Bird's Rookie Year: Celtics Give Elvin Hayes Something to Think About

December 31, 1979

Hey, Elvin Hayes, what have you to say now?

Way back before the 10th game of the season, Hayes sneered at the idea that the Celtics were back. "Come and see me when they win 29," was his appraisal of the Boston entry. And now they have. Saturday night's 104-88 victory over the sad Golden State Warriors was indeed Boston's 29th of the new season, and it was accomplished before the halfway point in the season. Hell, it was accomplished before New Year's Day.

Triumph No. 29 was not a particularly artistic achievement, but it did have a couple of redeeming qualities. For one thing, it could not have been won without the superb bench contributions of Rick Robey (a season-high 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting), M.L. Carr (14 points, including the single most important basket of the evening) and Gerald Henderson (eight points and steady play in 20 minutes of playing time).

These nonregulars enabled the Celtics to win despite 43 percent team shooting, a poor performance that owed much to the poor shooting of Dave Cowens (7 for 21) and Larry Bird (5 for 18). "The bench," admitted Bill Fitch, who is not the quickest man with a compliment for his players, "was a godsend."

A second factor worth noting is Boston's innate ability to come up with the key play, or, at least, to do what is necessary to win. It was evident at halftime (47-47) that the game would be won with a spurt of some kind, and so it was as a seven-point blitz in one 37-second span turned things around.

When Robert Parish (28 points on 11-for-19 shooting) laid in a back-door lob pass with 8:28 remaining, the Warriors, who had trailed by nine points (75-66) a minute earlier, had pulled to 75-70. But Carr swished a three- pointer 13 seconds later to trigger the big spurt. When the Warriors committed an in-bounds violation, Carr fed Larry Bird (16 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists) for a corner jumper. Henderson then made Golden State pay for a missed shot by hitting on a jumper from the lane. Now it was 82-70.

"The next couple of minutes were key," said Fitch. "When they played their best ball, we answered them, and that's what you've got to do on the road." Indeed, the Warriors began running their offense well, but every Golden State basket was answered by a Boston hoop, with the hustling Robey scoring eight straight Celtic points on a fast-break layup, two free throws resulting from the offensive rebound of his only miss, a jump hook and another fast- break layup. With 4:02 left, it was 90-78, and Golden State's spirit was broken.

Now the Celtics can relax awhile and enjoy their New Year's before resuming action in Houston on Wednesday night. Their record is 29-9. Last year's final record was 29-53. "We all knew we'd win 29," said Fitch. "What I would like to remember is that we won our last game of '79. Our next goal is to win our last game of the entire season. Then I'll be happy."