December 5, 1979Here by the filthy train trestles of North Station stands basketball's sweet Garden of sweat.

This is the home of the Boston Celtics: grean-clad keepers of the flame.

Once again, they are turning sooty, smoke-filled Boston Garden into America's least-likely gallery of fine art. Masterpieces-in-motion are once more a display.

In this Louvre of the underwear game, the third coming of the Celtics may be on its way. 

Just as the arrival of Bill Russell in '56 and Dave Cowens in '70 transformed the Celts into world champs, so the appearance now of Larry Bird has jolted this team and its town like an electric shock to the heart.

It isn't the acrid blend of cigar and pot smoke hanging in the rafters around those 13 world championship flags that has Boston fans rubbing their eyes. Frankly, this city can't believe what it is seeing.

Last season the Celtics were a disgrace to their heritage -- dead and stinking to heaven.

Worse than merely bad (29-53 in '79), they were repulsive to those who savored Celtic tradition. What could be more ironic and bitter than a Celtic team rich in talent but adjectly poor in spirit?

For 20 years, from '56 to '76, it always seemed appropriate, if accidental, that in all of American pro sports only one team was nicknamed after a non-Indian race of men: Celtics.

Indeed, Boston basketballers thought of themselves as a separate breed within their own game -- men set apart not by talent so much as by an idea of how their game should be played.

"I was disgusted by what we had become," says Red Auerbach, president and general manager, thinking back on 103 losses in the last two seasons. "I was ready to get out."

Now, Auerbach may eventually become the first man in pro sports to be the central figure behind the construction of three dynasties with the same franchise.

The Celtics not only have the best record in the NBA (19-5), but their staggering margin of superiority -- 11 points per game -- is more than twice that of any other club.

"We're blowing away good teams now -- just destroying them. What will we do later?" says veteran Don Chaney, who played with Russell and has seen all three eras.

"We're nowhere near peaking. We barely know each other. I'm afraid to say what might happen by March."

Even Boston brass has to scratch its head and hold its breath at the transformation it has wrought.

"I don't have time to relish it. I'm too buy worrying," says Auberback. "I don't know if we're for real. I know that we're not deep and that injuries could kill us."

But them, injuries can kill anyone. Don't by coy, cigar face.

"I have to force myself to see the game as it really is -- especially our mistakes -- rather than let myself fall in love with the final score," says new Celtic Coach Bill Fitch, a rare black-board-and-film workaholic who is also a wit.

"I keep thinking that if we go into a lull, we'll come to a stop like a turtle with air brakes. In my job, you don't get to enjoy. You only get to suffer."

Fortunately, Boston fans show no such reserve. The one consensus about these new Celts is that they have -- no one knows how -- already excited their fans more than any previous team.

After having one sellout in three years, Boston had eight in its first 11 home games (all Celtic wins). Attendance here, traditionally scandalously low, is suddenly second in the NBA.

"Celtics: Greatness in Green," says one of the handmade signs created by Rita, the super-fan, who had stopped her colorful cottage industry in disgust the last two years.

"M. L. Carr runs on Green Gas," and "Ford: A Winning Idea," are her paeans to newly arrived sixth-man Carr and unheralded guard Chris Ford.

The apparently mysterious transformation of the Celts from the second-worst team in the NBA to the early season leader is far simpler than it appears.

Boston had been twice blessed: they have gained by addition and they have gained by subtraction.

In the last seven months, the Celtics have gotten a new owner (Harry Mangurian), a new coach (Fitch), a new central star (Bird) and a new catalytic sixth man (Carr).

Just as important, Boston lost a meddlesome owner (John Y. Brown) and a half-dozen players not cast in the Celtic mold.

All this was made possible when Brown took his fried chicken, his wife Phyllis George and his political ambitions to Kentucky. "I feel sorry for Kentucky," said one Celtic after Brown was elected governor. "Can a state finish last?"

The sources of the Celtics' misery new seems obvious. Two owners -- first Irv Levin, then Brown, pushed a succession of dumb trades of Auerbach.

Presenting the fundamentalist Auerbach with Sidney Wicks, Bob McAdoo, Billy Knight, Curtis Rowe and Marvin Barnes was like tying a teetotaler in a chair, then forcing gin, scotch, rum, brandy and vodka down his throat.

"The higher-ups were making the deals," says Boston guard Tiny Archibald, "and the person who was supposed to make deals (Auerbach) didn't have the authority to veto them."

"It got almost unbearable many times," said Auerbach, "Sonny Werblin held the (New York) Knick (GM) job for me for two years.

"Then, when Levin left and Brown came in, I decided to give it another shot. But that got so bad that I was ready to leave again."

Auerbach and Mangurian have hit it off perfectly. "Not a single disagreement," says Auerbach.

"That's because Red has gotten his way on everything," grins Mangurian.

And that, it now seems, was all the Celtics needed.

The new atmosphere -- almost one of athletic resurrection -- is evident in everything the Celtics do.

"The losers are gone from this locker room. Now, the old feeling is back," says Chaney.

As the Celtics romped through a practice session in the empty Garden one morning last week, they sounded like an enthusiastic high school team, teasing each other with all the playground jive that constitutes a private language.

"Sweet J . . . Give that man a ticket . . . Who laid that brick? . . . Get outta here, little man . . . That was me-an'-you, and mostly me," goes the banter.

The first man at practice every day -- often by hours -- is Bird.

His acceptance has been total -- primarily because his style of play is pure Celtic, a sort of taller, slower, more risky version of John Havlicek.

"I call him 'Kodak,'" says Fitch, "because his mind takes an instant picture of the whole court. He sees creative possibilities, especially passes, that have never been done."

To the Celts, Bird is like a 6-foot-9 Christmas toy that blocks shots, works diligently on defense, and, above all, tries to make his teammates look better. "And," smiles one Celtic, "he's nice an' mean. He'll bank anybody."

When Bird makes one of his marvelously deft passes in practice, the other Celts let out a high-pitched twitter: "Birdie-birdie-birdie."

Perhaps the new Celtics are closest, however, when they are engaged in a Fitch ritual -- communal film study.

Lounging in their locker room after practice, they make a sort of color-commentary on a videotape replay of the previous night's game -- the kind fans will never hear.

Archilbald appoints himself the supreme arbiter, pointing out a constant stream of mistakes, nearly invisible lost opportunities, and universal selfishness.

"That's right, Cornbread," needles Archilbald. "Don't pass it to Red (Cowens). He ain't workin' hard enough."

The Celtics snicker.

"That's right, Max" crows Archibald as Maxwell shoots while Cowens waits for the pass in vain. "Make him a rebounder."

Occasionally, the Celtics fall silent, listening to Bob Cousy doing the play-by-play on the TV replay.

"I'd like to say something critical about Bird," says the Cooz, "but basically, he's just superb in every area of the game."

The Celtics go dead quiet, biting their lips with suppressed amusement as they wait to see how the painfully shy Bird will react to the sort of broad praise they would never grant to each other.

Bird, dressed just like what he calls himself -- "a hick from French Lick (Ind.)" -- tugs at the tractor-driver's cap on his head, pulling it even lower over his beaklike nose.

"Them guys," mumbles the expressionless Bird, looking down at his shoes, "sure know their basketball."

The Celtics howl. Bird's drollery, so dry and understated that it even causes double takes among the hip pros, has struck again.

As the Celtics start to leave the locker room to go home, the irrepressible Carr accidentally lets a dollar bill drop from his pocket -- just to see who will bend for it.

Instead of universal cool (the worst sign for team morale), several Celtics dive for the cash. Carr spins and grabs it himself.

"I always leave a trail behind me," says Carr, delighted with his exit-line for the day.

If Bird is Boston's conspicuous infusion of talent -- $650,000-per-year worth, then the infectiously cheerful Carr is the epitome of what the Celtics have always been about.

"Carr exceeds the sum of his technical parts as much as any player in the league," says Celtic beat man Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe.

"And it would be worth $100,000 a year just to have him sit in your locker room."

"Carr has always been a Celtic at heart," says Auerbach. "After he got out of Guilford (College), we gave him a tryout. I released him. But I helped him get a chance to play ball in Israel."

Carr never forgot the favor. He made his way through Europe to the ABA to Detroit, never losing his humor. On signing with the Pistons, Carr announced to a stunned press conference, "I'm changing my name. From now on, I wish to be known as Addul Automobile."

Actually, Carr -- the most sought-after free agent in the NBA after last season -- signed with Boston for less than other clubs offered him.

"We got him," says Auerbach, "because he believes in the chemistry of good people working together, just like we do."

A season ago, Carr not only led the NBA in steals and scored 18.7 points-per-game, but was third in the league in minutes played -- a pro's most precious possession.

So, on being made sixth man -- with his minutes slashed to 26 a game and his scoring average whittled to 14.3 Carr said, "I'll be happy as sixth man, seventh man or eighth man."

Said, the folk of Boston would agree, like a true Celtic -- old or new.

November 1, 1979The Bird is the word in Boston this year.

Larry Bird, the most publicized National Basketball Association rookie since, well, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, is making a big impression on his first trip around the league.

He brought his act to Piscataway Wednesday night and helped the Celtics to their seventh victory in nine games. Bird is averaging close to 19 points a game and is proving to be one of the best passing big men in the league. 

"This is a good life and as long as we're winning it's an even better life," the 6-foot-9 Indiana State product said. "It's a good life and I wouldn't trade it for nothing."

The season is still young, the legs are still fresh and the enthusiasm is still there. The dogdays of the NBA don't hit until winter and Bird has yet to experience the rigors of traveling.

Bird has become a media event in each city the Celtics play. He is a novelty everywhere he goes, and coach Bill Fitch figures it will begin to take its toll shortly.

"He's has lived up to everything we hoped. The thing is he's such a great person," Fitch said. "Larry is going to get better, naturally. But he is adjusting as we go around the league.

"He doesn't know what Los Angeles looks like, except for Magic. Imagine what he'll be going through when we play in San Diego, Los Angeles and Golden State in three nights. None of those places would have seen him and it will be rough."

Bird is learning each night, too. One night it's Julius Erving, then Bob Dandridge, Rick Barry, John Drew...

"Night in and night out I face the best. Dr. J one night, Bobby Dandridge the next night. It wears the body down," Bird said. "Playing defense is probably the biggest adjustment. As a rookie, they really take the ball to you.

"This is a strong league and I'm glad to be part of it."

New Jersey Coach Kevin Loughery, who watched helplessly as Bird led the Celtics to an easy 116-79 victory over the Nets, was impressed like everyone else with the rookie.

"He's a great player. He didn't do anything that surprised me," Loughery said.

Boston fans are hungry for a basketball winner after their team went through a very uncharacteristicCeltic-type 29-53 season last year.

"We have great fans," Bird said. "I just hope we prove we're a better team than people anticipated."

October 22, 1992

Xavier McDaniel appears to have resumed where he left off last season; he has been leading with his elbows and forearms during the Celtics' exhibition games. Are fists next?

"I'm not going to back down from anyone," McDaniel said. "What would you do if someone was going to hit you? I'm going to fight back."

