January 20, 1980
What exactly is at stake today (Ch. 7, noon) when the Celtics, with their gaudy 34-11 record, tangle with the NBA champion Seattle SuperSonics, with their impressive 35-13 calling card?
Well, there could be a little East-West macho business. The Pacific Division is clearly the league's best, according to records, but many Pacific people say that Seattle, Los Angeles and Phoenix could all have better marks if they played an Atlantic Division schedule. With the new imbalanced schedule, there have been few East-West confrontations among the teams with the four best records.
The 76ers, who went into a game with Cleveland last night with a 34-11 record of their own, have yet to play either Los Angeles or Seattle. And this will be the first Boston-Seattle meeting.
Meanwhile, LA is smirking over its two-game season's sweep of Boston, which included last Sunday's closely watched 100-98 triumph in the Garden. The 76ers are 2-1 with Boston, which means that in direct competition with the league's elite, the Celtics are 1-4.
Fact is, the Celtics have been struggling since when they began a six-game road odyssey by losing a game in Philadelphia on Dec. 22. Their most recent accomplishment has been to demonstrate that they are now good enough to win while not playing well - at least at home - which is generally viewed as the mark of a superior team.
The most recent example of that came on Friday night, when they reawakened in the third period to run Portland out of town with a 37-15 blast that led to an easy 111-93 victory. The collective confidence of October and November may have been restored with that burst, and it obviously couldn't have come at a better time.
"At least we got our offense going," said Chris Ford. "We've been so stagnant lately. It was very nice to have our offense back."
Coach Bill Fitch agreed: "We probably played as well in that (third- quarter) stretch as we have in ten days."
The Seattle club, which arrives here fresh from a 124-117 conquest of New York (a game in which they once trailed by 20-0), is a smooth, deep, confident team that has casually gone 32-8 following a 3-5 start. It is in the midst of a six-game jaunt that has already taken them to Landover (for an easy 120-100 triumph over Washington) and which will also land them in Atlanta, San Antonio and Houston.
Most fans know the names: Sikma, Williams, Shelton, Downtown Freddy, Silas and, of course, the estimable firm of Johnson & Johnson.
Speaking of which, Dennis Johnson has lately been acting like what he often is, namely the league's best guard. He comes here seeking his third straight 30-point game, having already lit up the Bullets (34) and the Knicks (30) on this trip.
Dennis got off to a poor offensive start, and insiders say his backcourt partner, Gus Williams, had been having a better year - until recently. DJ seems to be in gear now.
So what's at stake? Nothing much, really. Just Boston prestige, TV ratings (hello there, Bill Russell) and the image of the NBA.
Of course, all involved will simply say that it's merely one of 82. It's in the manual.
12 comments:
For those of us wondering, back in March, whether Shaq was really injured or just being saved for the playoffs, we got our answer.
Seriously, is there one player on the Cs you would not consider trading?
Big Four gotta stay, right? other than that, go nuts!
i will be curious to see what danny does
He might clean house
Fielding all reasonable offers . . . for anyone on the team.
Please, don't hesitate to call.
Really, just come loaded with picks, preferably players with no history of injuries.
Well, thats the end of that season, been an interesting year! im upset right now, but i am also really excited, cause i love all that pre-season, training camp, trades, stuff! but gonna be a loooong summer b4 that!
Cant believe danny has any desire to bring back a team that is old slow and cant rebound worth a damn
They made the NBA relevant in our town once again, bringing back the pride and mystique of the golden days of Russell and Red. They reintroduced NBA America to the Celtics-Lakers rivalry that burned with Magic and Larry in the '80s. They won 234 regular-season games, got to the Finals twice, and broke a 22-year championship drought when they hung banner No. 17 in the rafters. The schooled us in Ubuntu. Anything was possible
And now it's over. Thirtysomethings Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen will probably return to the Celtics next year, and Doc Rivers might come back to coach again, but the championship window closed last night when the Heat defeated the Celtics, 97-87, to clinch the Eastern Conference semifinal series in five games
Father Time always wins. The Celtic never looked older than they looked at the finish. Boston led, 87-81, with 4:29 left, but was outscored 16-0 down the stretch
What a field day for the Heat. Miami torched the Green with a closing run of 16-0. Brutal
It was 87-87 with 2:10 remaining when LeBron James hit a stake-driv ing 3-pointer from the left corner while wearing Pierce. James almost fell into the first row of the stands after releasing the shot. Then he canned another from out top. Then he stole a lazy pass and went in for an uncontested dunk
Pierce, Garnett, and Allen were on the floor with Delonte West and Jeff Green for the late-game carnage. It made for a sad ending to the once-dominant New Big Three. The Celtics did not score a point in their last eight possessions
Dont bring them back
let them go
doc too
Let them all go? u feeling ok lex?
5 yrs 35 m for doc?
Wow.
im glad about that myself! though its some serious dough!
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