Bird Sits, Newcomers McHale and Parish Takeover

December 13, 1980

The star of Larry Bird Poster Night at Boston Garden spent 20 of the game's first 24 minutes on the bench with foul troubles tonight. By that time, his supporting cast had given the Celtics a 51-42 halftime lead against the New Jersey Nets.

Celtics Big Three Outscore Pistons Frontline 74-18, Outrebound them 38-11

Celtics Big Three Outscore Pistons Frontline 74-18, Outrebound them 38-11

April 29, 1985

After the Boston Celtics had struggled to eliminate the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs, their real front line reappeared today and helped overwhelm the Detroit Pistons, 133-99, at Boston Garden.

Parish, McHale Too Much as C's Take 3-1 Lead Over Bullets

Parish, McHale Too Much as C's Take 3-1 Lead Over Bullets

May 3, 1982

Before Bill Fitch, the coach of the Boston Celtics, would impart any thoughts to reporters about his team's 103-99 overtime victory over Washington at the Capital Centre today, he had one question for them.

Parish will serve as Celtics' Consultant

November 10, 2005
Robert Parish walked through the doors of the TD Banknorth Garden a little older and a little grayer, but still convinced he could help the Celtics win, either on the court or in the community.

Officially, he will serve as a consultant for the organization, dealing with the marketing, community relations, and sponsorship departments. Parish will be part of several new initiatives intended to increase interaction between current and former Celtics players and fans, including meet-and-greets and autograph sessions.

Parish Reflects

September 7, 2003     

 It's easy to remember the golden days of the Chief. The Celtics didn't win a title in the Bird era without him and they would have gone titleless without him. But to listen to Parish speak Friday prior to his Hall of Fame induction was to listen to someone who not only never thought about the Hall of Fame, but also was contemplating a new line of work before he ever came to Boston. That's because Parish spent the first four years of his career on a dys-functional, selfish, going-nowhere team in Golden State, playing for an owner who did not want to pay anything to keep him.

1984 NBA Finals: Ainge Decides to Crash the Party

1984 NBA Finals

GAME 2

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Summary

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

A Wall Street type thinker might not consider either Danny Ainge or Scott Wedman prudent long-term investments, but for at least one playoff game the Celtics were able to forget about how much more they have always expected from either of these two oft-frustrated athletes.

The fact is that without their contributions last night the Celtics could not have defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, by any score. There has been perpetual yelping during the last several years over the Celtics' desperate need for some outside shooting to balance their famed inside game. In this vital 124-121 overtime triumph over LA, Messrs. Ainge and Wedman provided that marksmanship.

Ainge bunched his six field goals in two key Celtic runs, the first four coming in the first half and the other two at the end of the third period, after the Lakers had taken their first lead of the night. Most were in transitions, beautiful stop-and-poppers that passed softly through the net. It was the Danny Ainge of the UCLA massacre, as well as the Danny Ainge for whom the Celtics went to trial with the Toronto Blue Jays, the Danny Ainge in whom they have invested a lot of money.

Wedman, whose year-and-a-half Celtic tenure has been extremely unsatisfying for all parties, added five field goals, including the biggest of the game, a 13-footer from the left baseline with 14 seconds remaining in OT that merely gave Boston the victory.

Wedman was one half of an offense-defense shuttle with Cedric Maxwell at the time, and when he received the ball he didn't hesitate. "We had played great defense," said LA coach Pat Riley. "We had doubled on (Larry) Bird to make him give up the ball. We made the next guy (Gerald Henderson) give it up. Finally it went to Wedman, and he buried it.

"I've always respected Scott," Riley continued. "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 caled upon. A lot of guys can't do that."

It was the precise sort of contribution envisioned when the Celtics acquired Wedman from the Cavaliers a year ago January. It's not as if Wedman, a one-time All-Star, was some sort of NBA secret weapon.

"We wondered what the Celtics were doing at the time," said Jamaal Wilkes. "Bird hadn't yet signed his new deal, so possibly they wanted Scott as some kind of insurance. That's pretty heavy insurance."

