April 22, 1985
MAXWELL NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME
K.C. Jones, Cedric Maxwell and most of the Celtics insist that the Max factor is crucial to Boston's title defense, but the veteran forward has contributed nothing to Boston's 2-0 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers in this best-of-five series.
Maxwell has played 13 minutes in the first two games, scoring three points and getting zero rebounds. He played six minutes without touching the basketball in the first half of Saturday's 108-106 victory over the Cavaliers but watched from the pine for the entire second half.
The series resumes in Cleveland tomorrow night and there's no indication that Maxwell is ready for prime time. He has played in only eight games, totaling 98 minutes since undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Feb. 22.
Meanwhile, Larry Bird, who's hurting with bone chips and bursitis in his right elbow, had to go 47 minutes Saturday. Kevin McHale, who has a bruised right thigh and a sore lower back, also went 47. Bird and McHale sat out yesterday's practice and Robert Parish (who missed Friday's practice with a bad back) is still treading lightly. Parish played 37 minutes Saturday.
Knicks coach Hubie Brown, who was in Boston with the CBS crew Saturday, noted, "I don't like the way the Celtics are playing. They miss Maxwell. Their frontcourt rotation isn't the same without him, and you can see Cleveland is taking it right to Maxwell when he is in there. It's hard for a guy like Maxwell to come in cold for six minutes and do something."
Jones is in a bind. Maxwell's knee wasn't strong enough for court time at the end of the regular season, and it's hard to get Maxwell minutes during two-point playoff games. Meanwhile, the Celtics could have as much as a week off if they win tomorrow night and Maxwell admits that game conditioning is the only true test for his knee.
"It's definitely a concern because, right now, I haven't been in a game to test it," says Maxwell. "But I have to go with what the coaching staff wants. We've won two games and K.C. said I'll be playing more eventually. Right now I could probably go in there and run for 35 minutes if somebody got hurt, but I don't know how effective I'd be."
Jones remains optimistic but acknowledges the difficulty of the situation. "Not having Max changes all sorts of things," says the Celtic coach. "It changes defensive assignments and puts more weight on Larry. That's why it's so important that he get Max back.
"We needed him badly to win last year and right now we don't have him."
"We stil have a four-man rotation with me, Kevin, Robert and Scotty (Wedman)," says Bird. "And I just don't think you can play 10 guys in the playoffs. It's gonna be a matter of getting him some time in the flow of the game. He misses that more than conditioning. You just don't miss two months and come right back into the flow."
No comments:
Post a Comment