McDaniel tangled with Charles Barkley in Phoenix and Karl Malone in Salt Lake City, despite being at a 50-pound weight disadvantage. Among other things, the matchups raise the question of whether a 205-pounder such as McDaniel should be expected to compete with the elite power forwards of basketball. McDaniel has said he is willing to fill the power forward role, but not permanently. Apparently, he will attempt to do so on his terms.

"I said I was going to play hard for 82 games," McDaniel said. "I can't guarantee anything else. I can't guarantee there won't be a shooting slump; all shooters go through slumps. But I can guarantee I will play hard all the time."

McDaniel's definition of extra effort apparently includes pushing opponents to the brink of fisticuffs and antagonizing referees.

"I'm not afraid to go to war with Karl Malone," McDaniel said. "I'm not afraid of any of them. It's all about playing hard, playing physical.

"That's the type of person I am. I'm not going to back down from Charles Barkley or anyone else. It's not personal. It's about respecting me as a player. Karl almost took it personal, but he held back."

And if Malone had not controlled himself?

"They would have sent me to the Utah jail," McDaniel said. "I'm not going to just let someone hit me. I have a right to defend myself."

McDaniel, 29, said he also cursed at official Eddie Rush, but that the expletive was uttered in the heat of battle.

"He took it personal and called four fouls on me," McDaniel said. "All I told him was to respect me as a man.

"I just have to stop fouling people and play better defense. We've got officials in the game and we have rules, so if you go over the limit, you're out. I just want to make sure we win, and I'll score points, rebound and do everything it takes to win. That is why athletes are so high-paid, because every organization wants to win the championship."

Professional franchise owners also want their highly paid players to avoid injuring themselves. The downside of a punchup is that both parties are at risk; the most graphic example in the NBA is probably the 1977 Rudy Tomjanovich-Kermit Washington brawl.

"He will play hard and I expect that some guys are not going to like being pounded by the X-Man," Celtics coach Chris Ford said. "He might force our guys to play physically as well.

"Once the regular season begins, X will know how far to push. He knows the officials and what they will call. Every night the game is officiated differently. The officials have been told to clean up the post play, and I'd like to see that for our sake.

"But I don't think red flags are going up in the NBA for the officials to look out for X. He'll adjust. It won't do anyone any good for him to get thrown out of games."

SACRAMENTO, Calif.

The funny thing about it is that Danny Ainge had just begun to breathe easy again.

For weeks, he had opened newspapers around America and seen his name mentioned as this or that town's newest star. Game after game, city after city, question after question. All about coming. All about going.

"It was a little distracting," Ainge said. "I'd go to Houston and try to visualize myself as a Rocket. I'd go to Denver and try to visualize myself as a Nugget. I'd go to Utah and try to visualize myself as a Jazz."

He did not, however, spend much time visualizing himself as what he has become -- which is royalty of an odd sort. With less than 24 hours left before the trading deadline two weeks ago, Ainge figured he was on safe ground the morning the phone rang to inform him that, after seven-plus years as a Celtic, he was now a Sacramento King.

"I thought I'd survived," Ainge said last week. "With a week to go, I thought there'd be a trade, but two or three days before they did it, I thought it was pretty much a dead deal.

"It's been kind of funny lately. One day I looked around and Greg Kite was gone. Then Fred Roberts was gone. Then Bruce Hurst was gone. All the guys I hung around with. I thought, 'Man, that's pretty strange.'

"And then I was gone."



Danny Ainge was gone along with Brad Lohaus in exchange for Joe Kleine and Ed Pinckney, two badly needed big men, but he was not the only one going.

That is a side of professional sports only people like Michelle Ainge know about, the darker side that comes in the first days after your husband's team has sent you packing, too.

"After I got here, we had four games in five days, so I didn't have any time to look for a house," Ainge said. "Our older three kids are in school, but Michelle had to come out with the baby and look.

"She had delayed flights with bad weather, so it was about 20 hours with the baby before she got here from Boston. She's living at the hotel for two weeks while we try to find something.

"It's really tougher on my family than me. She has to do all the packing and be alone with the kids. She has by far the tougher job, but because she's from California, she's excited about moving. She doesn't have the organizational ties I do.

"I'm from the West, too Eugene, Ore., and all our family is out here, so I feel more comfortable here. But in professional sports, your team is the most important thing. The Boston Celtics could have been in Timbuktu and it would have been great."

Now, of course, only Ainge is in Timbuktu, playing in a 16,000-seat arena named after super octane (Arco), for a team that has won just 17 games, in a town that never had anything but minor league sports franchises until the Kings arrived three years ago. Some residents will even tell you things haven't changed.

But that is not to say there isn't tradition here.

When Ainge walked into Arco, he was relieved to see the Kings had their share of banners. The difference was that the only championship flag said, "ROCHESTER 1951," which was when the Kings were the Royals and Ainge was unborn.

This is what must pass for tradition in a town whose biggest sporting event for years was the annual Pig Bowl football game between the sheriffs and the police. But the hope is that Danny Ainge can change that.

"Everyone knows Danny Ainge," said Kings coach Jerry Reynolds. "They may not like him, but they respect him.

"He takes pressure off Kenny Smith. I think, honestly, Kenny and Danny are among the five best backcourts in the league, and they don't even know each other yet."

Maybe that is so, but Ainge doesn't know about the notion he can be The Franchise, either.

"I've always believed recognition is important for every player, but you get it with winning," Ainge said. "In other places, I could have scored 20 a game, but who cares? To score 20 or 25 a game and shoot three-pointers is not the way I look at it.

"I just plan to go out and play hard every night the way I've done. I may get a few more opportunities here than on a team with Larry Bird, but if a team has to build around Danny Ainge in this league, they're not going to go too far. I'm not the guy, by any means."

Perhaps not, although his career-high 45 points March 4 against Golden State in just his fourth game with the Kings might argue otherwise. Regardless, it is clear he was expected to deliver a message to the youthful Kings, and he began doing it quickly.

On a flight from Phoenix, Ainge noticed a young teammate was missing. He asked about it and learned this was not a rare occurrence. He began to mumble. Soon he was ranting. Then he was raving. This was not the way a TEAM functions.

"You need to stick together as players," Ainge said. "So much bad stuff is written and said when you lose; you have to be loyal to each other. Effort is all you can ask.

"I've been very cautious since I got here about not coming on like Mr. Celtics. I've bitten my tongue in a lot of spots because it's not the time. I just want to do the stuff I've always done in Boston.

"But, yeah, I've noticed some things. I don't know if it comes from losing or what, but guys walk out late to practice or a bus or plane. In Boston, if we had a 10 o'clock practice, everybody was there a half-hour to an hour early. Here I walk in at 10:25 for an 11 o'clock practice and I'm the first guy here.

"In Boston, you played with all types of injuries. Here you don't, and maybe that's right. In Sacramento, they look to the future. In Boston, it's right now."

Yet Ainge had to admit it was changing there, too, in subtle ways . . . and in some not-so-subtle ones like the win and loss columns. There was still talent and nightly effort, but the fire was being banked.

"Too many people on the team are keeping their emotions in this year," Ainge said. "It's not the same feeling on the Celtics. I think it's because of losing. It's not easy to wave that towel over your head when you're losing. It takes something extra.

"When Larry first went out, I thought we had some great talent. I thought we'd still be very good. Now I really don't believe the problems stem just from Larry's absence. Last year in the playoffs, we played terrible basketball. Our depth was in question, and then we lost our best player, and that made things worse. Suddenly, we weren't winning."

So, just as suddenly, there were no more stories to read. Danny Ainge was gone in exchange for depth.

"I got traded because they thought it would help the team," he said. "It was business. I learned this was a business a long time ago."

A cold, hard and sometimes surprising business.

+++++++++++++++++++

He is the same insufferable, lovable, excitable, pesky, nasty, wonderful player you always cheered for in Boston Garden. Danny Ainge is no longer part of a tradition steeped in championship banners. Instead, he settles for signs in Sacramento that read, "Hey Boston, Ainge you jealous?"

Who ultimately got the better of the deal that sent Ainge, along with Brad Lohaus (now playing in Minnesota) to the Kings for Joe Kleine and Ed Pinckney? The Kings wanted a veteran leader, a scorer, an inspiration. The Celtics wanted backup help for Robert Parish and Kevin McHale. The trade has been as advertised for both clubs, but neither is much better off than before they made the deal.

Boston now desperately needs a guard the caliber of Ainge. Sacramento yearns for the kind of depth that Kleine and Pinckney provide.

In spite of it all, Ainge has wowed 'em in Sacramento with his unique blend of frankness and humor. In the team press guide, under "After pro ball I hope to:" Ainge responded "Never need a real job." Under random thoughts, he posed this lofty question: "Why are there no gas pumps at ARCO Arena?"

As always, he takes the 3-pointer when he's open and remains outspoken on just about everything. Here are some samplings of his other random thoughts:

On Larry Bird: "Larry at one time was the greatest player in the game. I always felt when I played with Larry he made my job so much easier because he took all the pressure off you. But what he does by taking the pressure off you is also take some of your responsibilities away. In that regard, Larry makes your job easier, but he doesn't make you better on the floor.

"A guy like Magic Johnson looks to get other people involved in the game first. It's just two different ways of leading a team.

"People said Kevin McHale missed Larry last year, and that's what hurt him. What Kevin missed was another forward to pass him the ball. Kevin is a great player no matter who he plays with. If he played with Magic, he'd average 40 points a game. No, that's an exaggeration.

"But the perfect example of all this is Chief Parish. He had the best season of his career when Larry was out."

On Greg Kite, now a Kings teammate: "I tried to get Greg here in training camp. We had Jawann Oldham and Ben Gillery, neither of whom were healthy, and I thought Greg was better than anyone we had.

"His defense in the post has been great. He did a nice job on Akeem Olajuwon. He hurts us a little offensively, but when we go to a smaller lineup we get killed defensively underneath."

When asked if the Kings fans appreciate Kite more than the fans in Boston did, Ainge answered, "I don't think so. When you're losing, they pick on the weaknesses of players, and Greg has some."

On Jerry Reynolds: "Jerry and I get along great, no matter what anyone says. He comes and asks my opinion a lot. We play tennis in the summer. Sure, we've had some disagreements, but that's OK.

"I'm a little disappointed Jerry won't finish the year as coach. This franchise has already gone through a lot of adversity. Changes aren't always for the better. I felt if we were patient we'd be OK with the team we had.

"It was kind of like that last year in Boston. They got a little uneasy with how the team was playing without Larry and they made a change they might not have had to make."

 

His performance one night 47 years ago was to become a part of basketball history, but Easy Ed Macauley -- and everyone else involved -- did not know it at the time. On March 2, 1951, 20 of the best players in the 5-year-old National Basketball Association gathered in Boston for the inaugural N.B.A. All-Star Game. There was no glitzy All-Star weekend, nothing special for the fans or even for the players. But those who played at Boston Garden that night put on a show, with Macauley leading the East to a 111-94 victory and earning most valuable player honors -- eventually.

It was not until two years later, in preparing for the third annual game, that league officials decided to designate an m.v.p. for each year's game and that they should go back and select a player to honor from each of the first two games. Macauley's 20 points and his defensive work on the bigger, stronger George Mikan made him an easy choice for the first game. Paul Arizin received a belated award for the 1952 game. "I got the award two years later and I still never got a trophy,"Macauley, 69, said recently in a telephone interview from his home in St. Louis. "Now they get an award, cash, a car. I didn't even get a paper clip. I never got a trophy. Still, it was a wonderful feeling."

