6.21.2019

Cs Win, as Bird, McHale, Parish, and DJ Score all but 12 Points

November 15, 1984

CELTICS EASE PAST KNICKS

It was like "Nightline" testing its drawing power against the "Tonight Show" on an evening when Johnny Carson, Ed McMahon and Doc Severinsen stayed home.

Playing a last-place Knick team which was without Bernard King and just about everybody else, the Celts fooled around for three quarters before rolling to a 115-99 victory over New York last night at Boston Garden.



It seems hard to believe that just six months ago Hubie Brown's hombres took Boston to the limit in the playoffs. In a seven-game slugfest, Larry Bird and the Garden floor were the only elements separating the Celtics and Knicks. The Celtics went on to a victory reception in the White House Rose Garden while the Knicks went home for the summer and slowly disintegrated.

Only five of the Knicks (one starter) who played in Garden Game No. 7 last May were in uniform last night. Franchise King (bruised shin) watched in civilian clothing and everybody else was either unemployed (Ray Williams), in law school (Len Elmore) or injured.

The Knicks limped into town without Bill Cartwright (broken foot), Truck Robinson (hairline fracture), Marvin Webster (hepatitis) and Eddie Wilkins (sprained ankle). When it was announced that King would not play due to an injury sustained Tuesday night, Cedric Maxwell broke into a big grin, and press pundits asked about league policy on forfeiture.

Since NBA Comr. David Stern frowns on the idea of forfeits, and the Celts had the joint sold out again, they decided to play the game.

The shorthanded Knicks gave the lazy Celtics all they could handle for 36 minutes. The Celts couldn't put it away until Kevin McHale (25 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks) scored 15 in Boston's 32-21 fourth quarter.

Hubie warned everyone before the game when he said, "The main thing about pro sports is that everybody on your roster is supposed to be able to play. You might catch the other team on a letdown and you might play a perfect game." Brown also talked about a night when his Atlanta Hawks beat the Celtics with only seven healthy players.

Boston's early letdown was obvious. The Celts made only six of 18 shots, were outrebounded, 12-8, and clung to an embarrassing 27-24 lead after one.

Maxwell smirked through the first eight minutes while the Knicks scored eight in a row and bolted to an 18-10 lead. Pat Cummings (17 points, 15 rebounds) and James Bailey, the pride of Xaverian High, led the Knick uprising.

"It's very difficult to play when so many of their players are hurt," admitted Max (three points in 12 minutes). "Psychologically, I wasn't sharp."

New York's front line at the start of the second quarter featured Ernie Grunfeld, seventh-round rookie Ken Bannister and Ron Cavenall, who played with the Harlem Magicians last year. Boston countered with a trio (Bird, Robert Parish and McHale) which will earn over $3.4 million this year.

Still the Celts couldn't put the Knicks away. Cavenall, who spent last year posting up against high school geometry teachers and radio talk show hosts, scored twice over Parish and kept the Knicks in the game.

After the Celtics opened up a seven-point lead, Louis (Gandhi) Orr started a 12-2 Knick run and New York went into the locker room with a 55-54 halftime edge over the red-faced Celtics.

New York scored nine of the first 12 points after intermission, giving the Knicks a 64-57 lead and a 21-7 advantage over a six-minute period. The Celts were so bad that Trent Tucker scored on a drive to the basket. Enough said.

Bird (29 points) finally got hot. En route to an 11-point third quarter, Bird pulled Boston out of a trance. The Celts went ahead for good when Parish (26 points, 9 rebounds) scored off the break to make it 75-74 with 2:44 left in the period. Boston shot 55 percent in the period (to New York's 39 percent) and led, 83-78, after three.

The Celtics were at the free throw line all night (39 of 49) and hit seven foul shots to stretch their lead to 92-82 in the first three minutes of the fourth period.

The Knicks simply didn't have the firepower to keep up. Bailey (14 points) hit a couple of shots over Parish, but two more hoops by McHale finally pushed the Celts into the comfort zone (103-90 with 5:18 left). Boston led by 15 with 1:23 left when K.C. Jones cleared his bench. A banker by Rick Carlisle gave the Celts their biggest lead, 115-98. It was the Celts' only non-McHale basket of the quarter. The quartet of Bird, Parish, McHale and Dennis Johnson (23 points) scored 103 of Boston's 115 points.

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