1984 NBA Finals: Celtics' Fans Cherish Game 2 Win

1984 NBA Finals

GAME 2

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Summary

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Media Coverage

It was a night/morning when New Englanders paused from pumping water out of their basements to enjoy a basketball jewel - emerald green, of course.

Moments after the clock struck 12, a full house filed out of Boston Garden into the early morning rain, while folks at home went to bed, secure in the knowledge that the Celtics were flying West with a fighting chance at world championship No. 15.

Thursday's pulsating, 124-121 overtime victory knotted the best-of-seven title series with the Los Angeles Lakers, 1-1, and cost untold man hours in factories and think tanks from Bangor, Maine, to Bristol, Conn.

The last time this many local sports fans stayed up so late was when Carlton Fisk clanged a Pat Darcy pitch off the left field foul pole at Fenway Park in the sixth game of the 1975 World Series.

It didn't matter where you went yesterday. In bait-and-tackle shops on Cape Cod, drugstore coffee counters in Groton, and high-rise offices on State Street, the dominating topic of conversation was The Game. The Olympics are tarnished and the Red Sox are hopelessly lost . . . so the Celtics have become Boston's Boys of Summer.

The most casual fans agreed that Thursday night's (a/k/a Friday morning's) game was flawed. The Lakers committed 25 turnovers and kicked the game away at the finish. The Celtics blew a 13-point lead, missed nine free throws in the fourth quarter, and shot a lowly 46 percent.

Nobody cared. With one minute left in regulation, the score was tied, and Laker fan Jack Nicholson, seated in section 30 of the loge, was recreating his R.P. McMurphy character. Meanwhile, WNEV-TV was close to a local record for the largest 11:30 p.m. audience in history. There were no refrigerators opening or toilets flushing.

Two free throws by Magic Johnson gave the Lakers a 113-111 lead with 35 seconds left. Boston's Kevin McHale had a chance to tie it with 20 seconds remaining, but missed two free throws.

Hearts sank when Magic rebounded McHale's second miss and called time. The Garden was quiet. Boston sports fans know the smell of defeat and disappointment the way Liz Taylor knows divorce proceedings.

Enter Gerald Henderson, an unlikely (6 feet 2) hero in this matchup of mastadons. Six seconds after the smug and secure Lakers inbounded, Henderson intercepted a lazy crosscourt lob by James Worthy and drove to the basket for a game-tying layup. Henderson's steal was etched in local sports folklore before his shot went through the basket.

Nineteen years ago, John Havlicek attained immortality with a steal of a Hal Greer-to-Chet Walker pass at the close of an Eastern Conference clinching victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. "Havlicek Stole the Ball" became a best- selling album and a local catch phrase - Boston's athletic equivalent of "The British Are Coming."

"Henderson Stole the Ball," doesn't have the same ring, but Havlicek, who was in attendance Thursday night/Friday morning, said yesterday, "Both steals were equally important, I think. Both steals were done well."

The game wasn't over. LA took a timeout with 13 seconds left and designed a a final play. They wound up with Magic dribbling out the clock and passing to Bob McAdoo as the buzzer sounded. Magic said he wanted to pass inside to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but couldn't.

Overtimes are often anticlimactic, but this one had its memorable moments. After midnight, Scott Wedman, much maligned in his two-year stint of inactivity with the Celtics, buried a 13 footer from the left corner to give Boston a one-point lead with 14 seconds left.

The Lakers kissed away their final chance when Robert Parish slapped the ball from McAdoo, setting up two free throws by Larry Bird.

Friday was four minutes old when Bird inbounded to Cedric Maxwell, who hurled the ball toward 14 championship flags as the buzzer sounded. The flags barely fluttered as legions swarmed the floor and the Celtics ducked into the halfcourt runway.

1984 NBA Finals: Reliving the Golden Fleece

1984 NBA Finals

GAME 2

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Summary

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Media Coverage

It will become part of his identity - like a shaved skull, a winning megabucks ticket or an Academy Award.

Celtics guard Gerald Henderson will forever be the man who made The Steal. He is condemned to a lifetime of recounting how he snatched victory from the jaws of defeat by intercepting a lazy crosscourt pass by James Worthy in the closing seconds of what appeared to be a decimating defeat for Boston on Thursday night.

"I explained it a couple of hundred times last night," Henderson says. "You really don't know the importance of something like that until the next day. It's just exploded all the more today."

John Havlicek knows what Henderson is feeling. In the waning seconds of the seventh game of the 1965 Eastern Conference finals, Havlicek preserved a 110-109 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers by stealing Hal Greer's inbounds pass to Chet Walker.