Macauley and the original All-Stars had little hint of what was to become of the game. Neither did the N.B.A. team owners of the day, some of whom opposed the idea of an All-Star Game. The league needed to draw 10,000 fans to the game to break even financially, though the Boston Celtics' president, Walter Brown, offered the use of the Garden at no cost to the league. But the Celtics were averaging 5,000 to 6,000 fans for their games, which left some doubt the game would be a success.

The game "wasn't a big deal," said Macauley, who played for Boston at the time. "There was no luncheon. The players who weren't from Boston came up and stayed in an old hotel near the Garden, not really a high-class hotel. We played the game. That was it.""The crowd was just over 10,000 and everybody was delirious," Macauley added. "The place seated about 18,000, but this was a success. It was a game, and the fans enjoyed it. The owners were ecstatic. It was a predicted possible disaster and, afterward, everyone was happy, except for the West."

Harry Gallatin, one of the Knicks in that first All-Star Game, said: "I think that in the beginning of the league, we were just pretty happy about anything that helped as far as recognition. We were scratching to get as much publicity as we could. "I know we were excited to be a part of it because it gave us something to use to try to get a little more money out of the owners. In those days, we were appreciative of anything we could get."

The showcase took hold from the start. In that first game, the East ran wild, using a smaller, quicker lineup to befuddle the West, setting the tone for the up-tempo style prevalent in more recent games. Macauley recalled walking into the locker room and meeting players he had competed against but never talked to. "It was an experience to be in the same locker room with those guys,"Macauley said. "The first thing I thought was, hey, there's Harry Gallatin, the guy who beat my brains in last week. But he turned out to be a nice guy and we turned out to be a good team.

"I had to play against Mikan, and I know a lot of guys play as individuals in the All-Star Game, but I said: 'I'm going to play in front of him. Give me help.' We had a team that couldn't match the West's strength. But we had the greatest backcourt with Bob Cousy, Andy Phillip and Dick McGuire. We had the three greatest passers in the game; it was the greatest thing that could happen to me." With Dolph Schayes and Joe Fulks helping him inside, and with McGuire of the Knicks dishing out 10 assists, Macauley got the best of Mikan, limiting him to four field goals. He had no inkling his work would be designated an m.v.p. performance. Neither did he have any idea that the game would be a precursor of today's.

"I don't think anybody who played then could imagine what has developed in all areas of sports," Macauley said. "You couldn't. It would have been like saying, 'Who will be the first to land on the moon?' People would've looked at you like you were crazy. It was fun. I think we had more fun than guys today." Gallatin agreed. "I think we got nothing to play in it that year," he said. "In later years, I remember getting a $100 cash stipend, then getting a ring. I think the difference between the modern players and the pioneers is that we probably would have played for nothing. Of course, we didn't tell the owners that."

Ed MacAuley played six seasons (1950-56) with the Celtics and was an all star in all six seasons. Also with the Celtics, MacAuley was a member of the All-NBA first team three times and was the 1951 Most Valuable Player in the very first NBA All Star game scoring 20 points, which was played at the Boston Garden on March 2, 1951. He had his Celtics No. 22 retired on October 16, 1963 at the same time with Bob Cousy's No. 14. They were the first two to have their numbers retired by Boston.



These days, “Easy Ed”, who turns 77 on March 22, resides in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife Jacqueline. The two of them have been married 52 years and have seven children and 17 grandchildren. MacAuley is retired and previously he was a Sports Director for two television stations in St. Louis. With retirement, MacAuley is currently very involved with his church serving as a Deacon and has written a book entitled “Homilies Lives” with Father Francis Fredle.

“We have given homilies workshops in Canada and United States to other deacons and other priests,” said MacAuley. “It is a wonderful experience.” The two have also started up the website homiliealive.com. “We’ve had it for about three and half years now and have had over 750,000 hits to the website,” said MacAuley. “We think we have done pretty well and have had comments from all over the world. We have about 40 priests and deacons throughout the country and a few from outside the country that write the homilies for us.” MacAuley is a legend in St. Louis where he starred at St. Louis high school and went on to become a Hall of Famer at St. Louis University. In college, MacAuley was a first-team All-American and was named the Player of the Year in 1949.

MacAuley played a total of ten seasons in the NBA. Prior to the Celtics, "Easy Ed" played one season in St. Louis and then after the 1956 season was traded back to St. Louis for Bill Russell. MacAuley played three more seasons before retiring and won an NBA title with St. Louis in 1958. “I got a call from Walter Bown and he said they had a deal that would send me to the St. Louis Hawks,” said MacAuley. “When we were in Boston my son Patrick was diagnosed with spinal meningitis and we came back to St. Louis where he was under care.

“Walter said he didn’t want to make the deal because he couldn’t imagine the Celtics without me. Walter and I were close and I told him he would be doing me a favor and to make the deal (because my son’s care was there). That’s the way the deal went down.” “Easy Ed” retired as the NBA's third all-time leading scorer trailing only George Mikan and Dolph Shayes at the time. MacAuley was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1960 at the age of 32 and to this day he is still the youngest player ever enshrined. “I didn’t start playing basketball until I was in the eighth grade and that was for a team that didn’t win a game,” said MacAuley. “I didn’t think I was going to have a great career in basketball.”

 

KG's Rookie Season
11/4/1995

The Timberwolves are still, well, the Timberwolves. Turnarounds don't come easy for this team. As a matter of fact, nothing comes easy for the Wolves, especially victories in NBA regular-season openers. The Wolves lost another one Friday night, falling to the Sacramento Kings 95-86 at Arco Arena.

The Wolves will remember their fifth consecutive loss in season openers as one of the nights they couldn't shoot straight. Despite pulling down 17 offensive rebounds, the Wolves made only 29 of 79 shots, allowing the Kings to roll to a relatively easy victory. ``When you get as many as offensive boards as we did, you'd think we win,'' Wolves guard Terry Porter said. ``Not to take anything away from Sacramento, but if we make the shots we had, we could have had this one.''

Kevin Garnett, the first player to jump from high school to the NBA in 20 years, had eight points and one assist in his pro debut. Garnett was 4 for 4 from the floor, but few noticed in the wake of the Wolves' poor shooting.Garnett made his regular-season debut with 5:55 left in the quarter, and scored his first points about 2 minutes later, a bank shot on a feed underneath from Gugliotta.
Garnett got even more comfortable in the second quarter, threading two nice passes during a stretch in which the Wolves outscored the Kings 7-0. He did not look overwhelmed. "Kevin handled himself very nicely," said Blair. "Kevin has a good idea of how to play."

 

He`s 62 now, retired and some 44 years removed from when his mother admonished with a presence in her voice he never forgot: ``You can go to any college you want as long as it is Catholic and in St. Louis.``



That said, he discarded Notre Dame and Boston College scholarship offers and a letter in his hand from Kentucky`s legendary coach, Adolph Rupp. Ed Macauley enrolled at St. Louis University and became a legend himself. He was Easy Ed by the time he was a sophomore, an All-American as a junior and on the cover of Collier`s magazine as a senior.

It wasn`t supposed to happen this way. But in his time, Macauley was a comet that burned so long and streaked so fast.

Years after his basketball career was finished, cab drivers in New York would ask him: ``Say, ain`t you Easy Ed Macauley?``

He`d smile an Irish smile and nod. The cabbies would say: ``Sure. The  Billikens. The Celtics.``

To this day, Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J., can recall word-for-word Macauley`s advice to him when he was 15 and attended Macauley`s summer basketball camp.

In his time, Macauley heard the crowd`s roar. He was the Most Valuable Player in the 1948 National Invitation Tournament that St. Louis U. won at Madison Square Garden. He was the MVP in the first National Basketball Association All-Star Game in 1951.

In 10 pro seasons, he participated in seven NBA All-Star Games, made the All-NBA team on three occasions and led the league in field-goal percentage in 1954 with his Celtics teammate, Bob Cousy, getting him the ball. In 1958, Macauley and the St. Louis Hawks beat the Celtics and won the
National Basketball Association Championship.

He was last to have the ball when the series ended and, in jubilation, threw the ball so high it may yet be climbing. In 1960, Macauley was the youngest (at age 32) to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.

Recently, he was selected by the Hall as one of the 100 best to have played the game.

Despite this, Macauley says he was not entirely convinced he`d made it in a big way until a friend told him his name was part of a crossword puzzle. Basketball was not an early obsession then for Macauley, who entertained thoughts of following his father into law. Ed didn`t play as a freshman at St. Louis U. High because of an after-school conflict with a typing class he took.

But freshmen who stand 6-6 often find their way to the gym as sophomores. Macauley wasn`t skilled, and if the B team`s starting center hadn`t quit at the semester, Macauley wonders whether he`d be an answer in crossword puzzles today.

The Billikens were a blend of striking contrasts. Several players fought in World War II, forcing them to grow up in a hurry. Several were still callow youths. There was a certain ethos, a substance to the team, brought by those whose time in the theater of war allowed them to place a basketball game in perspective.

``We weren`t exactly sophisticated, though,`` Macauley said.

In his senior season, 1948-49, the Bills and Rupp`s ``Fabulous Five`` featuring 6-7 Alex ``The Nose`` Groza, Ralph Beard and Wallace ``Wah Wah`` Jones met in the Sugar Bowl Tournament. They were the nation`s top two college teams. St. Louis U. prevailed, 42-40. The next day at the Sugar Bowl football game, the basketball teams were seated near each another. One of Groza`s teammates said to him: ``What time is it?``

Groza didn`t have a watch. Lou Lehman said: ``It`s 3:15, sir.`` ``Sir!`` thundered Macauley the other day. ``Lehman had killed Kentucky the night before. But that`s the kind of team we were.`` Postwar St. Louis fell in love with its Billikens, who lost only seven games in Macauley`s junior and senior seasons. A crowd of 15,000 greeted the team at Union Station on a Sunday morning, March 20, 1948, when the train pulled in from New York.

The previous month, 5,000 were on hand at Union Station when the Bills returned from a victory at Notre Dame that ended a 38-game winning streak at home for the Irish. Macauley scored 21 points.

``We waxed them,`` Macauley said. ``I apologize to the Blessed Virgin, but it was one of the most satisfying victories I ever had.
``We didn`t like Notre Dame.``

In 1956, Jackie and Ed Macauley`s first son, Pat, was stricken by spinal meningitis. He suffered severe brain damage. Ed was in his sixth and, as it would turn out, last season with the Celtics.

Ben Kerner, owner of the St. Louis Hawks, sought to trade his No. 1 draft choice (Bill Russell) to Boston for Macauley and Cliff Hagan. Celtics owner Walter Brown balked, but Macauley told Brown he could do him a favor by sending him to his hometown because of his son`s disability.
``We had a 1-year-old son whose brain could not function, and I didn`t know if I could play in Boston the next year,`` Macauley said. The deal became one of basketball`s blockbusters. With Russell, the
Celtics won nine of the next 10 NBA titles, losing only to the Hawks in 1958. On May 6, 1956, Brown wrote Macauley. In part, it read:

``What this means for the Boston Celtics, God only knows. You have heard me say many times that as long as I have Ed Macauley, I have a ballclub. Well, now I don`t have Ed Macauley.

