Ainge, DJ Combine for 46 Points, 21 Dimes in W

2/2/1985

Ainge, DJ Combine for 46 Points, 21 Dimes in W

It might be fun. Some night the Celtics should invite a Continental League team in to play, with the club scoring the most points winning a year's supply of Gatorade.



This is not to say the Kansas City Kings looked like a bunch of CBA rejects in absorbing a 142-123 defeat at Boston Garden last night. In losing their ninth straight game on the road, the Kings ran just as fast, actually got off more shots than the Celtics, and scored just four fewer field goals.

But it is a rare NBA team that can escape from the Garden with anything but egg on its face on a night when the Celtics roar for four full quarters and shoot a sizzling 63 percent (59 of 94). Some said this game was over at 4-0 and a blowout at 10-2, and that's not far from the truth. But the Kings did stay within striking distance until the fourth quarter, when it became obvious they didn't have enough horses. The 142 points by Boston was its season high.

After losing a grueling Eastern-style slugfest to Philadelphia on Wednesday night, the Celtics had a message to deliver. Sure, power inside is still their game. But when it comes to pure running, spurred on by good defensive pressure, few are better.

"We wanted to come out and play a little better than we did the last couple of times," said Larry Bird, who had 38 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. "We shot the ball real well. We know we can do it, but you still have to go out and prove you can do it. We wanted to get the ball off the boards, move it, hit the open guy and get the easy basket.

"We knew we could overpower them down low. But tonight it seemed we shot very well from the outside. Danny Ainge (26 points) gave us his best game in a long while. He passed the ball when he had to, took a shot when he had to, and played well on the defensive end. He was definitely a key."

Ainge, who hit 11 of 14 shots in matching his career high, was just one of the keys of a Celtic romp, which was aided greatly by the Kings' shabby defense and 19 turnovers. Kansas City likes to fill it up, too, but in the first period the Kings shot often and not wisely, and Boston turned those mistakes into nine fast breaks in 11 opportunities for 19 points and a 40-29 lead.

Even after the Kings opened the second period with a 9-1 run, and cut the lead to 41-38, it was only a matter of time before Boston exploded again. Bird made sure of that with nine straight points that made it 50-40. When the Kings tried to shut him down, the Celtics turned their attack inside, giving Robert Parish and Kevin McHale the green light. Boston shot to a 15-point lead at 70-55 before settling for a 78-65 lead at halftime.

The Celtics tried for a quick knockout punch at the start of the third quarter, hitting five of their first six shots to push the lead to 88-74. It grew to 18 points, 98-82, and defense was the big factor.

That changed briefly in the last three minutes of the third period as the Celtics had a rash of turnovers and went through a five-minute scoring drought. The Kings cut the margin to 111-100 as Larry Drew closed out the period with a three-point play. It was down to nine points before the Celtics scored again with 10 minutes to go.

Bird then took off again, though he was matched by the inside shooting of Mark Olberding, who sank three tough shots. But once that spurt ended, Boston began to run again. When the lead grew to 16 points at 126-110 and 130-114, the Kings had been dethroned.

While Bird had his usual fine shooting night, the play by the guards deserves special mention. Both Ainge and Dennis Johnson came out firing and had 46 points and 21 assists between them. Ainge made up for his 1-for-7 night against the 76ers and Johnson hit 9 of 14 shots.

"K.C (Jones) has been emphasizing to us that we should push the ball up the court and establish the fast break," said Ainge, who later revealed he'd suffered a bruise right knee. "When we're running, it gets everybody more involved in the offense. D.J. and I have more of an opportunity to get involved. Our big guys can move without some double teams. It's just a lot more fun to play.

"We've been in a rut the last three or four weeks and the last couple of games we've been trying to re-establish our running game, and it's been pretty effective."

The "killer instinct" was there last night, said Ainge.

"Sometimes we don't have it," he said. "But I think that's natural. This team is very competitive and will do whatever it takes to win."

Johnson added that last night's game reminded him of the way the Celtics played early in the season, when they controlled the tempo, using both the power game and the fast break.

"I think we can win both ways," he said. "We do have the power game and the speed in the backcourt. We would like to control the tempo from the start of the game to the finish. I think we did that tonight. We lapsed a couple of times, and they came back. But we played solid basketball and we maintained control."