. . . Havlicek stole the ball. The album version knocked the Beatles off the charts in the late '60s.

"I really don't tire of talking about it," says Havlicek. "It came up a lot when I was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and I'm being asked about it now. It's like Willie Mays' catch or Bobby Thomson's home run.

"People are going to be reminding Gerald of it for a while. If this had been the last game it would have been much different, but he definitely won the ballgame with that steal. He not only made the steal, he made the basket. That's double duty."

Havlicek and Henderson will always be special to Bill Russell and Kevin McHale. Havlicek bailed out Russell, who had lost the ball by tossing it off a wire support moments before Hondo's saving steal. Henderson rescued McHale, who missed a pair of free throws with the Celtics trailing by two and 20 seconds left in regulation.

"I remember Russell saying, I'm glad you stole the ball, because I was wearing the goat horns,' " recalls Havlicek.

"Kevin really didn't mention it," says Henderson. "But I just heard him say what a great play it was about 20 times."

Details of Henderson's grand theft were a little hazy immediately after the Celtics' series-tying 124-121 overtime victory. Henderson thought Cedric Maxwell had been covering Magic Johnson (Larry Bird was), and almost everybody thought Magic had inbounded to Worthy.

Here's the setup:

Down, 1-0, in the best-of-seven championship final, the Celtics trailed by two and had surrendered the ball when Magic rebounded McHale's second free throw miss with 20 seconds remaining. LA called time.

Worthy, who was guarded by McHale, inbounded from the left sideline in the backcourt. He passed to Magic, who was guarded by Bird. Magic was immediately double-teamed by McHale. He couldn't advance the ball over midcourt, because Maxwell had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar covered. On the far side of the backcourt, Danny Ainge was chasing Byron Scott and Henderson was with Bob McAdoo.

Worthy was the only man open when McHale came over to double up on Magic. Magic passed the ball back to Worthy. Ainge left Scott and came over to take Worthy. McAdoo broke toward midcourt andHenderson started with him. Worthy saw Scott unattended and lofted a crosscourt lob toward him. Anticipating the pass, Henderson had already started streaking toward Scott. He picked it off in stride and went in for two.

The Lakers failed to get a shot off in the final 13 seconds, and Scott Wedman hit the winning jumper in overtime, securing Henderson's spot in Boston sports history.

"I don't think Byron saw me coming," says Henderson. "Nobody saw me coming. I couldn't wait for the pass to be released. I had to be in a position to steal it. I'm sure Worthy thought he was wide open. I couldn't understand why he just sort of threw it soft.

"I'll tell you this - If Byron Scott had stepped in, it would have been a helluva collision. I had tunnel vision for that ball."

Henderson says the Celtics were optimistic before the big play. "We've been in situations like this before and we just decided we had to get a steal. We didn't want to foul McAdoo or Magic. We knew we had to put pressure on the ball and apply full-court pressure. I kept telling myself that I had to come up with a steal. It had to happen and it did."

Henderson took a long look at the play on his home video machine at 2 a.m. "I couldn't get to sleep till 5 in the morning after that. I tossed and turned for a couple of hours, thinking about the replay and how it happened, and where we'd be if it hadn't happened.

"I got to thinking about Scotty's big shot and Robert (Parish, who also had a big steal in the late moments). I hope this picks him up. And I thought about the big game Max had. I hope this sends us on our way."

AINGE SHOOTS SELF INTO CELTICS' PLANS

1984 NBA Finals

GAME 2

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Summary

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Media Coverage

Over? Hardly.

Boston guard Danny Ainge says the NBA Championship Series has only just begun as it heads into tomorrow afternoon's nationally televised Game 3 (Channel 10, 3:30) at the Forum.

Ainge certainly showed signs of coming back to life Thursday night, scoring 12 points and contributing five assists as the Celtics tied the best-of-seven series at one game apiece with a 124-121 overtime victory at the Boston Garden.

Ainge became an important factor in Boston's most recent success story, shooting 6-for-10 from the field and giving the Celtics perimeter firepower against a team that was whistled down for three zone violations in the first half.

''I kind of felt this was going to be a good night for me,'' Ainge said after the game. ''But you have that kind of feeling lots of nights and nothing happens.

''The Lakers have been giving us the outside shot in this series and I don't think they're going to change their game plan at this point. I guess that's why Scott Wedman and I got more time than usual.''

Ainge played 25 minutes. Wedman, a 6-7 shooting forward, played 18 minutes and was on the floor long enough to sink the Lakers with a 15-foot baseline jumper that was the deciding field goal in overtime.