``This is the hardest letter I ever tried to write, Ed. I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you did for the Boston Celtics. It is pretty hard to say goodbye to the finest boy you ever met, so I will just say `so long.```

Says Macauley, winking: ``I`m still a Celtic.``

Pat lived to be 14. On the day of his death, Ed was in his car weeping when he felt himself embraced by a peace he said he had never known before.

``It was as though Patrick was saying to me, `Dad, don`t feel sorry for me. I`m OK now,``` Macauley said.

Immeasurable blessing and dignity is what Macauley feels now when he reflects on what he calls ``an unbelievable life I`ve been given.`` His thank you is to give back. Two years ago he was ordained a deacon in the Catholic Church. Upon completion of one more course, he will be empowered to preach homilies.

He and two friends have opened a food pantry to assist the needy. He participates in a counseling project for teenagers. ``I don`t know that God decided I would become a basketball player,``  Macauley said. ``I thank him or however it was decided I`d be in St. Louis and not Tibet.

``What God does is give you intelligence and opportunity. What do you do with it? I went to the gym every day. Something inside of me kept saying:

`Be better tomorrow than you are today.` ``

 

Nicknamed "Easy Ed ," he was one of the first superstars for the Boston Celtics. Ed MacAuley played six seasons (1950-56) with the Celtics and was an All-Star each year. During that time, MacAuley was a member of the All-NBA first team three times and was the Most Valuable Player in the very first NBA All-Star Game played at the Boston Garden on March 2, 1951.



He had his No. 22 retired on October 16, 1963 at the same time as Bob Cousy's No. 14. They were the first two numbers retired by Boston. "It was a lot of fun, but we did not win much," said MacAuley. "We were a competitive team with Cousy, (Bill) Sharman and myself. It was a good club, but it wasn't what they wound up being."

These days, MacAuley, who turns 77 on Tuesday, resides in St. Louis with his wife Jacqueline. They have been married 52 years and have seven children and 17 grandchildren. MacAuley, who is retired, previously was a sports director for two television stations in St. Louis.
MacAuley is currently very involved with his church, serving as a deacon, and has written a book entitled Homilies Live with the Rev. Francis Fredle.

"We have given homilies workshops in Canada and United States to other deacons and priests," said MacAuley. "It is a wonderful experience." The two have also started up the website homiliealive.com. "We've had it for about 31/2 years now and have had over 750,000 hits to the Web ite," said MacAuley. "We think we have done pretty well and have had comments from all over the world. We have about 40 priests and deacons throughout the country and a few from outside the country that write the homilies for us."

MacAuley is a legend in St. Louis, where he starred in high school and went on to become a Hall of Famer at St. Louis University. In college, MacAuley was a first-team All-American and was named the Player of the Year in 1949. MacAuley played a total of 10 seasons in the NBA. Prior to the Celtics, he played one season in St. Louis and was traded back to St. Louis after the 1956 season for Bill Russell. MacAuley played three more seasons before retiring, winning an NBA title with St. Louis in 1958.

"I got a call from Walter Bown and he said they had a deal that would send me to the St. Louis Hawks," said MacAuley. "When we were in Boston my son Patrick was diagnosed with spinal meningitis and we came back to St. Louis where he was under care. "Walter said he didn't want to make the deal because he couldn't imagine the Celtics without me. Walter and I were close and I told him he would be doing me a favor and to make the deal (because my son's care was there). That's the way the deal went down."

MacAuley retired as the NBA's third all-time leading scorer, trailing only George Mikan and Dolph Shayes at the time. MacAuley was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1960 at the age of 32, and to this day he is still the youngest player ever enshrined. "I didn't start playing basketball until I was in the eighth grade and that was for a team that didn't win a game," said MacAuley. "I didn't think I was going to have a great career in basketball."

PROFILE: ED MacAULEY

* BORN: March 22, 1928

* RESIDES: St. Louis, Mo.

* GREW UP IN: St. Louis, Mo.

* CURRENTLY: Retired. Serves as a Deacon for his local church and recently co-wrote Homilies Lives with Father Francis Fredle. Also helps run homiliesalive.com.

* CLAIM TO FAME: His No. 22 is retired by the Boston Celtics and was one of the Celtics' very first superstars.

* HIGHLIGHT OF CAREER: Winning the N.I.T. at St. Louis University, winning an NBA championship with the St. Louis Hawks and being inducted into the Hall of Fame at just 32 years old.

* DID YOU KNOW? In 1950, which was his first year in the NBA, MacAuley was the second highest paid player in the NBA. He made $17,500. (George Mikan was the highest paid player at $25,000)

* BEST PLAYER YOU PLAYED WITH: Bob Petit

* BEST PLAYER YOU FACED: Bill Russell

* GREATEST PLAYER EVER: Michael Jordan

* CURRENT PLAYER YOU MOST ADMIRE: Allen Iverson

WHEN WE REACHED THE finals of the 1948 National Invitational Tournament, I'm sure there were a lot of people around the country saying, "St. Louis University? I didn't know they had a team. I've never heard of them."


But we did have a team, and a pretty darn good one, too. And although a lot of other people hadn't heard of us and didn't give us much of a chance to win the NIT, we felt we could go into Madison Square Garden and beat New York University.

Back then, the NIT was huge. It was as big, if not bigger, than the NCAA Tournament is now. Back then, they moved the NCAA Tournament title game around to Kansas City and places like that, and there we were playing in the Garden. There was no comparison.

Madison Square Garden was the center of college basketball back then. There was so much excitement in the building. It didn't hurt, too, that there was a lot of gambling on college games at the time.

Until 1946 or '47, St. Louis had never done much in the Missouri Valley Conference. We were always on a lower rung than Oklahoma A&M and Midwest powers Kansas and Indiana. That finally changed in 1947, when we did well in the NIT. The crowd at Madison Square Garden really liked us because we had a fast-break team. Our coach was Eddie Hickey, and he loved to play fast-break basketball. We'd get the ball and just start running. The Garden fans loved us because with that style, they never knew what was going to happen on the court.

By 1948, we had finally arrived. We'd finished behind Oklahoma A&M in the Missouri Valley Conference race, but we entered the NIT with only three losses. We played Bowling Green in the first game of the tournament. They had Charlie Share, a big 7'0" center who went on to play several seasons in the NBA. We ended up beating Share and Bowling Green, then we beat Western Kentucky. That put us into the final.

NYU had a good team. Of course, they bad one of the best players of all time in Dolph Schayes. He was an amazing player, with amazing skills. They also had some other good players, including Ray Lumpp, who went on to play a few seasons in the NBA with the New York Knicks.

Most people looked at NYU's great reputation and the fact the game was being played in New York and figured' we were the underdog. Plus, the Violets had won 19 straight games heading into the final.

But we had beaten Holy Cross and Bob Cousy, and we had beaten Yale. So, in our minds, we could play with anyone, even if everyone across the nation was asking, "What's a billiken?" (By the way, a billiken is a good luck charm that was all the rave 80 or 90 years ago. Then someone in the 1930s said that St. Louis football coach John Bender looked like a billiken, so the team became know as Bender's Billikens. The name stuck, even though no one back in 1948 knew what a billiken was and nowadays I'm sure absolutely no one knows what it is.)

In the first half, we proved we could play with NYU. It was a close game. But in the second half, we just took control. We were the type of team that if we got a lead on you, it was difficult to catch us because we would keep running.

In the second half, we were up by double digits for most of the way. We didn't want to coast, though. When there's only five minutes left in the game, everyone's saying, "Oh, they have the game locked up now." But that's not how you look at it as a player. You never know what's going to happen, you keep going and playing hard.

We ended up winning, 66-52. I finished with 24 points and was named the tournament MVP. We held Schayes to eight points, which was amazing. I had the reputation of being a defensive player. We tried to do what a lot of teams hadn't done before--play in front of the offensive man. Until then, teams just played behind the offensive man.

I ended up playing against Schayes in the pros for 10 years, so I know that to hold him in check like we did took the efforts of the whole ballclub, not just one player. It just wasn't me who held him down. You had to protect against the pass over the top, backdoor plays, and everything else you could imagine. One man alone can't do all that.

I've played in some other memorable games. In the very next season, 1949, we met Kentucky early in the season at the Sugar Bowl in Texas. Back in those days, prior to the football game they would hold a basketball tournament. We beat Holy Cross and Cousy, and Kentucky beat Tulane. We met Kentucky in the finals and we were both undefeated. They were considered the favorites in that game. They had a lot of good players: Wah Wah Jones, Ralph Beard, Alex Groza, and others. We ended up winning.

Another big game for me came in 1958 when I was on the St. Louis Hawks team that won the NBA title. Bob Pettit had 50 points in the final game as we defeated my former team, the Boston Celtics.

But the game I'll never forget was the 1948 NIT final. That game brought a lot of recognition for the school and the city. Last season, St. Louis was one of the cities the Vancouver Grizzlies were considering moving to. I've seen St. Louis go crazy for basketball. I've seen that town really support a team. They loved us, especially after we won the NIT.

And after we won the title, people stopped asking "Who in the world is St. Louis University?"

Ed Macauley's Career Statistics SEASON TEAM G FG% FT% REB 1949-50 St. Louis Bombers 67 .398 .718 -- 1950-51 Boston Celtics 68 .466 .759 616 1951-52 Boston Celtics 66 .432 .799 529 1952-53 Boston Celtics 69 .452 .750 629 1953-54 Boston Celtics 71 .486 .758 571 1954-55 Boston Celtics 71 .424 .792 600 1955-56 Boston Celtics 71 .422 .794 422 1956-57 St. Louis Hawks 72 .419 .749 440 1957-58 St. Louis Hawks 72 .428 .724 478 1958-59 St. Louis Hawks 14 .293 .600 40 REGULAR SEASON TOTALS 641 .436 .761 4,325 POSTSEASON TOTALS 47 .437 .729 337 SEASON AST PTS RPG APG PPG 1949-50 200 1,081 -- 3.0 16.1 1950-51 252 1,384 9.1 3.7 20.4 1951-52 232 1,264 8.0 3.5 19.2 1952-53 280 1,402 9.1 4.1 20.3 1953-54 271 1,344 8.0 3.8 18.9 1954-55 275 1,248 8.5 3.9 17.6 1955-56 211 1,240 5.9 3.0 17.5 1956-57 202 1,187 6.1 2.8 16.5 1957-58 143 1,019 6.6 2.0 14.2 1958-59 13 65 2.9 0.9 4.6 REGULAR SEASON TOTALS 2,079 11,234 7.5 3.2 17.5 POSTSEASON TOTALS 128 648 6.6 2.9 13.8 1948 NIT Championship March 17, 1948: at Madison Square Garden, New York City St. Louis University 65, New York University 52 St. Louis (65) FG FTM PF PTS D.C. Wilcutt 7 2 1 16 Marv Schatzman 1 1 3 3 Cordia 1 0 0 2 Joe Ossola 1 3 2 5 J. Schmidt 1 1 0 3 Wrape 0 0 2 0 Ed Macauley 11 2 2 24 Bob Schmidt 1 4 3 6 Lou Lehman 0 2 2 2 Miller 2 0 0 4 Raymonds 0 0 1 0 Totals 25 15 16 65 NYU (52) FG FTM PF PTS Kelley 0 1 3 1 Joel Kaufman 6 2 3 14 Ray Lumpp 5 4 2 14 Barry 1 1 0 3 Dolph Schayes 4 0 1 8 Joe Dolhon 3 1 2 7 Kor 0 0 0 0 DeBonis 1 0 0 2 Derderian 0 0 3 0 Benanti 1 0 0 2 Daniel Quilty 0 1 0 1 Totals 21 10 14 52 Free-throw percentage: St. Louis University .750, New York University .588. Officials: Begovich and Abcatola.