This is true. Wedman was making over $800,000 when he came here, and that's serious money (even if a lot of it is being paid by the other team) for a man who can't scare up too many minutes of playing time on a team with Bird, Maxwell and Kevin McHale at the forward slot.

As for Ainge, this has not exactly been the Year of the (Ex)-Cougar, either. It was assumed in some circles that Ainge would benefit greatly by the Celtics' coaching change, but instead he lost his starting job - however ceremonial it was - and played no larger role under K.C. Jones than he had under Bill Fitch. His playoff function has been that of a subordinate who gives regulars a quick blow.

But when he entered the game last night he was ready. He connected on his first three shots as the Celtics were expanding their lead to as many as 13 (33-20, 35-22), as he stayed on the floor long enough to stick in another second-period jumper. It was a scene reminiscent of the famous Milwaukee Game 2 of a year ago when he went insane during the first half.

It's obvious Ainge feels his big problem is simply playing time. "I always feel I can shoot," he said with a shrug. "Tonight I hit my first couple so I was able to stay in there a little longer. He (K.C.) didn't feel he had to go to anybody else."

Of course, every player who has ever lived feels his only need is some more "PT." And there are always people moaning about Wedman's lack of playing time.

"Yes," said Riley, "they found something to do with him at a very appropriate time, didn't they?"

1984 NBA Finals: Wedman Saves Celtics from Date with Finals Futility

1984 NBA Finals

GAME 2

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Summary

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

Just when the Boston Celtics were on the verge of making NBA history -- for futility -- reserve forward Scott Wedman came to the rescue Thursday night.

Wedman hit a 12-foot baseline jumper with 14 seconds left in overtime to lift the Celtics to a 124-121 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, tying the NBA championship series at 1-1.

Boston narrowly avoided becoming the first team in the 37-year history of the NBA finals to lose the first two games at home. Games 3 and 4 of the best-of-seven series will be played Sunday and Wednesday at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif.

Wedman, who doubled his regular-season average with 10 points, gave the Celtics a 122-121 lead with his clutch basket.

"It was a double-pick with Larry Bird on one side and myself on the other," Wedman said. "I was open for the shot and it felt good when I let it go."

The Lakers were unable to get off a final shot, turning the ball over twice in the closing seconds, the last time when Boston center Robert Parish slapped the ball away from Bob McAdoo with six seconds left.

Bird, who finished with 27 points, added two free throws with two seconds remaining for the final margin.

Boston guard Gerald Henderson had forced the overtime session when he stole a James Worthy pass with 13 seconds left in regulation and drove in for an uncontested layup to tie the score at 113.

"Anytime you're in that situation, you have to go for the steal," Henderson said. "We had to have that steal. We had to have something at that point, and Worthy just lofted the ball."

Los Angeles took the ball out at midcourt after a timeout, but Magic Johnson dribbled away the last nine seconds without getting off a shot.

Johnson scored four of the Lakers' first five points in overtime to give Los Angeles a 118-115 lead. Henderson then took a lead pass from Bird and converted a three-point play to tie the score with 2:15 left.

After the teams exchanged baskets, McAdoo hit a 12-foot jumper with 1:25 remaining to give the Lakers their last lead, 121-120.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar missed a sky hook with 26 seconds left that would have given the Lakers a three-point lead, and Wedman followed with his game-winning shot.

Worthy paced the Lakers with 29 points and Johnson added 27.

Celtics' Coach K.C. Jones was relieved to get out of Boston with a split.

"We got ourselves in trouble, we let our momentum slide, but we had heroic efforts from different people," Jones said. "That's what 'team' is all about."

Unlike the first game, the Celtics broke quickly from the gate. They jumped to a 7-0 lead, reversing the early minutes of Game 1, when Los Angeles took a 22-7 lead en route to a 115-109 victory.