Both players basked under an unfamiliar spotlight. Wedman, a one-time all-star with the Kansas City Kings, was acquired by the Celtics from Cleveland last January. He is making more than $800,000, but had not been worth anything close to that amount this season, playing in just one of three previous playoff games. Ainge is a highly publicized All-America guard from Brigham Young University who played a year of baseball with the Toronto Blue Jays before switching pro sports in 1982. He had been mediocre at best with Boston, losing his starting job this year after the Celtics acquired defensive whiz Dennis Johnson from the Phoenix Suns.

Ainge's biggest contribution to the Celtics' success before Game 2 against LA was the forearm blow he delivered to Darrell Walker in the Knicks' series.

Ainge was trying to stop Walker, a 6-4 rookie guard, from driving to the basket. Instead, he nearly started World War III, setting off a bench-clearing brawl at the Boston Garden. For that blow, Ainge was tagged with the unglamorous nickname, ''Danny Mainge,'' by the New York media.

''In the last few games I was just going to give DJ (Johnson) a rest,'' Ainge said. ''I didn't take any shots. I wasn't really in long enough to take any shots. I think what hapened to us in our previous few series was not good for us.

''Sunday's game woke us up to the fact that we should be running. And, of course, when we are running, it's to my advantage. When we're playing a halfcourt game, the ball is designed to go to our inside guys. I'm allowed to shoot off the break. If the shot is there, I'm going to take it.''

On the surface, Ainge looks too slow to play effectively in this series. But all six of his field goals came off fastbreaks, a good sign for ardent Celtics' fans. Ainge had four field goals when Boston built a 24-20 lead to 35-22 late in the first quarter. He had two more in the third period before retiring to the bench for the night when Jones started searching to find players with more size and quickness to cover Lakers guards Magic Johnson, Michael Cooper and Byron Scott.

''I always feel I can shoot,'' Ainge said. ''I hit my first couple and I was able to stay in there a little longer. He (Jones) didn't feel he had to go to anybody else.'

1984 NBA Finals: Celtics Bit Players Stop Showtime

1984 NBA Finals

GAME 2

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Summary

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Media Coverage

The bit players emerged from the shadows at Boston Garden and stopped the National Basketball Association's premier show.

That's one of the things that will be remembered about Game 2 of the championship series - a drama-drenched overtime game in which the Boston Celtics, teetering on the precipice, fought back for a 124-121 victory over the error-prone Los Angeles Lakers, thereby gaining a 1-1 split going into tomorrow afternoon's game on L.A.'s home court.

Suddenly, the title series that was simplistically labeled as a contest between the Lakers' Magic Johnson and the Celtics' Larry Bird has taken on a new dimension.

Johnson, dribbling away almost all of the last 13 seconds of regulation time before setting up a shot by Bob McAdoo that failed to beat the buzzer, turns out to be a human being, after all.

Bird, shooting only 8 for 22 from the floor, turns out to be human, too.

The nature of this beast has changed drastically, not only because of the failings of Bird and Johnson, but because of the rise of guys like Scott Wedman. And Gerald Henderson. And Danny Ainge.

So going into Game 3, it might be well to forget Bird for a while if you can. And forget some of the other more prominent Celtics - Kevin McHale, Dennis Johnson, Cedric Maxwell.

Instead, look to the shadows, from where the real heroes of Game 2 came, and consider the possibility that this entire best-of-seven show could come down to plays made by people like the rarely used Wedman, whose 14-foot jump shot with 14 seconds left in overtime gave Boston the game, or Henderson, whose steal and layup at the end of regulation and three-point play in overtime helped doom the Lakers.

Or it might come down to another defensive play by Robert Parish, whose relative invisibility in Game 1 had prompted one Boston newspaper to ask sarcastically: "Is Parish Burning?"

Apparently he is not, as he demonstrated in the final seconds of overtime Thursday, when he stripped McAdoo of the ball to preserve Boston's victory.

Or what about Ainge, who hit his shots in clusters and who almost single handedly kept the Celtics from folding in the face of the onrushing Lakers in the fourth period?

L.A. coach Pat Riley, for one, is convinced that that was no mirage out there on the parquet floor.

Before his team's flight here yesterday, he was asked about Wedman.

"I've always respected Scott," he said. "He's a smart, veteran player. He sat most of the year, but he had the presence of mind and the attitude to give his team help when called upon. A lot of guys can't do that.

"We doubled on Bird to make him give up the ball," said Riley, discussing the play on which Wedman hit his game-winning basket. "We made the next guy (Henderson) give it up. Finally, it went to Wedman, and he buried it."

And Ainge?