RELATED ARTICLE: An MVP better late than never.

ED MACAULEY SOLD HIS INTERESTS IN A cable television venture in St. Louis a few years back and deiced to retire. He wanted to spend more time with is wife of almost 50 years, Jackie, their seven kids, and 17 grandchildren.

But retirement also has given him a lot more time to devote to church. About 10 years ago, Macauley, the youngest player ever inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, became a deacon in the Catholic Church. He has specialized in writing homilies, and has even begun to give others across the country and the world pointers on how to write better sermons.

"I've written a book with Monsignor Francis Friedl called "Homilies Alive: Creating Homilies That Hit Home," Macauley says. "I give the homilies in our church, and we do workshops with other priests and deacons and Protestant ministers on this subject."

In fact, Macauley has started his own Web site, www.homiliesalive.com, as a storage house of homilies for others around the globe to read and use.

"The Web site last week had just under 3,000 visitors," Macauley says. "That's 150,000 a year. There's a lot of Web sites that get 12,000 hits a minute, but not for homilies.

"We have 40 or so priests and deacons and people from other countries that write the homilies for us. It's been a lot of fun. We've gotten good reviews from our workshops and great reviews on our book."

Macauley got rave reviews as one of the best big men in the NBA during the 1950s. The college player of the year in 1949, he finished fifth in the league in scoring as a rookie with the St. Louis Bombers. When the Bombers folded, New York Knicks owner Ned Irish wanted Macauley so much that he tried to buy the St. Louis franchise for $50,000. Commissioner Maurice Podoloff nixed the deal and awarded Macauley to the Boston Celtics, where he became the first in a long line of great Celtics centers

"We didn't win much with the Celtics," Macauley says. "We didn't get past the first round most years, although we had Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, and myself We didn't have real size. I was 185, 190 pounds and playing against George Mikan and Vern Mikkelsen and Sweetwater Clifton and people like that."

Nicknamed "Easy Ed" for his fluid movements on the floor, Macauley was named MVP of the first All-Star Game in 1951, although he didn't find out about it until two years later.

"They didn't select an MVP after the first game," he says. "[The All-Star Game] wasn't a big thing back then No one wanted to have it. Finally, [Celtics owner] Walter Brown said, `I'll have it at the Garden.' But there was no hoopla. Guys came, played, and went home. They had it at the Garden the next year. Again, no hoopla.

"Then all these people starting selecting MVPs of this and that, so they said, `Shouldn't we have had one in our games, too?' So they selected me the MVP of the first All-Star Game two years later. People just love that story. They say, `You didn't find out about it until two years later?'"

In his six years with the Celtics, Macauley finished third in the league in scoring twice, fourth in the league twice, eighth once, and 10th once. But before the 1955-56 season, Macauley was dealt with fellow future Hall-of-Famer Cliff Hagan to the St. Louis Hawks in one of the biggest trades in NBA history. In return, the Celtics selected second in the draft, where they had their eye on a center from San Francisco.

"They traded for me for a guy, I don't know what ever happened to him. His name was Bill Russell," Macauley jokes. "I don't know if he ever succeeded or not."

Playing back in his hometown, Macauley helped the Hawks win the NBA title in 1958, where they bested the Celtics in the Finals. The next season, Macauley assumed the coaching reins for St. Louis. He would retire as a player during the 1958-59 season, finishing with 17.5 ppg and 6.7 rpg over 641 regular-season games. But he stayed on as coach and led the Hawks to two first-place finishes in the Western Conference.

At the end of the 1959-60 season, Macauley stepped down as coach. Later that year, at 32, he was elected to the Hall of Fame.

Today, Macauley's greatest thrill is watching his grandchildren grow up. Nolan is the tallest in his kindergarten class and loves soccer. "He's quiet," Macauley says. "I'll say, `Nolan, did your team win?' He'll say, `Yep.' I'll say, `What was the score?' He'll say, `5-3.' I'll say, `Did you get any goals?' He'll say, `Yep.' I'll say, `Well, how many?' He'll say, `Five.'" Another of his grandchildren, Patrick, once drove in 13 runs in a Little League game.

Sounds like they inherited some of grandpa's athleticism.

ED MACAULEY SOLD HIS INTERESTS IN A cable television venture in St. Louis a few years back and deiced to retire. He wanted to spend more time with is wife of almost 50 years, Jackie, their seven kids, and 17 grandchildren.

But retirement also has given him a lot more time to devote to church. About 10 years ago, Macauley, the youngest player ever inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, became a deacon in the Catholic Church. He has specialized in writing homilies, and has even begun to give others across the country and the world pointers on how to write better sermons.

"I've written a book with Monsignor Francis Friedl called "Homilies Alive: Creating Homilies That Hit Home," Macauley says. "I give the homilies in our church, and we do workshops with other priests and deacons and Protestant ministers on this subject." In fact, Macauley has started his own Web site, www.homiliesalive.com, as a storage house of homilies for others around the globe to read and use.

"The Web site last week had just under 3,000 visitors," Macauley says. "That's 150,000 a year. There's a lot of Web sites that get 12,000 hits a minute, but not for homilies."We have 40 or so priests and deacons and people from other countries that write the homilies for us. It's been a lot of fun. We've gotten good reviews from our workshops and great reviews on our book."

These days, “Easy Ed”resides in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife Jacqueline. The two of them have been married 52 years and have seven children and 17 grandchildren. Macauley's greatest thrill is watching his grandchildren grow up. Nolan is the tallest in his kindergarten class and loves soccer. "He's quiet," Macauley says. "I'll say, `Nolan, did your team win?' He'll say, `Yep.' I'll say, `What was the score?' He'll say, `5-3.' I'll say, `Did you get any goals?' He'll say, `Yep.' I'll say, `Well, how many?' He'll say, `Five.'" Another of his grandchildren, Patrick, once drove in 13 runs in a Little League game.

Sounds like they inherited some of grandpa's athleticism.

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Preseason

The final tuneup proved to be the highlight of the Celtics' 1983-84 exhibition schedule. Returning to this fertile land that yielded Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn and others, the Celtics overcame a 12-point third-quarter deficit and beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 102-100, at the Centrum last night.



The victory completed a four-game exhibition sweep against one of the NBA's premier teams. Make no mistake: Both teams played this one for keeps, and with the best 10 players on the floor, the Celtics took it away from LA. Knowing that last night's preseason finale was beamed back to the city of smoggy angels, Laker coach Pat Riley obviously decided it was time for the Lakers to play like . . . the Lakers.

The Celtics led by 11 early in the second quarter, but trailed by 12 early in the third. Boston spent the rest of the evening trying to catch up with Magic Johnson, Michael Cooper and the rest of the LA greyhounds. It wasn't easy. The Lakers led, 81-72, after three. Then, at the start of the fourth, the Celtics ripped off seven straight on a jumper by Quinn Buckner, a
three-pointer by Larry Bird and a hook by Kevin McHale. It was the start of a 19-4 run that boosted the Green to a 91-85 lead with 6:28 left.

Let the record show that all this was accomplished with backup guards Buckner and Danny Ainge on the floor. Making key steals and shooting with new confidence, Buckner played one of his best games ever in a Celtics uniform. He and Ainge bothered the Lakers and fed the tree-top trio of larry Bird, Robert Parish and McHale.

The Celtics led by one, 94-93, when time was called with 3:34 left. Two free throws by Jamaal Wilkes put LA back ahead, but Ainge answered with a rainbow bomb and McHale followed with a three-point play to give the Celts a 99-95 lead with 1:28 left. Magic fired one in to cut it to 99-97 and, after an offensive charge on Bird, Abdul-Jabbar scored (on a Parish goaltend) to tie it at 99. With 27 seconds left, Bird banked one in from the right side off a drive, and the Lakers called time. The best they could get was two free throws by James
Worthy; he made the first but missed the second, and Parish rebounded. Parish hit his first to make it 102-100. The Chief missed his second and Magic got the rebound and called time with five seconds left. On the final play, Magic went to the corner and fired a bomb. It hit the back rim and fell into Parish's hands. Ballgame.

For the second straight game, Dennis Johnson and Gerald Henderson started in the backcourt for the Celtics. They appear to be coach K. C. Jones' choices to start the season opener against the Pistons Friday night in Pontiac, Mich. Riley, meanwhile, opened with Abdul-Jabbar in the middle for the first time this fall, and it was clear the Lakers meant business. The Celtics held LA to 14 points in the first quarter. Both teams appeared to
be having trouble with the Centrum rims, which were out of alignment during warmups. Boston hit eight of 24 in the period, compared with LA's six of 21, and struck often enough to take a 23-14 lead into the second quarter.

The most emotional moment of the first 12 minutes came when Abdul-Jabbar's backup, Swen Nater, unleased some elbows as he was fouled by Buckner. After the whistle, Buckner shoved Nater slightly, and the two exchanged words when the period ended. The Celtics pushed their lead to 11 (25-14) before the Lakers roared back early in the second quarter. Running at every opportunity, Cooper and Byron Scott brought LA back, and the Lakers led, 49-43, at intermission. Red Auerbach reports no news in the effort to find a team for John Schweitz.

Schweitz is with his agent, Ron Grinker, in Cincinnati, and the Celtics have until Tuesday to officially place him on waivers. The Celtics are still talking with Utah and Cleveland . . . Meanwhile, Winfred King, who'll be the final man cut, did not dress last night because of his chronically sore shoulder, which popped out again in the third quarter of Friday night's game in Hartford . . . Does it make you feel better to know that Ainge's $1000 fine in the Tree Rollins' Love-At-First-Bite incident has been reduced to $500? . . . The Celtics have the day off and will resume workous at Hellenic College tomorrow morning .

1983-84 Boston Celtics
Pre-season

He was an extra piece of cord wood stacked against the kitchen wall. He was hot fudge you didn't need on top of your favorite ice cream. When the Celtics acquired Scott Wedman last January, the league-wide question was, "What are they going to do with him?" The answer turned out to be, "Nothing." As the Celtics staggered and snarled toward their stunning no-show sweep in Milwaukee, Wedman pined away on the end of the bench wondering why Boston had bothered to trade for him.