Johnson, who had 14 of Los Angeles' 26 first-quarter points, hit four consecutive long jumpers to cut Boston's lead to 13-10. But Danny Ainge, who had played only two minutes Sunday without scoring, came off the bench to hit three long jumpers in an 11-2 stretch that gave the Celtics a 33-20 lead.

Boston maintained a comfortable advantage for most of the half, using a 17-4 edge in free-throw attempts build a 57-44 lead with 4:32 remaining.

The Lakers finally got their fast break working at that point. Worthy had nine points and Jamaal Wilkes six during a 15-4 run that cut their deficit to 61-59 at halftime. Worthy made four layups and Wilkes hit two corner jumpers during the spurt.

Worthy had 11 points in the third quarter, when Los Angeles shot 68 percent. The Lakers took their first lead of the game when Jabbar, who had 20 points, hit a pair of sky hooks to finish a 7-0 spurt that put Los Angeles ahead, 66-65, with 9:26 left in the period.

Late in the fourth quarter, Abdul-Jabbar completed a three-point play to score his 4,000th career playoff point.

Parish hit a long baseline jumper to give Boston a 101-97 lead, and the teams swapped baskets until Bird hit three of four free throws with 1:30 left to give the Celtics a 111-108 advantage.

Worthy tied the score on a driving three-point play and Johnson added two foul shots with 35 seconds remaining to give the Lakers a 113-111 advantage. After a Henderson jumper fell short, Kevin McHale was fouled by McAdoo on an offensive rebound with 20 seconds left.

McHale missed both free-throw attempts, setting the stage for Henderson's steal of Worthy's looping cross-court pass.

The Celtics' victory marked the ninth consecutive time in NBA history that a home team lost the opening game of a championship series and followed with a victory in Game 2.

1984 NBA Finals: Wedman and Parish Play Key Roles in Game 2 Win

1984 NBA Finals

GAME 2

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Summary

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

Scott Wedman, who has been languishing on the Celtic bench, hit a 13-foot jumper with 14 seconds remaining in overtime tonight that enabled Boston to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers, 124-121, in the Boston Garden.

Wedman, who played 18 minutes because his team needed more outside shooting, was sent in with 2 minutes 47 seconds remaining in the 5-minute extra session when Coach K. C. Jones decided to play him on offense and Cedric Maxwell on defense.

Wedman replaced Maxwell for a third time 11 seconds before his basket enabled the Celtics to regain a 1-point lead. Bob McAdoo had just given Los Angeles 121-120 lead with his 11-foot baseline jumper off Earvin (Magic) Johnson's ninth assist.

But before the Celtics were to clinch the victory and tie the championship series at 1-1, there were two key steals within 6 seconds by Robert Parish, Boston's 7-foot center.

With 11 seconds left, Parish stole a pass that Jamaal Wilkes tried to get inside to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Lakers' overpowering center. But Maxwell made a bad pass that went off Larry Bird's foot to give the Lakers still another chance. This time, Parish stripped McAdoo of the ball as he was driving to the basket. Bird was then fouled and hit the last 2 points.

Bird led the Celtics with 27 points, shooting a poor 8-for-22 from the field.

The four-of-seven series for the National Basketball Association championship now shifts to Inglewood, Calif., for the third and fourth games Sunday afternoon and Wednesday night.

Jones said that Wedman was the second option on the decisive play. The play was really designed for Bird.

"I sent Scott into the game because I wanted another outside shooter," Jones said. "It was better to have two outside shooters at the time. One would have made them think the ball was going inside to Parish. We wanted them to do some thinking."

Wedman, who had 10 points, said: "That's one of the things I do best, shoot from the outside. After Dennis Johnson fouled out, I got the opportunity. Every guy likes to step in when the game is on the line, and I'm no different. I scored off a double pick, with Larry on one side and myself on the other."

It appeared there would be no need for an overtime after Earvin (Magic) Johnson gave the Lakers a 113-111 advantage with 35 seconds remaining. He had hit a pair of free throws after a foul by Dennis Johnson.

Fifteen seconds later, the Celtic cause became even more precarious when Kevin Mchale was fouled, but missed two both free throws. The Lakers grabbed the rebound and took a timeout.