For the third-year guard out of Brigham Young, this has been a difficult season. He lost his starting job under the new regime of coach K. C. Jones, saw his shot disappear and saw his playing time vanish to next to nothing.

Yet he pumped in six field goals Thursday, the first four coming in a first half in which the Celts rocketed to a pair of 13-point leads. He hit his other two field goals - the second coming on a lean-in flyer off a fast break - in the waning moments of regulation, when Boston was on the edge of defeat.

"I always feel I can shoot," Ainge said before the Celtics' practice yesterday afternoon. "I hit my first couple, so I was able to stay in there a little longer. He (Jones) didn't feel he had to go to anybody else."

And Parish?

After his dismal Game 1, he not only made the game-clinching steal, he shot 9 for 14 from the floor.

1984 NBA Finals: KC Jones Starts Series with Gerald Henderson Guarding Magic

1984 NBA Finals

GAME 1

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Summary

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Media Coverage

Before, during and after yesterday's 115-109 Laker victory, everybody was talking matchups.

LA coach Pat Riley used the same starting five he used in Phoenix Friday night, going with James Worthy at forward and Michael Cooper in the backcourt. Worthy wound up guarding Dennis Johnson, with Cooper taking Bird.

"That threw them off a little," said Cooper, who held Bird to 42-percent shooting. "I saw the surprise in DJ's eyes when he saw James on him."

K.C. Jones played into Riley's hands by putting Gerald Henderson on Magic Johnson. On Saturday, when Jones told reporters he planned to put Henderson on Magic if Magic guarded Henderson, it was dismissed as a smokescreen. However, when Magic opened the game on Henderson, Gerald found himself looking at Magic's belly button for the rest of the day.

"That worked out really well," said Jones. "It's not really an important factor, unless I'm missing something."

If Jones lets the Lakers dictate Boston's defensive alignment, we can be certain that Magic will continue to cover Henderson. Meanwhile, veteran Laker- watchers wonder why the Celtics didn't pressure Magic from baseline to baseline. Philadelphia employed that tactic very effectively last spring.

Gerald Henderson Bitter after Trade to Sonics

SEATTLE Gerald Henderson couldn't hold back a wide smile. He was standing at his locker getting ready for last night's game against the Celtics when someone asked him what he thought about Boston's efforts to sign free agent guard Ray Williams.

"Well," said Henderson. "They really need somebody now, don't they?"

Boston's search for a guard is sweet vindication for Henderson, who was dealt to Seattle a few days after ending a long contract dispute last October. The Celtics sent him to the Pacific Northwest and said they had enough backcourt depth. The deal made sense when the Celtics got off to a great start, but Boston's bench has turned into petrified wood, and now there is a search for a reserve guard who can score some points.

Henderson is somewhat tickled by all of this.

"After it's all said and done, I wish them the best," he said, still smiling. "But when you see them using the same two people game after game after game . . . well . . .

"When the trade was made I guess they didn't feel they needed anybody. They hoped that Carlos Clark or somebody would take care of things, but I guess that didn't happen. Now they need somebody."

Williams is not the type of player normally associated with the Celtics, but Boston appears somewhat desperate. Henderson has noticed.

"It surprises me that the Celtics would go after sombody like Ray Williams, but he is a veteran. All I know is that now they got to live with my end of the deal.

"Hey, you can't expect a guy like Carlos Clark to come in and play 15 minutes and expect him to perform. It's very hard. You can't get any rhythm because you're not playing enough. I think you have to play at least 20-23 minutes to be effective coming off the bench."

Henderson still isn't sure why he was traded. He's heard the theory that the Celtics wanted to unload his $350,000 salary. He's heard that they were upset with him for not coming to terms sooner. He's heard that it was a punitive move. He's heard all the theories.

"Maybe it was because they thought I'd be unhappy making less than the other guards on the team," he said.

The move to Seattle hasn't hurt Henderson's game. He went into last night's game averaging 13.1 points and 6.8 assists in 34 minutes per game. He was shooting 47 percent from the floor, and 79 percent. He had a career-high 31 points with 10 assists and 3 steals in 40 minutes against Kansas City on Jan. 13. When the Sonics beat the Celtics in the Garden last month, Henderson had 16 assists and 15 steals, then spiked the ball at the conclusion of the game.

He is still somewhat bitter toward the Celtic organization, and it shows. He was one of the hardest-working Celtics during his five years in Boston and became a fan favorite. He will always be remembered for his steal and score in the final minute of Game 2 of the championship series against the Lakers. That play enabled the Celtics to win in overtime. Without the steal, Boston would have been down, 3-0, going into Game 4 in the Forum.