Erving, Bird Ejected in Celts Win

November 10, 1984

CELTS WIN BRAWL WITH SIXERS, 130-119 ERVING AND BIRD EJECTED

Through the years, it has become an explosive war, its ugly incidents obscured only by the splendid intensity of the games themselves.

But rarely has the Boston Celtics' rivalry with the 76ers reached the kind of boiling point that it reached last night in Boston Garden, where the unbeaten Celtics swatted the Sixers with their first loss of the season - a 130-119 drubbing.



This time, the beauty of the game became incidental to the violence within it.

Philadelphia captain Julius Erving and Boston star Larry Bird were ejected for a third-quarter fight that triggered a bench-clearing brawl.

"It's like war," said Boston center Robert Parish after it was all over. "There's no such thing as a nice war."

The brawl in which Bird found himself a central character obscured his own incredible performance - a performance that was well on its way to being his finest as a pro.

Before the brawl, Bird had scored 42 points on 17-for-23 shooting and helped the Celtics take command of the game. He had tossed in a three-point bomb, made seven consecutive free throws, pulled down seven rebounds, dished out three assists and blocked two shots.

It was the third-highest scoring performance of Bird's career (his high is 53). Bird, who scored 29 points in the first half, keyed a second-quarter Boston surge that lifted the Celtics from a 28-24 first-quarter deficit to a 61-52 halftime edge.

Behind Bird's 13 third-quarter points, the Celtics ran out to a 24-point lead at 87-63 with 4 minutes and 34 seconds left in the period.

But all that seemed insignificant when, with 1:35 left in the quarter, the brawl erupted.

Bird, racing down court on a fastbreak, was guarded closely by Erving, whose game already had crumbled under the weight of a 1-for-9, two-point first half (he finished with a season-low six points on 3-for-13 shooting).

As he cut from the left wing toward the middle of the floor, Bird threw an elbow at Erving, which grazed the Doctor's right temple.

Bird was called for an offensive foul by referee Dick Bavetta - Bavetta worked most of the second half alone after lead referee Jack Madden wrenched his knee 4 minutes into the third quarter. Then Erving and Bird exchanged words.

And soon they exchanged punches. Bird swung at Erving's head and missed. Erving swung back, hitting Bird three times in the face.

Both benches emptied while the players on the floor began to throw punches indiscriminately.

"Larry Bird is probably the best player in the league today," Sixers coach Billy Cunningham said afterward. "But when he has to throw elbows, he's got to expect them in return. He doesn't like it that way."

"Hopefully, the officials will see it that way, because if they don't, we're just going to have to come in here and, you know, throw someone out there to get in a fight with him. I'm the greatest admirer of the guy, but it's got to be a two-way street."

Sixers rookie Charles Barkley, whose 27-point, seven-rebound game also was obscured by the fight, helped center Moses Malone (24 points, 15 boards) pin Bird's arms to his sides while Erving flailed away at the Boston all-star's head. Finally, Bird crumbled to the floor under the considerable weight of Barkley, and Malone fell on Bird, punching him repeatedly.

For the first time in his eight-year NBA career, Erving was tossed out of a game. Bird, who fought with Sixers forward Marc Iavaroni in an exhibition game before last season, also was ejected. As Erving left the floor, he was booed by the sellout Garden crowd of 14,890 - a crowd that traditionally had given him nothing but applause.

The ugliness did not end there.

With 9:14 left in the fourth quarter and with Philadelphia suddenly putting together a rally against the Bird-less Celts, Sixers guard Mo Cheeks (22 points) ran head-on into a blind midcourt pick set by Boston's Dennis Johnson (19 points, five steals).

As Cheeks hit the parquet floor in a heap, Cunningham leaped off the bench and ran screaming onto the floor. Bavetta immediately hit Cunningham with a technical foul, and motioned him to the locker room with a classic ejection move.

There was a problem, however.

Bavetta mistakenly believed it was Cunningham's second technical. The confusion apparently came from the fact that Sixer assistant Matt Guokas had been slapped with one by Madden in the first half.

Cunningham, therefore, was brought back into the game, though on his way back, he was hit in the eye with an object thrown from the stands by someone he didn't see.

It was only at that point that basketball took over again.

Philadelphia, which played without Andrew Toney, who had a sprained ankle, cut the lead to seven points twice in the final 4:12, the last time at 122-115 with 2:49 to play.

Barkley had fouled out moments before that, and Johnson hit four straight baskets down the stretch to repel the Sixers' comeback attempt.

But the beauty of the game by Bird, the exciting professional Boston Garden debut of Barkley, the second-quarter explosion by the Celtics and the fourth quarter resurgence by the Sixers, all were obscured behind the curtain of violence created by the brawl.