March 29, 1980
AT LONG LAST . . . CELTICS NAIL DOWN TITLE
It would have required the imagination of a basketball-oriented Fellini to have conjured up this scene. Suppose, now, that on a nice August afternoon someone had told you that on the night of March 28, the Boston Celtics - those horrible 29-53 Boston Celtics - would nail down both the league's best record and the Atlantic Division title, and, furthermore, that the punctuation mark to an emotional evening of basketball in the hoop-crazed Garden would be the sights of Pete Maravich - Pete Maravich! - first dribbling out the clock in Globetrotter fashion and finally spiking the basketball as the buzzer sounded.
Helluva parlay, huh?
But it happened, right here in Boston, Mass., which could now be nicknamed Hoop City. As 15,320 delirious pilgrims roared approval, the Celtics capped an ethereal season last night by stopping the Cleveland Cavaliers by a 130-122 score to win their first Atlantic Division championship in four years and clinch the best record in the NBA. This is one time a glance at the box score tells you the essentials. For right at the top you'll see the names of Maxwell (Cedric), Bird (Larry), Robey (Rick) and Archibald (Nate, but more familiarly addressed as "Tiny"), and that's exactly where they ought to be - at the top. This quartet stamped themselves as the greatest foursome since the Four Freshman by submitting clutch performances on a night when it was necessary for the Celtics to prove their championsip credentials.
Their personal achievements cannot be related except in relation to each other. They were symbiotic; that's all. Had any one of them done less on this particular evening (when the noble Cavaliers dignified themselves and their sport by pushing the Celtics to the limit when they had nothing at stake themselves), the Celtics would have been chastised as back-in champs.
But it was a night distinctly lacking in "what-ifs?" Maxwell did come up with 23 points and 14 rebounds, not to mention a staggering 16 points on the offensive boards. Bird did fire in 33 points and pull down 10 rebounds. And Archibald did complete a trifecta (three flawless games in succession when the team most needed direction) with 21 points and 12 assists. Still, Cleveland responded with eight double-figure scorers, and with 4:24 to go, a lead which had once been 14 (97-83) and which had been 12 as late as 108-96, was down to 4 at 114-110. The Cavaliers were playing smoothly and confidently, and they definitely had the 60-win team on the run.
Successive pairs of free throws by Maravich and Archibald opened up some daylight with 3:33 left, but more was needed. Bird stuck in a 20-footer from the left, and this was a significant basket because it was only the third Boston field goal in a five-minute span. Archibald then pulled the shroud over the Cavs by switching off his man to knock the ball away from Mike Mitchell and then saving the ball while going out of bounds to start a fast break. Maxwell knocked home Robey's acrobatic miss of a lob pass, and it was 124-112 with 2:34 left.
And it was o-v-e-r.
Although Cleveland led only once (15-14) in the game, the explosive Cavs are not a team to underrate. The Celtics needed every masterful Bird shot and gorilla rebound of Maxwell's, every Archibald penetration and, perhaps most of all, every spinning, whirling Robey shot and every one of his numerous traffic rebounds. All the Celtics are tributes to the brilliant coaching of Bill Fitch, but perhaps nobody more than Archibald and Robey, Fitch's two Great Projects.
Archibald made sure the Celtics would become division champions by accumulating assist totals of 17, 17 and 12 in the three biggest games of the year. "Whatever superlatives you like," said Fitch, "you can use them on him." Robey, who now has every Celtic fan asking "Joe Barry who?" simply stepped in Dave Cowens' shoes and out-Cowensed Cowens, as The Captain was the first to point out. "Rick Robey played a game tonight," said Cowens, "that any pro - Abdul-Jabbar, anybody - would have been proud to have. To me, he was the dominant force on the floor."
And whether or not this is the dominant team in the league is immaterial. They are overachievers. They are family. They are true champions.
They are True Celtics.
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