4.30.2019

Tiny (17 Dimes) & Pistol (17-Point 4th) Lead the Way

Tiny (17 Dimes) & Pistol (17-Point 4th) Lead the Way

March 26, 1980

MARAVICH RESCUES CELTICS

M.L. Carr stood at the entrance of the Capitol Centre with a 2-by-4 board in his hand when the Celtics bus arrived, jokingly asserting that if any guy didn't want to play tonight then he was going to whack 'em one. Well, it seemed something did fire up the Celtics, who broke their two- game losing streak by beating the Bullets, 96-95, in a performance that was closer to what the playoff Celtics should look like to coach Bill Fitch.



The game had everything. Pete Maravich at one point hit seven of eight in a fourth-quarter stretch in which he got 17 points, including a three-pointer that came with 51 seconds left in the game. On the other side, Greg Ballard reintroduced himself to Larry Bird as he went unconscious on the floor, hitting 10 of 13 in the second half. The 13th attempt - a very unlucky number for the Bullets - was a 10-footer with one second left that hit the rim and bounced off at the buzzer. His missed shot served the dual purpose of just about insuring the Celtics of the Atlantic Division championship and putting Washington out of playoff range.

It was also a game in which at least two Celtics, Tiny Archibald and Cedric Maxwell, (21 points) awoke from their slumber of the last four games. "I wanted to get in gear because of some things said about the way I was playing this week in the papers. I wanted to get up for the game, emotionally. I tried to block out the injury as an excuse," said Maxwell, who grabbed 11 rebounds and broke the 20-point barrier for the first time in six games.

It was Maxwell's play all evening that neutralized the Bullets' Elvin Hayes, particularly in the fourth quarter. And his sweeping hook with 6:14 to go tied the game at 85 after the Celtics had been five down entering the fourth quarter. Archibald had 17 assists in his duel with Kevin Porter. He also blocked two shots, the last being on a Kevin Grevey 18-foot attempt with one second left that set up the last play with tbe Bullets taking the ball out of bounds.

"He was right. I did foul him (Grevey) from behind, but a lot of times our guys are fouled and they don't call it. I just went up with him and got the ball from behind," said Archibald. For the first half, after being down eight at the outset, Archibald got the running game in gear as the Celtics finally worked some plays to some familiar scorers - Bird, Maxwell and Dave Cowens - who combined for 43 of Boston's 58 first-half points.

Bird had 18 of those as he hit 8 of 14 and a total of 20 for the game, with some signs that he is coming out of his shooting slump. Boston led, 58-50, at the half. Then, in the third quarter, Ballard took over. He scored 12 points in the fourth period when Bullet coach Dick Motta turned him loose. "I took over in the third period. It was a feeling I had, so I let it go," said Ballard. The coaches set up plays for me and the players feed me the ball. I knew the shot at the end wasn't going to be short. I wish it could have been better in the end," said Ballard, who was playing with a strained back. The Bullets outscored the Celtics, 25-12, in the third quarter as the Green offense sputtered with a .250 shooting percentage.

Enter Maravich and the game plan was simple.

"We knew that Pete was going to get the ball. We tried to make him earn every last one of them, but he was putting them in," said Bullet assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff. A Maravich lay-up after a feed from Archibald put the Celtics ahead, 87-85, with 5:30 left in the game. The Pistol came back the next three times down and put in your basic 14-foot baseline jumper, 17-foot jumper, and then a "in yo' face" 16-footer from the side after a feed from Robey. That made it 93-90, Celtics, with 2:43 to go. With two minutes left, the Celtics turned the ball over on a 24-second violation.

The Big E (26 points, only 6 rebounds) dunked an alley oop the next time down to make it 95-93, Bullets. Then Pistol hit the 3-point shot after the Celtics kept the ball alive underneath the basket with Cowens and Maxwell avoiding the muscle. With 33 seconds left Cowens got two free throws after a backcourt foul by Wes Unseld, and he missed both shots. This set the stage for the desperation shot by Grevey, who unfortunately had referee Hugh Evans call a good block and not a foul on Archibald.

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