It was an unusual situation for Wedman, a nine-year veteran, former All-Star, and scorer of more than 10,000 NBA points. Sitting on the end of the bench, he began to wonder about his own abilities. Were the Celtics so deep that they didn't need him, or was he not good enough to contribute to this talent-laden team? "(The doubt) was there for a while, but I did get over it," said Wedman. "I realized I was playing behind one of the best players in basketball (Larry Bird). After a while, I didn't leave much room for self-doubt."

"He didn't get a chance to play," says new Celtic coach K.C. Jones. "Any time a good player sits and only gets a minute or two, his game suffers." It appears that the Celtics are planning on getting a lot more out of Wedman this year. The 31-year-old forward has averaged 20 minutes of precious floor time in Boston's first five exhibition games. He's responded by hitting 50 percent from the floor (22 for 44) and 83 percent from the foul line (10 for 12). He had 18 points and received a warm ovation from the Garden fight fans during Sunday's slugfest against the Sixers.

"It's mainly just that I'm playing more," said Wedman. "I came to camp in good shape. I played a lot more this summer than I have in the past. I just want to play. The coaches can decide roles and minutes. I understand that my main contribution is scoring, but I think I can contribute in a lot of different ways." Jones said, "I talked with Scott briefly on the road and asked him what he thought he could do and he said he thought he could come into games and give us instant offense. When you're a shooter like he is, you should think shoot first and pass second. "I intend to use him more than we did last year. He gives us another weapon. When I see him go up for a shot, I get a good feeling. It's like you know the ball is going in."

The 6-foot-7 Wedman is a lifetime .483 shooter who has averaged 15.5 points a game since coming into the league with Kansas City in 1974. He is capable of playing in the backcourt, but helps most as a shooting forward. Since Bird is Boston's shooting forward and generally plays 40 to 45 minutes a night, Wedman is easily buried."Getting minutes is a problem and it's going to be a problem for Scott," said Jones. "But I'm sure there's a way I can work out something new." Wedman sounds ready for the challenge. "You have to prove yourself every day with this team," he says. "There's so much talent here that you know if you don't perform well every day, there's someone standing behind you ready to step in."

KG's Rookie Season
11/8/1995

There was still more than an hour left before Kevin Garnett's first regular-season NBA game in his new home arena, and he already looked unhappy about it. He didn't look 19 years old, either. Not with that scowl. Trying hard to concentrate on Tuesday night's game against the Los Angeles Lakers, and, like his teammates, peeved by the Wolves' 0-2 start on the road, Garnett wasn't talking.

He wasn't upset, just focused. ``I don't talk before games,'' he grumbled, bristling like a veteran. Less than five months out of Chicago's Farragut High School, Garnett already is becoming known for his game face. After taking him with the fifth pick overall last June, the Wolves hope he eventually will become known for his game, too.

``He's impressing me, but he's been impressing me all along,'' coach Bill Blair said before his second Target Center opener. ``He doesn't look like a rookie.''Garnett, trying to become just the fourth player to jump from high school to the pros, scored eight points in 16 minutes during his first game at Sacramento on Friday. He was scoreless with three rebounds in 11 minutes at Vancouver on Sunday.

Remarkably skinny at 6 feet 11 and 220 pounds, Garnett must mature physically before he will be ready to approach the star level many predict for him. The Wolves, with perhaps their deepest team since joining the league in 1989, are bringing Garnett along slowly, introducing him slowly to the rigors of the NBA. ``I don't want to push him into things that he's not ready for,'' Blair said.

There was nothing unusual about Garnett's first road trip, the coach said. Nothing to make the teen-ager seem any different than his teammates. ``He was just like everybody else,'' Blair said. ``He keeps to himself. He's very careful.'' Watching Garnett shoot around before the game, Rick Schrupp was hopeful that he was about to watch the first game of what could be an exciting career for Garnett. ``They've got a project on their hands,'' said Schrupp, a 23-year-old fan from Monticello. ``But three or four years out, I think he can be very good.''

January 12, 1980

CELTICS ROLL WITH PUNCHES TO 108-93 WIN


The Celtics traded the Atlanta Hawks Dave Cowens for Tree Rollins following a first period brawl between the two centers and it made no difference to the home team at all, as Boston ground out a 108-93 triumph over the visitors before another capacity crowd of 15,320 at the Garden last night.



Cowens and Rollins were thrown out with the Celtics leading by a 15-12 score with 2:37 remaining in the first period, but Rick Robey came off the bench to score a season-high 22 points and grab 10 rebounds in a needed display of inside power. In contrast, Atlanta's other center was the usually reliable Steve Hawes, who scored two points and had three rebounds before fouling out with 4:02 left.

Boston only trailed once (8-6), and led by such checkpoint margins as 21-17, and 54-43 before putting the game away in the final 6 1/2 minutes.

The Celtics, who had only scored seven field goals in the first 16 1/2 minutes of the second half (surviving via free throws), were clinging to an 88-81 lead with 6:45 to play when Chris Ford ignited the key spurt with his only basket of the night - a three-pointer from the left flank. Two more conventional three-point plays, by Robey (a followup) and Nate Archibald (a one-on-one back-in flip over Charlie Criss) boosted the margin to a comfortable 97-85, and that was that.

The Celtics surrendered six tough points late in the half on successive three-point plays by John Drew and Armond Hill, but they still entered the locker room in possession of a 54-43 halftime lead.

The home team survived the early ejection of Cowens better than the visitors survived the loss of their center, Rollins, and with the boards under control, Boston was able to rip off 21 fast-break points in the first half to go with 17 on second shots. With all that going on, who needs a set offense?

The game had erupted with 2:37 remaining in a very rough first period when Cowens and Rollins threw several punches and wound up being ejected by lead referee Joe Gushue. Cowens was off to a sensational rebounding start (five in the first four minutes, including three on the offensive boards), and during a timeout at 6:10, Atlanta coach Hubie Brown delivered the following message to his troops:

"Don't tell me Cowens is going over your backs, 'cause we know he's going over your backs. Knock 'im down."

About three minutes later, trouble brewed between the monstrous Rollins and the ever-combative Cowens.

Boston came out of a weird first quarter leading, 21-17. The teams had running on their minds, but the clubs combined or a miserable 17-for-47 effort from the floor. So many misses led to the offensive rebound opportunities which eventually were the cause of the Cowens-Rollins battle, but that's life, especially in the NBA.

Atlanta led just once, at 8-6, but a fourth-chance jump hook by Cowens restored the lead at 10-8 and the Celtics led the rest of the period by margins ranging from one to five points, with the peak spread being at 15-10.

The absence of Cowens didn't seem to deter the Celtics during the first seven minutes of the second period as they expanded the lead to 13 at 44-31 before a Hawk timeout with 4:33 remaining in the half. At this point, about the only thing the Hawks had going for them was the offense of Drew, who had come off the bench to hit his first three shots and pour in 15 points in his first 10 1/2 minutes on the floor.

Robey was doing a good job on the boards for the Celtics, but the key man was Bird, who seemed to take Cowens' ejection as a personal affront, and who was a visibly more aggressive player when Cowens departed.

The game was no less intense, and emotions were high on both sides. Strangely, the first technical foul of the game was not on Brown, Fitch or one of the combatants, but on Atlanta assistant coach Mike Fratello, no rabble- ouser.

With the centers gone, the team getting the job done underneath was Boston. By the time Dan Roundfield laid in a followup to make it 46-35, Boston, the Celtics had amassed 17 points on second shots.

The biggest Boston lead came with three minutes left when a Gerald Henderson fast-break jumper gave the Celtics a 50-35 lead. But those three- pointers got Atlanta back in the game somewhat.

April 2008

With one more game to go in the regular season, the team will do it's best to stay interested. Rivers has stressed to his team on a regular basis, "don't get bored with the process," and for the most part, they've been able to do just that. But with the best record in the league, and home court clinched throughout the playoffs, well, understandably, it got a bit tough to keep guys focused. "They've been phenomenal. I think they got bored the last week with the process, there's no doubt about that. Really, [it was] tough the last couple of weeks trying to keep them interested," Rivers conceded. "We've set little private goals for each game just to keep them interested. But they're ready to play meaningful games, I can tell you that."

--Boston Herald

All of us want to see banner number 17 fly next season, and all of us will be extremely disappointed if it doesn't.

But let's be honest. The last eight months have been a blast. It's the most fun we've had as Celtics fans since 1986. If we do win it all this year, it is unlikely that subsequent title pursuits will be as joyous as this one.

The 22-year wait has been long and painful, while the turnaround has been sudden and breathtaking. It’s as if a terminally ill loved-one came out of coma and immediately picked up where they left off when last healthy.

Any additional title pursuits in the Garnett Era simply won’t be cast against the same backdrop.

So I want to give thanks to those who have been responsible for throwing this great party. We’ve paid homage to the Celtics players every day here since the KG trade was announced.

Now it’s time to give thanks to that group of folks Bill Walton used to call "the suits."

Thanks to Danny Ainge for being Kevin McHale’s best friend, and having the temerity to conjure up this deal, and the tenacity to keep after it until it became a reality.

Thanks to Wycliffe Grousbeck and ownership for spending the money to fill-in the roster and make this the deepest Celtics team in a long, long time.

Thanks to Doc Rivers for bringing the team together so quickly, keeping them aiming high without burning them out, and for continuing to motivate them over the last two weeks.

As I stated yesterday, 66 wins is an important milestone. From the email I received, I know I'm not alone in thinking that. This team deserved a special place in Celtics history, and now it has one, even if that special place ends up being confined to the regular season only. Media types are also taking notice of the 66 wins, some even predicting a Celtics steamroll through the playoffs.

As we get ready to close the deal, let's not forget what we've accomplished to date.

--Finished season on 25-4 run after starting 29-3 (one game below .900)

--Finished season fifty games over .500

--66 regular season wins is third most in Celtics history

--Biggest single-season turnaround in league history

--Largest average margin of victory

--Second fewest points-per game allowed (Detroit beat us out)

--Lowest field-goal percentage allowed

--Lowest three-point percentage allowed

--Fewest points in the paint allowed

--Second fewest assists allowed per game

--Season sweeps over the Lakers, Spurs, Dallas, and Houston

February 3, 1982

Well, you know, he was kinda hard to ignore.

Larry Bird played 14 games in January, not including the All-Star Game, where he was the MVP. He averaged 26.9 points, 12.9 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 2.9 steals. He scored 40 points once and had over 30 on five other occasions.

So it did not exactly come as a complete shock when Bird was named yesterday as the NBA Player of the Month, beating out Gus Williams, Magic Johnson, Moses Malone, Alex English, Jay Vincent and John Long, most of whom should be immensely pleased just to be named in the same paragraph as Larry Bird, when it comes to discussing quality basketball players.-

Which brings us to last night's game. The Bird stat line reads 43 minutes, 26 points (8-for-19 from the floor), 13 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and zero turnovers. It sounds nice, but what it added up to was a so-so Bird performance, a routine earn-the-paychec k night's work that nonetheless represented an achievement that could not have been matched for impact on the game by 95 percent of the game's players.