Then came the play that resurrected the Celtics. It was a steal by Gerald Henderson, the Celtic backcourt man, who stole a cross-court pass from James Worthy intended for Byron Scott and scored on a lay-in to tie the game at 113-113 with 15 seconds left. Two seconds later, the Lakers called a timeout to map a final play, which was to get the ball insied to Abdul-Jabbar.

The Lakers took the ball out at halfcourt, but Johnson spent much of the final seconds dribbling the ball without getting off a shot. Johnson finally passed to McAdoo, whose desperation shot came after the clock ran out.

Coach Pat Riley of the Lakers defended Johnson on the play.

"It was a chaotic situation at the time," Riley said. "The place was bedlam at the time and it difficult for Magic to see the clock. It was in back of him."

Johnson said of the play: "We wanted to run the clock down to six or seven seconds. The second I time I lookked back, I knew I had to get the ball into Kareem. But Parish had good position and I didn't want to force and take a chance on the steal. By the time I went the second option, McAdoo, the clock had run out."

Unlike the first game, which the Lakers dominated from the start, the Celtics rushed to a 33-20 lead before the Lakers began their comeback. Aided by what Jones said "made the celtics turnover champions," Los Angeles closed out the first half with a 13-2 spurt that cut Boston's lead to, 61- 59, at the half. The game was close from then on, with Boston ahead, 90- 87, going into the see-saw last quarter. The team that wins the championship will receive $300,000 and the losing team $200,000. The Celtics have already won $205,000 and the Lakers $155,000. The difference is that Boston earned $50,000 for having the best regular-season record. . . . This was the Celtics' 168th straight sellout at Boston Garden. Sunday's game will be the Lakers' first sellout (17,505) in nine playoff games.

1984 NBA Finals: Parish in Foul Trouble Most of Game 1

1984 NBA Finals

GAME 1

Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Summary

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

"When we shoot the ball as well as we did," Abdul-Jabbar said, "we're a very hard team to beat, because we have so many versatile players. But the Celtics showed their character by making a run at us, but we played good defense to hold them off."

Abdul-Jabbar's 13 first-quarter points powered his team to a 30-12 lead with 3 minutes 15 seconds left. He added 10 more in the second period.

Parish, in early foul trouble, offered Abdul-Jabbar little resistance defensively. Offensively, he shot 2 for 7 and scored only 5 points in the first half. Parish fouled out with 7:23 left after having shot 6 for 13 and scoring 13 points.

"Their game plan was to double- and triple-team me and the rest of our big guys," Parish said, "and force us to shoot from the outside. They achieved their goal today. They played a near-perfect first half. We allowed them the board in the first half, and they just ran away from us. I don't have the figures, but I'm sure they scored a dozen points on our offensive board. In addition, I don't think I ever saw the man shoot that well. The man was on fire."

Parish said the Celtics would have to rebound better in Thursday's game, and that he would have to stay out of foul trouble.

More Love for Marquis

And Daniels? I can understand why a team like the Pacers would decide not to pick up his $7.5 million option. Not in this economy, not with the team sometimes struggling to pull in five-figure crowds. But to pull Marquis Daniels for either a $1.8 million contract, or a sign-and-trade with Tony Allen and Brian Scalabrine?

This is huge.

Honestly, 25 teams could use a Marquis Daniels, and a team that is 13 months removed from a championship just picked him up. You have to appreciate that. And while Daniels hasn't built upon what was a very promising rookie campaign in 2003-04, the guy can play. He has all sorts of little tricks defensively, he can work from two positions, he can shoot, he can shoot on the break, and he can really get into the lane. He's essentially a mini-version of another rookie on the 2003-04 Dallas Mavericks - Josh Howard(notes). At, what, one-sixth the price?

