We Have a Pistol Sighting

We Have a Pistol Sighting

March 19, 1980

PISTOL SPARKS CELTICS

Surviving the twin evils of a Rakel-Lembo officiating duo and their own penchant for self-destruction, the Boston Celtics came from behind in the final period last night to nail down a 114-102 verdict over the Indiana Pacers at the Civic Center. A run of 16-6 covering 5:45 of the fourth quarter turned an 88-83 Indiana lead into a 99-94 Boston advantage, but before this one was guaranteed in the win column the Celtics would have to make a few clutch baskets and stop throwing the ball away.



Cedric Maxwell did not dress due to a sprained ankle, and Larry Bird was not a big scorer. But the Celtics got their offense from Pete Maravich, who had 31 of the first 86 Celtic points, and M.L. Carr, who played his best all- around game in some time with 23 points and good defense, most of it from the forward position.

After going ahead to stay at 96-94 on a fortuitous pick-up and lay-in of a loose ball by Rick Robey, the Celtics built the margin to nine at 107-98 (1:50 left) before turning it over twice in succession to keep Indiana in the game. However, Mickey Johnson missed two foul shots with 36 seconds to play and the Pacers trailing by seven at 109-102. Bird, who had a strong board and passing game, rebounded and made both foul sots awarded on a loose ball foul called on Johnny Davis.

The refereeing of the amazing Bob Rakel and the confused Ralph Lembo had every player and coach on both teams in peril throughout. But with Rakel, what else is new? Playing the entire second period without either Dave Cowen or Larry Bird (and with Maxwell not even in uniform), the Celtics still managed a 60-49 halftime lead.

The primary reason was the impressive display put on by Maravich, who looked very much like his old self as he dropped in 21 points in his 20 minutes of pox play, a figure that exceeded his previous Celtic high of 20. The Pistol had some tremendous moments, one of which came when he scored seven straight points in just over a minute, each one on a long jumper.

That flurry gave the Celts a 49-33 lead, the first of two 16-point margins they would enjoy. Boston had jumped into an early 10-2 lead in the first three and a half minutes by parlaying solid defense, an Indiana propensity for heaving bombs at the expense of exercising options on their set plays, good rebounding; good outlet passing and strong finishing play at the other end. The Pacers had atrocious floor balance, an each of the first 10 Boston points came via fast breaks. Boston would wind up with 14 fast break points by the quarter and 20 at the half.

The only Pacer lead of the half was 2-0, as the Celtics immediately assumed control with a good showing on defense. When the Pacers closed to within a deuce at 14-12, Boston rattled off six straight points, all of them scored by Carr, who looked immeasurably more comfortable playing at his old forward spot, rather than at guard, where he had been exclusively since the departure of Chris Ford. Carr commenced his little show with a sky tap-in, followed that with a fast break dunk and capped it with a clean midcourt steal and crashing dunk at the other end.

Boston led by a 29-19 score after one period, but the real interesting portion of the first half was ahead. That's because Maravich was about to embark on an 11-point scond period to augment his 10-point first period, and the spectators were about to see some strange Celtic combinations. Try, for example, this one for size: Robey, Judkins, Carr, Maravich and Archibald.

That quintet played together for five minutes and increased a 12-point lead to 13 at 44-31 before Fitch broke it up by inserting Gerald Henderson for Archibald. The great Maravich show came with the Celtics leading by a 42-31 score. First he went one-on-one and threw in a long stutter step jumper. Next on the agenda was a long banked runner for a three-point play. He finished it off with a 4-on-2 fast break swisher for points 20 and 21. Fitch pulled him for a breather a minute later.

The Celtics were playing without Cowens and Bird because each had two personals and because the subs were doing the job. Bird had a sensational passing first quarter - he was very much the key man during that first period fast break burst - but he only attempted two shots in his playing time. Cowens was rebounding well, but, once again, when Robey came in he did the job.

Indiana searched in vain for somebody to give them a lift. They stayed afloat mainly due to second shots, an area in which they had dominated the Celtics a week ago in Market Square Arena. They enjoyed a handsome 14-4 margin in second-chance points.

Fitch undoubtedly chewed the team out for its performance in the final minute, when a 15-point lead was whittled down to nine via turnover. But Henderson drew, and sank, a pair of foul shots with four seconds left to restore the double-figures margin by intermission.

Scratch another Celtic starter. Maxwell has a sprained left ankle, which kept him out of last night's game against the Indiana Pacers and which will hamper him should he perform in tomorrow's game against the Pistons in Pontiac. Max, who had only missed three games in his first two-plus years as a Celtic, sustained the injury in the second period of Monday's game in Piscataway, N.J.. He went into the locker room for treatment, but he reinjured the ankle in the second half.

Fitch was uncertain about how he'd adjust to Maxwell's absence, but he appeared to be leaping toward a lineup that would make Carr the starting small forward and either Pete Maravich or Judkins a starting guard. He had the option of starting Robey in Maxwell's place, but he didn't want to lose Robey as a bench weapon after the hard-working frontcourt swingman had scored 43 points in two games as a substitute against New York and New Jersey.

Chris Ford will resume workouts tomorrow, but it's also unclear when he will be of use because he hadn't touched a ball since a week ago Sunday. Fitch refused to minimize the impact of Maxwell's injury, especially because the team has been operating without Ford, as well. "The way I look at it," Fitch said, "we've got an eight-game schedule and he'll miss one-eighth of it.

That's a lot to me. " Maxwell's ankle became more swollen yesterday after the team arrived from New Jersey. The Celtics, who lead the NBA in victory margin with a spread of over eight points a game, have some heavy statistical ammunition to support their claim to having played the best overall team basketball in the league this season. Entering last
night's Indiana game, they had won 27 games by 10 or more points, 22 by 15 or more and 12 by 20 or more. Consider that last season they won only 29 games, by any margin. Conversely, they have only been beaten by 10 or more points five times, by 15 three times and by 20 points once, that being a 28-point (120.92) setback at the hands of Atlanta back on Dec. 5 at the Garden.

Their two victories in Metropolitan New York (or Greater Paramus, if you prefer) over the weekend boosted the Celtics' best-in-the- league road record to 24-13 . . . The Celtics have learned the breakdown of the 1980-81 schedule following the admisssion of Dallas to the league. They will continue to play each Atlantic Division six times, three home and three away. They will play everyone in the Western Conference twice, one-and-one. And from the revamped Central Division, they will play Atlanta, Chicago, Milwaukee and Indiana six times on a three-three basis as well as playing Detroit and Cleveland five times. They will be home twice against the Pistons and three times against the Cavaliers.