January 12, 1980

Hubie Brown shook up his starting lineup in the last Atlanta game, and the result was a 111-107 victory over Cleveland. He inserted center Wayne (Tree) Rollins, forward Tom McMillen and guard Charlie Criss at the expense of Steve Hawes, John Drew and Armond Hill, with the following explanation:



"Over the entire season, and especially over the last 20 games, both Drew and Hill had three fouls in the first quarter. It's always been the second unit which was bailing us out of deficits ranging from 6 to 12 points. We're always behind, it seems, especially on the road. As for Hawes and Rollins, we've changed that around before. That's no big thing. In our last game, we got off to a lead in the first quarter with this group, and as soon as we put the other people in, we fell down, which proves my point."

However, that strategy went by the boards last night when Rollins and Celtics' center Dave Cowens were ejected for their first-period fight.

Larry Bird had been undergoing treatment for his injured right hand and was expected to start. Bird jammed the knuckle at the base of the right index finger on Wednesday night against New York. He was trying to block a Knick shot late in the first half when the mishap occurred. Assuming that Bird answered the bell, it meant that the Celtics had employed the same starting lineup for 42 regular-season games, plus all eight exibitions. Many other teams wish they could make that statement . . . Hubie said that when the Hawks were last in town, he was contemplating a lineup change for his Atlanta team identical to the one he tried the other night ("We said we'd give them one more game"), but when his team blasted the Celtics by 28 (120-92), he left things alone.

Cowens' 12-rebound effort on Wednesday against New York represented his first double-figures board outing since Dec. 14, a span of 10 games. But no matter what his scoring, rebound or assist totals in any given game, he has gone out and played the best 41 games of defense submitted by any center in the league this season.

Brent Musberger arrived in town early to do some homework in preparation for tomorrow's televised game against the Los Angeles Lakers . . . The sellout crowd at the Garden last night gave the Celtics 13 capacity crowds in 19 home games. They are already sold out for tomorrow's LA game, and that will boost them over the 14,000 mark in average attendance for the first time in their history (past the month of October, anyway) . . . Remember that tomorrow's game (1 p.m.) will be on Channel 38 and not Channel 7. The latter is committed to the Cerebral Palsy telethon . . . Next Friday's game with Portland will be televeised by Channel 4, despite the fact that it's a home game.

The Hawks cut Rick Wilson and activated Boston's Ronnie Lee just prior to last night's game. Ronnie had been out for a few weeks with a broken hand . . . Chris Ford's amazing long-range shooting stats: 10 straight games and 22 of 23 making at least one three-pointer. It was the Hawks who launched him back on Nov. 24, when he went 3 for 3 in the Omni . . . Cedric Maxwell had shot at least 50 percent from the floor in every home game, and all but four road games. His .620 percentage trailed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's league- leading field-goal percentage by .004.

1/17/1985

It was starry and symmetrical; the kind of celebrity ball you expect when these rosters clash.

Relatively speaking, there was little at stake. When the Lakers and Celtics last met, it was 95 degrees outside and the teams were playing for rings, banners and an invite to President Reagan's Rose Garden.

Last night was different. On the coldest day in the dead of winter, the Celtics were playing to hold onto a share of first place, while the Lakers sought to avert their first three-game losing streak in two years.



The outcome was the same. LA blew a three-point, last-minute lead, Kevin McHale awoke to score the winning basket with one second left, and the Celtics were 104-102 winners over the cursed Lakers.

One more Garden party like this and Pat Riley's team will move from Sports Illustrated to Psychology Today.

"I thought we had it," said Magic Johnson (13 assists). "Definitely. But we didn't. So it's back to the drawing board."

When James Worthy hit a turnaround over McHale, then rebounded a Dennis Johnson miss, the Lakers led by three (102-99) and had the ball with less than a minute to go.

Deja Vu. The Lakers were condemned to repeat their mistakes of last spring. A turnover, a foul, a basket after a whistle, a bundle of missed shots, a defensive mixup and a failed desperation buzzer-beater foiled LA. It was like a Lakers' lowlight film of Games 2 and 4 from the '84 finals. We had all been here before.

It started when Ainge stole a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar pass. "We were doubling on him all night," said Ainge. "I anticipated him throwing the ball back out to Byron Scott, and I jumped up and got my hands in the passing lane."

Ainge deflected the pass to Bird, who passed to Parish under the basket at the other end. Parish hesitated just long enough to get fouled by Michael Cooper as he made a layup (Cooper didn't think

there was any foul). Parish made the free throw and it was 102-102 with 44 seconds left. (If you dabble in the occult, note that a Parish three-point play helped the Celtics overcome a final-minute, five-point deficit in Game 4 of the finals.)

One could only wonder if Magic might dribble out the clock. He didn't. He made a shot after he was fouled by Ainge. The basket didn't count. There was no free throw (the Celtics were under the limit), and the Lakers took it out of bounds with 30 seconds left.

Cooper inbounded and the Lakers set up a Kareem turnaround (33 points, thanks to another dose of Dick Clark youth serum). The big fella banked it too hard, and two Magic taps also failed. Parish (19 points, 13 rebounds) finally gathered in the loose ball, and the Celtics called time with 0:14 showing.

Bird inbounded and the Celtics moved downcourt. Bird got stuck out top on the right and fed McHale - a man who was clanging the rims to the tune of 25 percent (3 for 12). So what happened? McHale turned, shot over Kurt Rambis, banked it hard off the glass, and watched it rattle around . . . and drop through.

"I told K.C. (Jones) that I was happy he had a little faith in a struggling man," said McHale, who was the first option for the final shot. "Kurt tried to come around me and I pinned him a little. When I got the ball, I just turned and shot. It seemed like the ball was trying to come out all night long, but this one stayed down."

"I really thought they would go with Bird," said Rambis. "When I rolled around to front him, I saw there was nobody there to give me weak-side help. I had to get back to find (McHale), but I was dead either way, and I'd rather have him shoot a 5-footer than dunk the ball."

Bird had confidence in his staggering teammate. "I always have confidence in Kevin," said Bird (19 points, 11 rebounds). "When you're a foot taller than everybody else and you shoot one foot away from the basket, you're bound to make some shots."

One second remained. The Lakers called time and set up Worthy on a half- court, inbound, alley-oop pass from Cooper. Worthy never had control, Cedric Maxwell grabbed the loose ball, and the buzzer sounded.

The first 47 minutes weren't exactly chopped liver.

The initial "Beat LA" chant bounced off the balcony at 8:09, 45 seconds before the opening tap. Boston got 14 first-quarter points from Dennis Johnson (20, with nine rebounds and seven assists), but trailed by 33-31 after one.

Carlos Clark (eight points in 20 minutes) played the entire second period, guarded Magic, and gave the Celtics their first lead when he stuck a lefthanded liner over Mike McGee to make it 38-36. Boston led, 58-56, at intermission.

Folks figured the Celtics would cash in on the fatigue factor after halftime. Boston hadn't played since burning Atlanta Sunday, while the fragile Lakers were playing their eighth game in 11 nights.

The burnout theory looked good when Boston bolted to a 68-60 lead in the first four minutes after halftime, but it fizzled when Kareem paced a three- minute, 14-2 run. Ainge brought the Celtics back and hit a banker off a drive to give Boston a three-point lead (87-84) after three. Three points was the biggest margin for either team the rest of the way.



1/17/1985
The battle scars were there, but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hid them well. No one who approached him in the Lakers' dressing room had much success in cutting through his robot-like demeanor.

Abdul-Jabbar did not smile as he spoke. His mood seemed to reflect a career that has been filled with peaks and valleys, bumps and bruises, key hoops and missed shots. What happened to Abdul-Jabbar and the Lakers last night was just another pit stop on the long NBA trail.

And if losing to the Celtics last night hurt, you'd never know it.

"They're the defending world champions," Abdul-Jabbar answered softly when asked what it meant to lose yet another close game to the Celtics, who earned that title last year at LA's expense. "We didn't expect to have an easy time of it. We didn't want to come out here and embarrass ourselves. I don't think we did. But we did come up a bit short."

In his 16th season of throwing in his sky hook and helping to carry a franchise, Abdul-Jabbar spoke like a man who fully understands the NBA wars. What's changed? The task is the same each game, as he is double- and triple- teamed, and yet last night he scored 33 points.

But, at the end, the Celtics didn't care if he'd wound up with 50 points. For they put on the kind of pressure that enabled Boston to overcome a 100-97 deficit in the final 50 seconds.

First, the Celtics pressured Abdul-Jabbar into a passing error. With 50 seconds left, he attempted to kick the ball out to Byron Scott, and Danny Ainge knocked the pass to Larry Bird, who started a fast break that wound up in a game-tying, three-point play for Robert Parish.

"Our plan," said Parish, "was to make Kareem a passer as much as possible. That's hard to do, but we picked our spots."

Abdul-Jabbar saw several Celtics again with 18 seconds left. The Lakers had called a play with 30 seconds remaining, and to go to Kareem was but one option. But when he felt the pressure, he shot . . . and missed.

"It was kinda hard to get that shot off," recalled Abdul-Jabbar, after his jump shot banged off the rim and teammate Magic Johnson couldn't tap in two rebounds. "As soon as my hand touched the ball, there were three guys on me. The fourth one was coming. There was no one open to pass to. So I had to shoot it."

Johnson couldn't have been more stoic if his life had depended on it. But there was reality in his voice, too.

"This was just a regular-season game," he said. "Nothing bigger, nothing more. We're not happy about losing. But we played well in Milwaukee and shut off their offense. And we played just as well tonight. Only the shots didn't go down when we needed them.

"The first tap-in is the one I'll remember. It seemed to hang on the rim and then fall off. I saw (Kevin) McHale and Parish coming on the second, and I tapped it straight up. I just hoped somebody could come in and get it. But they didn't."

And so it went for Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar and the Lakers, who had made up their minds before the game not to get too high or too low over the outcome.

"It's a challenge," was Abdul-Jabbar's opinion of the meaning of a game between the NBA's top two teams of a year ago.

"It's hard work, a battle. But then, it's hard work every night we go on the floor, and it doesn't matter who we're playing. It's nothing new. Everybody plays us like that."




February 18, 1985



Section: SPORTS

LAKERS WATER DOWN THE CELTICS, 117-111

Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Staff
INGLEWOOD, Calif.

They threw sandbags onto the rising river banks for 22 minutes. Sandbags named Greg Kite, Carlos Clark, Scott Wedman and M.L. Carr held back the flood until the final two minutes . . . and then came the deluge. A rain dance by the Magic Man burst the barriers and washed the Celtics away.

It is impossible to review yesterday's 117-111 Laker victory over the Celtics without speculating on what the game might have been like if not for an ankle injury that sidelined Boston center Robert Parish for the entire second half.

Lakers coach Pat Riley said, "Losing Parish elevated our players and took the monkey off their back, but it also made them think, 'What'll we win today if we win?'"

Like Celtics-Sixers games and Lakers-Sixers games, this matchup qualifies as a major blip on an otherwise brain-dead NBA regular-season scan. How unfortunate, then, that one team was stripped of its center for half of this centerfold contest.

The loss dropped the Celtics to 2-2 on the West Coast (with two to play) and cut their Atlantic Division lead over Philadelphia to a half-game. If that doesn't leave you with a bitter taste, swallow this: The Celtics will take on the Jazz tonight without Parish, Cedric Maxwell (knee) or Quinn Buckner (tonsil inflammation). All three are back in Boston for tests and convalescence.