--YAHOO

Speaking of love, Red's Army has a good piece about how the league is flabbergasted over the Rasheed Wallace signing. I must admit, if KG's knee is healthy, there is no way to fully gauge the impact Sheed will have. Did Bill Russell have another Bill Russell coming off the bench behind him? How about Wilt? Kareem? You could say the best example would be Parish and Walton, but even that comparison is a bit off-center, as Walton's health usually limited his number of minutes to less than 20, and old Mountain Man couldn't hoist a shot from more than 15-feet, and even those shots (and it kills me to criticize my dog) were butt ugly.

The Danny Ainge "Celtics Gone Wild" Video

Tucked away somewhere in his private stash, Danny Ainge owns a VCR tape he entitles "The Way Basketball is Supposed to be Played."

It captures quarter 3 of Game 5 in the Celtics-Hawks 1986 playoff series. The Celtics had managed to lose the previous game in Atlanta by a 106-94 margin, and it really wasn't that close.

Embarrassed and disgusted, the GREEN had worked up a head of steam going into the next game. Bill Walton, who had missed the previous two games after a collision with Tree Rollins injured his wrist, returned to the lineup.

The score at halftime was 66-55. Boston was clearly the better team. But that wasn't enough. Locker room talk conveyed a sense of urgency for the start of the third quarter. Still upset with the arse whoopin' from the last game, the Cs began the second half with what might still be described as the best 12 minutes of Celtics basketball--EVER.

The quarter actually began quietly enough, compared with what was yet to come.

Boston expanded it's lead to 17 points with a 12-6 run.

5:17 remained in the quarter. Bird stepped to the line and converted a technical called on Atlanta for illegal defense.

Then the dam broke.

The Celtics got the ball back and Ainge and Bird began taking turns from international waters. On defense, Ainge combined with DJ to lock down their opponents, force turnovers, or direct their man to the interior where the helpless Hawk was smothered by Bird, McHale, and Parish. Over the next 317 seconds, Atlanta committed 5 turnovers, had three shots blocked, and incurred two 24-second clock violations.

On offense, the Celtics could do no wrong. Covered by Dominique, McHale scored at will. Bird kept feeding Parish who scored over Tree Rollins, literally left and right. DJ and Ainge had 3 break-away layups, one of which came after Rollins, out of frustration, threw an inbounds pass directly at Ainge, who calmly intercepted it and waltzed to the other end for an easy two.

When the quarter mercifully came to and end, the score was 102-61. The Cs had outscored the Hawks 36-6 in the quarter, including 24-0 in the last 5 minutes.

The Hawks tried everything, timeouts, substitutions, and cheap shots. Nothing worked. "The only thing I didn't try was making a trade," Coach Mike Fratello quipped, "and the only reason I didn't try that was because the league prohibits trades during games."

Doc Rivers said "it seemed like it was raining baskets from everywhere. The were all on fire at the same time. One minute it was a game and the next it was over."

Asked to comment after the game, Mchale said "it was as close to perfection as you will ever see on a basketball court."

1984-85 Celtics Start 15-1

1984-85 Regular Season

10/26/1984 BOS at Detroit Pistons 130-123 1-0
10/31/1984 BOS New Jersey Nets 116-105 2-0
11/2/1984 BOS Detroit Pistons 127-116 3-0
11/7/1984 BOS Los Angeles Clippers 135-108 4-0
11/9/1984 BOS Philadelphia 76ers 130-119 5-0
11/10/1984 BOS at Washington Bullets 95-112 5-1
11/12/1984 BOS at Indiana Pacers 132-115 6-1
11/14/1984 BOS New York Knicks 115-99 7-1
11/15/1984 BOS at Chicago Bulls 125-105 8-1
11/21/1984 BOS Golden State Warriors 135-91 9-1
11/23/1984 BOS Washington Bullets 118-110 10-1
11/24/1984 BOS at Kansas City Kings 135-124 11-1
11/27/1984 BOS at Dallas Mavericks 114-99 12-1
11/28/1984 BOS at Houston Rockets 110-100 13-1
12/1/1984 BOS at Cleveland Cavaliers 110-104 14-1
12/2/1984 BOS Cleveland Cavaliers 122-99 15-1