C’s Win Despite 8 Turnovers and Poor Shooting by Bird

C’s Win Despite 8 Turnovers and Poor Shooting by Bird

March 21, 1980

CELTICS SMOTHER PISTONS MAGIC NUMBER IS 3 FOR DIVISION TITLE

There were two, perhaps three stories emanating this week from the Silverdome, which has been turned into a gigantic house of horrors by two professional teams - the Detroit Lions and Pistons. Last night's story - unfortunately for the Pistons - was that the Celtics came to town for their last visit to the Michigan wasteland. Although Boston won, 124-106, it was not a classic blowout. The Celtics played inconsistently and the Pistons, as usual, played hurt while losing their ninth straight.



Wednesday's story was that Richie Abudato became another unemployed executive, but is finishing out the season as Piston coach. He coached 12 of Detroit's 16 wins - but, lo and behold, the Pistons have also lost 61 games. How would you like to put that on your resume?

Another story involving last night's game was that coach Bill Fitch finally saw a human Larry Bird. A few potential assists were missed by his teammates, but Bird finished with eight turnovers, a 4-of-14 night from the field and was generally not in the game.


"Of all the games this season this is the one I'll remember because Bird proved he was human," said Fitch. "It wasn't his shooting, it was his passes, his decisions on the floor, everything. Until tonight, I had never seen him play a bad game. He quit looking at the hoop in the end."

But Fitch absolutely sees Bird as the NBA's Rookie of the Year and the Most Valuable Player. The MVP contest is being hyped as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. Bird. The Celtics' magic number for clinching the Atlantic Division is now three as the 76ers lost, 119-113, to the Bullets in overtime. Philadelphia is now four games back with six to play.

Boston jumped out to a 35-16 first-quarter lead doing what it does best - run. Dave Cowens (11 rebounds, 15 points) ended the period on a three-point field goal on an assist from Robey. "It took a center to get me the ball," said Cowens. It got no better for the Pistons in the second quarter, although they matched the Celtics in points, 29-29. Leon Douglas, playing with a thigh pull, managed to put in nine strong inside points to get the 11,138 folks off the home team's back for 12 minutes. Alas, for Detroit, it was still 64-45, Celtics, at the half.

The Celtics kept putting the points on the board after the intermission. Pete Maravich led the Celtics with 20. Meanwhile, Abudato kept going with combinations that would make your average BNBL coach extremely nervous. "It was so bad I had to put Terry Tyler in to play center because my center (Kent Benson) was hurt. Douglas was on one leg.

Look, I'm tired of crying, but the guys played hard," said Abudato, whose strangest combination on the floor was four guards and a 6-foot-7 Tyler, who had to contend with Cowens and Robey underneath. Coaching is still an honorable profession, a kinship like any other. Fitch wanted it known that the Pistons dove for loose balls, clawed and made an admirable effort, particularly in a situation with a lame-duck coach.

Abudato's status prompted a great remark from the crowd in the fourth quarter when Boston cleared its bench and built up its lead to 20 or more. Abudato stood up to protest a call and a fan yelled: "Yeah, what are you standing up for; they fired you. It's the only job in the world where they fire you and you still have to come to work." Really nothing more said except 124-106.