Bird (27, 9, & 4) and Robey (18 & 12) Help C’s Topple Sixers

March 8, 1980

Bird (27, 9, & 4) and Robey (18 & 12) Help C’s Topple Sixers

Billy Cunningham says he's convinced. The Boston Garden fans are certainly convinced. "Right now," said the 76er coach after watching his team get obliterated for the third time in as many Boston tries this season, "the Celtics are the best team in the NBA."



They'll surely argue that point in Los Angeles and Seattle (teams against which the Celtics are a combined 0-4), but the operative word is "now." For last night's 111-92 destruction of its chief Atlantic Division rival was Boston's ninth victory in a row, and its 13th in the 15 games since the All- Star Game. Considering that the two losses were each by one point, that they were in Phoenix and Seattle, respectively, and that they were absolute Celtic giveaways, it must be contended that no team has played as consistently good basketball over the last month as the Celtics.

There was an eerie sense of deja vu in this game. Once it was Wilt Chamberlain whose individual brilliance would be pitted against the Celtics. This time it was another case of one-on-five in a big Boston-Philly game. Julius Erving was dazzling, breathtaking, outrageous, miraculous and completely noble as he attempted the Herculean feat of carrying nine teammates on his back against a smooth-functioning five-man unit that often seemed to come at the Sixers like a wave of Alabama halfbacks.

Before Cunningham mercifully pulled his All-Star forward from the game with 3:30 left, The Doc had scored 36 of the first 75 Philadelphia points. He had hit 12 of 16 second-half shots and 15 of his final 21 after going 1 for 7 in the opening period. To those 36 points he added a game-high 13 rebounds and 5 assists. And he was properly rewarded with a standing ovation from the admiring Celtic fans.

But this superb effort had been completely unaided. "Doc is playing better than anybody in the league right now," said Larry Bird (27 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists), "but no one man can beat us the way we're playing." The Celtics did, in fact, play outstanding team defense in this game. The Sixers got off slowly (16 points in the first period) and then tapered off. For long stretches of this game, it truly was The Doc vs. The World, such as in the 12- minute spell from 66-42, Boston, to 82-70, Boston, wherein Erving scored 24 of the 28 Philadelphia points.

"I'll tell you the impact he has," said Bill Fitch. "We almost had them buried, and he brought them back." The Celtics really did have to win this game twice. With the unit of Dave Cowens, M.L. (Mr. Hustle) Carr, Cedric Maxwell, Gerald Henderson and Pete Maravich on the floor for the final 7:05 of the half, the Celtics expanded a 29-26 lead to 47-34 at
the intermission by holding the 76ers without a field goal for the final 5:48 of the period.

With Bird, a passive first-half offensive performer (3 for 6, 8 points) mentally checking himself into the ballgame, with Rick Robey (18 points, 12 rebounds) playing what Fitch termed his "best defensive game," with Maxwell (MVP with 20 points, 9 rebounds and 2 memorable three-point plays), running the lanes, rebounding and demonstrating to Caldwell Jones that he no longer can be imtimidated, the Celtics raced to that 66-42 lead amid some of the most ardent cheering of the season.

That's when Erving began his phenomenal solo act, firing in jumpers from Brian Winters Land, assaulting the offensive boards and finishing off inside plays as only he can. Erving got the Sixers within a workable 14 (72-58) by the end of the third quarter.

Now the fans (who rightfully could have asked after the first 18 minutes, "When does the game begin?") got what they had come to see - the show within the show. As if on cue, it was suddenly The Doc vs. The Bird. Erving hit 6 of his first 7 fourth-period shots, even as Bird was going 5 for 7, twice beating Erving with a baseline driving flip after dribbling behind his back. It was virtuoso basketball at its best, and when it was over, the Celtics were only leading by 12 at 82-70.

It was left for Maxwell to decide the game. Tiny Archibald (9 assists) hit a pair of free throws, and then Max stole the ball off Steve Mix's dribble in the backcourt and wound up banking an Ervingesque baseline scoop shot for a three-point play. That shot ignited the crowd and charged up the Celtics, who then moved into garbage-time cruising gear.

And when it was over, the stat sheet would deliver the bad news to the Sixers. Three Philly men in double figures, five for Boston. An astounding 29 Sixer turnovers, 17 for Boston. Fifteen steals for Boston, seven for Philadelphia. Most important, a three-game division lead for Boston with only 14 to play. Yup, the Sixers are 50-18, and it's not good enough. Who ever would have believed it?