Celtics Drawn and Quartered

April 30, 1983

CELTICS DRAWN AND QUARTERED 9-POINT FINAL PERIOD GIVES BUCKS 2-0 LEAD

This one made you want to cry 96 tears. The Celtics weren't lacking nobility, just ability.

This time, the sad Celtics had no reasons to hang their heads. On a night when they led for 45 of 48 minutes and held a whopping 17-point second-half margin, they went into a freeze-frame fourth-quarter offense which produced nine (count em, nine) points and a 95-91 Game 2 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks at Boston Garden.



The season of Helter Skelter appears almost over. The Celtics now must do what only five teams in NBA history have done - come back from an 0-2 deficit - or perish. Worse, they must do it while playing three of a possible five games on the road.

From the sounds of last night'scrowd, the local fandom won't mind if the Celtics hit the road, Jack, and don't come back no more, no more. There was little sympathy from the stunned 15,320 when it ended: boos of disgust and resignation bounded off the balconies. Closer to the bench, coach-under-siege Bill Fitch was fending off harassment that must have reminded him of his Cleveland days.

The Celtics were without Larry Bird (flu), but that wasn't the reason they lost. They lost because they failed to bury the Bucks while hitting 67 percent of their shots in the first half. And they lost because you don't win many playoff games by scoring nine points in the final quarter.

It was a night when Danny Ainge was alternately Jerry West and Rex Morgan, while Scott Wedman was the Scott Wedman who scored 10,000 NBA points, and Bird was the Gipper, leading the cheers from his bedside in Brookline.

With Ainge (11 of 12), Wedman (6 of 6) and Gerald Henderson (4 of 6) lighting up the sky in the first half, Boston bolted to leads of 14-4, 22-10, and 51-34 before settling for a 57-42 halftime edge. The Celtics shot 67 percent to Milwaukee's 36 percent in the first 24 minutes. Boston had 17 assists to Milwaukee's four and the Celtics held the Bucks to zero fast-break points.

It was pretty convincing, but it never seemd like the Celtics were as far ahead as they should have been.

"We shot 67 percent and they shot 36 and we're only up 15," said Rick Robey. "You knew it was gonna average out somewhere."

"They should have been buried," said Henderson. "But they scrapped and scrapped and played and played. They came back pretty good."

A basket by Ainge made it 59-42 at the start of the second half and gave Ainge a career high of 25 points. The star-crossed, snake-bitten (also Rollins-bitten) guard was done for the night. He would miss his last nine shots, and the last three would be killers. There was something strangely cruel about the whole thing.

With the amazing Sidney Moncrief scoring 10 of his team-high 20 points in the third quarter, the Bucks outscored the Celtics, 32-24, and trailed by only eight (82-74) at the end of three. Alleged defensive specialist Quinn Buckner had yet to appear.

The fourth quarter will go down as one of the most humiliating in the history of the Celtic franchise. Fitch frustrated the masses with more weird substitution patterns, and none of the quintets produced. The Celts were outscored, 21-9, and came within a single point of the NBA record low for a single quarter (held by the 1972 Lakers).

The raging Bucks tied it, 86-86, when Marques Johnson (19) blew past Cedric Maxwell for a jam with 6:56 left. A jumper by Wedman with 6:06 remaining enabled Boston to regain the lead, but who would have guessed the Celtis would go 5 minutes, 30 seconds without scoring another basket? A Junior Bridgeman (19 points) basket tied it with 4:58 left.

After two Milwaukee free throws and a miss by Ainge, the Bucks took their first lead on Bob Lanier's bank shot over Robert Parish with 3:07 left. Then Marques rebounded another Ainge miss and Brian Winters threw a running jumper over Ainge into the basket. The Bucks led, 92-88, with 2:17 left.

The Celts broke their scoreless string when Cedric Maxwell hit a technical (illegal defense) foul shot. After Max rebounded a Sidney Moncrief shot, Parish tapped home a miss by Kevin McHale and Boston was within one point (92-91) with 36 seconds left.

With 0:17 showing, the amazing Moncrief scored on a dazzling drive to make it 94-91. The Celtics called time.

Wedman (nine for 11) wasn't on the floor when Boston inbounded, but Ainge was. Mr. Ultrabite was playing his 43d minute and could barely lift his arm, but heaved a three-point shot which clanged off the rim and into the arms of Lanier. Lanier was fouled and made one of two to set the final score.

Wednesday's loss was ugly. Last night's was merely pathetic.