Celtics Avenge Lone Loss

November 24, 1984

CELTICS AVENGE LONE LOSS

They'll be taking it to the streets and dancehalls of Kansas City, Dallas, Houston and Richfield, Ohio during the next eight days. But for those who've seen them around here these last few weeks, the message is already clear: the 1984-85 Celtics will not be cancered by complacency, intimidated by upstarts, or pressured by pretenders.



Avenging their only loss of an 11-game season, the Celtics snapped Washington's seven-game winning streak with a sound, 118-110 victory at the Garden last night.

Dominating the boards at both ends (50-33), Boston led by 20 in the first half, and by as many as 16 in the fourth quarter. Every time Washington threatened, Larry Bird (29 points, 13 rebounds, five steals, five assists), Dennis Johnson (23 points, eight assists), and Kevin McHale (22 points, 10 rebounds) answered for the green.

"We played pretty well, other than the fact that we let them back in a couple of times," summed Bird. "We just made the big plays when we had to."

"It was important for us," added McHale, who made 10 of 14 shots. "They beat us to death down there (112-95), and we knew we had to play a heckuva lot better. We did. I think the rebounding was the big thing."

En route to a 51-31 lead, the Celtics held Washington to two offensive rebounds in the first half. The absence of summo wrestlers Rick Mahorn and Jeff Ruland helped. Mahorn left with a bad left ankle after nine minutes. Ruland, meanwhile, was in a trance. He took only three shots in the first half and said, "I felt like I was in the twilight zone. I had to take an ammonia capsule at halftime to wake up. I knew then it was going to be a long night."

Rocketman Gus Williams (24 points) kept it close for a few minutes, but from 8-8, the Celts ripped off nine in a row. Bird (who else?) sparked the surge, hitting a one-hander in the lane, then grabbing a defensive rebound and firing a Doug Flutie special to a breaking Cedric Maxwell. Max' layup made it 15-8 and forced a Washington timeout.

When play resumed, Maxwell stole a Greg Ballard pass and DJ hit from outside, pushing Boston's lead to 17-8.

The Celts finally cooled off and the estimable Cliff Robinson (23 points) and Williams temporarily fired the Bullets back into the game. A foul-line jumper by Cliff cut it to 28-26 before the Celts rallied with eight in a row. It was 36-28 at the end of one.

DJ cracked the 10,000-point barrier with a perimeter jumper (just like his other 9998) to start the second. Bird scored over Darren (Make My) Daye to make it 40-28. After a timeout, Bird buried a three-pointer over Daye and Boston led by 15. When Daye finally scored Washington's first basket of the quarter, McHale answered with a pair of hoops and the Celts led, 51-31, with 6:57 left in the half.

The Bullets outscored the Celtics, 24-8, in the remainder of the period. The Celts managed only two baskets and two free throws in the final 6:18 of the half. A three-pointer by Frank Johnson started an 11-2 Washington comeback. After a jumper by Quinn Buckner, the Bullets scored eight more in a row to cut Boston's lead to five. It was 57-55 at the half.

Ruland (19 points, nine rebounds) came alive after intermission, and tied the game (for the first time since 8-8) with a three-point play with 7:43 left in the third. It had taken the Bullets precisely 11 minutes and 13 seconds to make up a 20-point lead.

Bird took over from there. He had five rebounds in the first 6:25 of the third, and sparked a 9-2 drive to push the Celts to a 76-69 lead. He got a lot of help from M. L. Carr, who scored eight points and played 20 second-half minutes.

When the Bullets cut it to three (78-75), Bird led another (12-4) drive, and capped the surge with a jumper over Daye to push the Celts back into the comfort zone. The Celts shot 68 percent (15-22) and outrebounded Washington, 14-6, in the third.

It was 92-83 at the start of the fourth. The multi-talented Robinson carried the load for the Bullets, but didn't have enough help. Boston's second-half lead peaked at 16 (107-91) when Robert Parish (14 points, ten rebounds) scored on a tap in. The Bullets rallied with a hail of three- pointers, but it was too late.