maxwell added 19, with Keven McHale tallying 18.

After taking an 84-80 lead into the last period, the Celtics built a 12-point lead with a 10-0 surge. That spurt came with most of the Nets starters -Darryl Dawkins, Buck Williams, King, and Michael Ray Richardson -resting on the bench.

When they retured, with 9:54 left, they began a 10-0 surge of their own, closing the deficit to 96-94 when Richardson scored on a driving lay-in.

The Nets' defense then stiffened, but as would be the case for the rest of the contest, it hardly mattered. The Celtic center Robert Parish hit a rainbow jumper over Gminski that was followed by a bank shot by King.

Then Bird's surge began. On the following play, three Nets appeared to have Bird pinned beneath the basket. But he double-pumped and hit a hook shot over Gminski, who also fouled him.

After Gminski hit a bank shot on the other end, Bird hit a 3-point shot with King's left hand in his face to put the Celtics ahead, 104-98, with 3:58 left.

From there, neither Bird nor the Celtics seemed to miss. After the Nets pulled to 109-107 on two free throws by Darwin Cook with 1:37 left, Bird hit a 15-footer after he dribbled the ball behind his back to avoid King's attempt at a steal.

Gminski's attempt was blocked at the other end, and Bird followed with a fadeaway 18-footer, while being closely guarded by King, deflating the Nets' hopes.

Nate (Tiny) Archibald, the Celtic point guard, was sick and was out of the starting lineup for the first time in 10 games. Quinn Buckner replaced Archibald in the starting lineup.

For the Nets, Otis Birdsong, who is suffering from severe back spasms, was out of action. He did not accompany the team here. Without Birdsong, one of their leading outside shooters, the Nets relied on King in the early moments. He responded with 10 firstperiod points. The contest was tied three times in the quarter, with neither team leading by more than 4 points.

Darryl Dawkins, who got into foul trouble in the Nets' upset of Philadelphia Sunday, had similar problems tonight. He picked up his second foul -an offensive foul - near the middle of the first period and was taken out of the game. The call, made by Referee Dick Bavetta as Dawkins was attempting to pass, drew complaints from the Nets and established the tone for the first half.

Williams, who had been charged with only one technical foul all season, was called for one while arguing another call by Bavetta. And Larry Brown, the Nets coach, was charged with a technical just before halftime when he protested that a loose-ball foul on Dawkins should have been a goaltending call.

The Nets took a brief lead at 33-32 near the start of the second period, but after a cold spell that saw both teams fail to score a basket in six possessions, the Celtics went on a 7-0 run.

Both teams scored with practically every possession from there on, with Williams hitting three straight baskets in a spurt, before the Nets pulled to 49-51 when King hit a fast-break lay-in with 3:47 left in the half. A 6-0 surge helped the Celtics move to a 61-54 lead at the half.

No comments: