ML Carr Loves Taunting the "Fakers"

February 17, 1985

ML CARR: 'ANY WORD FROM THE FAKERS?'

Any word from the Fakers yet?," M.L. Carr asked early yesterday. "What are the Fakers saying about us?"

The "Fakers" are the Los Angeles Lakers, and Carr's insult is just one more Celtic tactic on this West Coast tour.

"We kick your butt and we tell you about it," said Carr.



In preparation for today's national showcase game (3:45 p.m., Channel 7) with the Lakers, the Celtics beat the woeful Golden State Warriors, 107-100, at the sold-out Oakland Coliseum Friday night. Boston trailed by 15 in the first half but held Golden State to 38 points in the second half to win fairly easily. It was the Warriors' 22d loss in their last 23 games. They have won but one ballgame since Dec. 27.

Larry Bird led the Celtics with 30 points and Robert Parish had a season- high 22 rebounds. "I was like a young Moses out there," the 31-year-old Parish said in reference to Moses Malone, who is 29.

Dennis Johnson snapped out of a 2-for-20 shooting slump by hitting nine of 20, scoring 21 points and getting seven assists.

Purvis Short (29), Mickey Johnson (27) and Sleepy Floyd (22) accounted for most of the Warriors' offense.

Coupled with Philadelphia's Spectrum loss to Cleveland, the Celtics' victory put them 1 1/2 games ahead of the Sixers.

"I'd pay $5 for a Philadelphia Inquirer today," laughed Carr.

Meanwhile, it appears that the Celtics' plans to sign free agent guard Ray Williams are on hold until after Tuesday's arbitration hearing in New York. The Celtics, the NBA Players Assn. and Williams' agent, Fred Slaughter, claim they can pay Williams $125,000 for the rest for the year. The league claims the Celtics must prorate the amount for the remaining 29 games. Arbitrator Arthur Stark has five days in which to hand down a ruling.

"If we have to wait 10 days, I'd say forget it," said Larry Bird. "We should either get the guy right now or forget about it."

Meanwhile, the Celtics continued to get little offense from the backup guards. Quinn Buckner and Carlos Clark have scored a total of two points in three games on the Coast. Clark has played only one minute in the last two games.