Ainge Buzzer Beater Seals Win

October 19, 1984

AINGE'S SHOT TOPS MAVERICKS AT THE BUZZER

It was a loss that left Mavericks fans and Dick Motta smiling. Weird, yes. A contradiction, yes. But then, there are more meaningful things than the NBA exhibition season -- a good roller coaster ride and a corny dog at the State Fair, for instance.

The Mavericks were defeated by the Boston Celtics, 118-116, Thursday night when Danny Ainge hit an 18-foot jump shot as time ran out. Quick. What is the Mavericks' pre-season record? What is Boston's? Who cares?



From Motta's perspective, the important items, in no particular order, were:

* The play of rookie Sam Perkins, who did not look sharp in the Mavericks exhibition in Norman, Okla., Tuesday. What a difference two days make.

Perkins played 28 minutes Thursday, more than any Dallas player, hit 7-of-12 shots, scored 17 points, had eight rebounds and a blocked shot.

He went up against two of the best players in the league -- Robert Parish and Kevin McHale. He had participated in only 12 practices. He impressed everyone, particularly McHale.

"Sam Perkins is no doubt a great player -- terrific moves and good, sound fundamentals,' McHale said. "He will certainly be a good player for this team. The Mavericks will definitely win with him this year because with this talent, you win. Great players find a way to win. He'll have to play center a lot and he'll take his lumps and bruises, but he'll come through.'

"Sam played better tonight,' said Motta, "but he's still tentative. But I think you can see things that really excite you.'

* The way the Mavericks played very late in the game. For nearly two minutes -- from 3:29 to 1:38 in the fourth quarter -- they were awful. They had three turnovers and a missed shot. They had traded leads with the Celtics 11 times in the period. But they fell apart.

Then, suddenly, they changed. After Boston had scored 10 consecutive points to take a 116-109 lead, the Mavericks got two free throws and a 3-point shot from Mark Aguirre in a 34 second period. With 49 seconds left, they trailed by two, 116-114.

After a Boston miss, Aguirre hit an 18-footer with 17 seconds left to tie the score at 116.

Ainge scored at the buzzer, but it didn't count -- at least in the standings -- and the 12,938 fans at Reunion Arena knew it.

"I think we could have handled the late-game situation better,' said Rolando Blackman."But overall, it turned out well.'

Motta played all 15 players.

The Mavericks have one exhibition game left Saturday when they play the Los Angeles Clippers at Tarrant County Convention Center. After that, cuts will have to be made.

But the players who will be affected are down-the-line players. The end-of-the-roster decisions will have no impact on the regular season.

Perkins will. His most impressive period came during an 11-minute playing stretch late in the third and early in the fourth quarter -- in particular, a 1:25 period near the end of the third quarter.

During that period, Perkins made a nifty reverse layup while being fouled by Robert Parish, and then made the free throw.

Then Perkins tossed in a nifty 10-foot jump hook.

Then he stuffed and stripped McHale of the ball when McHale tried a shot.

Perkins also had some problems, but he was better.

"It's just a matter of getting a feel for the game,' he said. "I felt more relaxed tonight. I tried to apply what I had learned in practices to the game. There were times I was pleased and shocked when my shots went in. And I still have to learn how to contain centers on defense.'

But he was smiling, and Motta seemed happy -- and that was after a loss.