In other words, this loss might have far-reaching consequences. The Celtics face the prospect of a 2-4 road trip, a tumble from first place and grave uncertainty on the condition of Maxwell's left knee. LA team physician Stephen Lombardo mentioned the possibility of arthroscopic surgery when he examined Maxwell after the game. Max will get at least one more opinion before the Celtics do anything.

Meanwhile, back in the land of glitter and Spandex, Lakers fans are celebrating what they hope is an end to the Boston jinx. They were beginning to think of Magic Johnson & Co. as a latter-day Gas House Gang. The Lakers dropped all the close ones in last year's championship final, kissed one away at the Garden last month and faced a 103-103 tie against the undermanned Celtics with 2:34 left yesterday.

Then Michael Cooper put LA ahead for good, scoring off a give-and-go feed from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (20 points). Kareem rebounded a miss by Larry Bird (33 points, 15 rebounds), and James Worthy hit an 8-foot turnaround, post- up jumper as he was fouled by Wedman. Worthy made the free throw to set the score at 108-103 with 1:30 left. The overmatched Wedman was in the game because Max' knee was sore. Max came back after that play, but it was too late.

When Byron Scott rebounded a Kevin McHale turnaround, the Celtics had to start fouling and firing three-pointers. Magic made nine of 10 free throws in the final 45 seconds (17 of 19 overall).

"This game was important for our confidence and will do us good through the rest of the season," said Johnson, who finished with 37 points (his highest total in two seasons) and 13 assists. "I came out more aggressive today. A lot of people say I can't do this or I can't do that, but today I went out and showed what I can do and had fun."

Magic was involved in everything - even Parish's injury. Johnson scored 12 points in a sparkling first quarter that featured a two-team shooting average of 67 percent (28 for 42).

The Lakers led, 34-29, after one, but Bird (22 at halftime) fired the Celtics back into it, and Boston led, 62-59, at intermission.

In the final minute of the first half, Parish stepped on Magic's foot and turned his left ankle. He limped off and was done for the day. Though his first-half performance was brutal (three points and one rebound in 18 minutes), the game wasn't the same without him.

LA opened the third with an 11-2 run and took a 70-64 lead on a dazzling drive by Magic. McHale (15 points) was doing his best to stop Kareem in the middle, but as Abdul-Jabbar said, "We really went inside after Parish left the game. McHale is not the type of inside player that Parish is."

The Celtics made a gallant run in the final quarter. Wedman (five of eight from the field) did some of his best shooting since his Cleveland days, and when Dennis Johnson (20 points, 10 assists) stuck in a jumper from the left corner with 6:28 left, Boston led, 97-96, and Riley was calling for time.

The Lakers started going to Worthy and Kareem after the pause, and there was nothing Boston could do. There wasn't any sand left to stop the Laker wave.

May 29, 1985



Section: METRO

CULTURE SHOWDOWN

Mike Barnicle, Globe Staff


Professional basketball has never really hit my hot button. This, because it's not a sport so much as it is 10 guys with glandular problems who run back and forth on a floor until there are two minutes left in a game and it's time to pay attention to the point spread.

Then, for 120 seconds, everyone performs like the Flying Wallendas on speed. That's life in the NBA.

For those of you who don't know or don't care about pro ball, the National Basketball Assn. is the single biggest and tallest example of greed in sports. It is a collection of greedy and stupid owners who are in it largely because having a franchise is a wicked great tax shelter.

The owners look up at 12 men in size 22A sneakers and see one thing: A write-off. And if a club isn't doing well at the gate, they move the franchise to another hick town at half-time.

There are 23 teams in the league. About 22 qualify for the playoffs, thus making the entire regular season a joke.

The players are greedy, too, but you can't blame them. They look around at a bunch of swindlers, hustlers, con-men, real estate developers and shopping mall owners who get their kicks and their exemptions by owning a franchise and, naturally, the athlete says: "Where's mine?"

On any given night, most of these wealthy NBA players are capable of scoring in double figures. That's more than a lot of them could manage in the College Boards. Tell me this is not a great country.

Given all this, the playoff series between Boston and Los Angeles does indeed warrant our attention because it is a bit more than just plain hoop. It's sort of a clash of cultures.

The Celtics are working stiffs. The Lakers are management.

The Celtics have a captain whose name is just plain Larry. The Lakers are led by a guy called "Magic."

Our guys look like they've never been outdoors. You just know they even wear T-shirts on the beach. Maybe tuck a pack of cigarettes into a rolled-up sleeve.

None of them would look out of place in the Malden Catholic yearbook. Awkward with chicks too. The Lakers . . . Hey, they're from "El Lay." Pass the oil and pump that iron. Say something relevant baby.

The Lakers are life's favorites. The big oddsmaker in the sky has made them younger, faster, better-looking and plunked them down where nobody has pimples, fat thighs, pale skin or a bicycle tire around the waist.

Check it out: Their fans show up at games wearing more gold than a bride. Nobody's old, ugly or bald.

The Celtics are 1958. The Lakers are 1985.

The Celtics are 15 Lansdowne st. The Lakers are "The Strip" or "Little Santa Monica" or meet me on La Cienaga.

Our guys are high-cuts. Their guys are sandals.

The Celtics are Gene Hackman: Bent nose, thinning hair, gap in the teeth but get the job done smartly and professionally. The Lakers are Ryan O'Neil: Smile like sunshine, never up before noon, nothing but pretty, the toughest guy in . . . are you ready for this? . . . Malibu.

The guys from El Lay knock women off their feet with all that patter, with The Look. No need to tell them who they are or where they've been. It's an automatic: The Mayor of Easy Street. "So . . ."

The guys from Boston jump into a Plymouth K Car. They spend Saturday night driving around the block, over and over, hanging out the window trying to think of something smart to say to all the pretty girls in their summer dresses. "Go around one more time, Larry. I think she liked me."

They windsurf at Trancas. We hang around the hotel pool. They go to Poo-Poo Jones' house up in Coldwater Canyon for a private screening of some new film. We go to Westwood to the . . . movies.

The Lakers are Prince. The Celtics are Springsteen. The Lakers are options, treatments and putting together a deal over brunch at The Bel-Air. The Celtics are time-clocks, blisters and a coffee break half way through a bang-it-out day.

Boston is a place so locked into history that the future is always a stranger. El Lay is a place so geared to tinsel dreams that the past is never mentioned. Boston is a look over the shoulder. El Lay is a glance ahead at the freeway.

Boston is The Bird and Red Auerbach. El Lay is Magic and Jack Nicholson who is a puzzle. Short, dumpy and white, he's a lunch-bucket kind of guy who shows up at the games wearing The Beaver's old clothes. Our kind of guy, right?

But, remember, this isn't basketball. It's ugly against pretty. It's the fat girl who never got asked to the dance against Vanessa Williams. It's tap- city going one-on-one with every credit card you can think of. It's our lawn mowers against their gardeners. It's us against them. How can we lose?


May 29, 1985



Section: SPORTS

WEDMAN'S WAY WAS PAVED

Leigh Montville, Globe Staff


He is a basketball player in silhouette. The sun is setting at an angle behind the backboard, making you wonder how long he has been working and how much longer he is going to stay. There are ovations and excitement in his head, perhaps, but he is alone with the sound and the feel of the ball.

He is a driveway guy. A picture.

"You spent a lot of time like that?" Scott Wedman is asked.

"Oh, yes," he replies.

His basketball is the solitary game. The rural game. There is no blaster box parked on the side of an inner-city playground, no mingling of kids choosing up sides, then fighting to maintain their places on the court. There is a more gentle song here. The ball going through the net again and again. Heavy breathing after driving past imagined defenders. Repetition. The sound of a storm door opening. Someone yelling that supper is on the table.

Roots are roots. They cannot be denied.

"Where'd you grow up?" Scott Wedman is asked.

"A lot of places," he says. "Mostly Colorado, when I was going to high school."

"Colorado?"

"But we always spent our summers at my grandparents' place. They had a big farm."

"Where was that?"

"Kansas."

Kansas. Yes, Kansas. That is the look of the driveway guy's game. Stretches of farmland. Good food. Kansas. He is in the NBA and working in the televised frenzy of these final playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers, but traces of Kansas still can be seen. Even in the middle of all that. Kansas. Colorado. Clean air. Room. Jump shots.

The action spins and spins and suddenly Scott Wedman is alone. He goes through the patterned rhythms of all those afternoons, all those mornings, all those days. Jump shots. How far is far? Distance doesn't seem to matter. Nothing seems to matter. The rhythm is there. The stroke is the same. Jump shots.

"In Colorado," he says, "the basket was mounted over the garage door. Every now and then, I'd break a window. My father would come home, find the broken window and ask what happened. I'd tell him I was shooting and I shot one short. He never complained. If I'd been fooling around, maybe thrown a rock through the window, he'd be mad. Playing basketball? There'd be a new window in the morning. Nothing said.

"In the winter, our neighbor would see me when he came home from work," Scott Wedman says. "It would have been snowing and I'd have shoveled off the court. He'd look at me, out there in the driveway, and just shake his head.

"There's something relaxing about shooting a basketball," Scott Wedman says. "It's just you. You don't have to see how you've done. The reward is there if you've done it right. The ball goes through the basket."

He may have had trouble finding a place in the lineup in his three years with the Celtics, his Kansas mostly kept behind Larry Bird's taller and more diversified Indiana, but there never has been a question about the one thing he does best. He is a shooter's shooter. He will shoot jump shots against the world.

The shot has been his athletic passport. The shot. He has an older brother, Mike, "the athlete in the family," who was a pole vaulter and decathlete at the University of Colorado. Mike Wedman went to college on an assembled number of heights and times. Scott Wedman went to the same college on the shot. College and beyond.

"I remember when my brother got an athletic scholarship," the driveway guy says. "My father said, 'Well, that's great. Now we'll only have to pay for Scott's education.' I always have remembered that. I never let my father forget it."

The family was back in Kansas on Monday. Scott Wedman's father now owns a Ford dealership in Harper, Kan., and both sets of grandparents still live in the town. Memorial Day is a traditional family weekend. The Wedmans ran a family reunion at City Park on Sunday. The Clements, on Scott Wedman's mother's side, ran a reunion on Monday. A lot of the same people were at both reunions. The Monday reunion ended early.

"My grandmother invited a lot of people back to the house to watch the game," Scott Wedman says. "She has the satellite dish. There were a lot of people there, and I guess there was a lot of yelling. That's what my father said, anyway, when he called."

The reason for the yelling was obvious. On Monday, the driveway guy's shot worked better than it ever has worked. In the first game of these NBA finals, he took 11 shots and made all 11 in the Celtics' 148-114 win. He was perfect. No one in NBA history ever has done what he did. Eleven shots. Eleven baskets. Four of them from behind the 22-foot, three-point circle. Perfect. A perfect day. Even if you were shooting in your driveway.

"Funny, I was stopped at a light on the way home Monday," Scott Wedman says. "There was a playground and I saw a lot of kids out there, playing basketball. I remembered that. How you'd watch a big game on television, then go out and just play for three hours straight. I remembered that."

"Did you think about going out there to join the kids?" he is asked. "They would have gone crazy."

"You know, I did think about it," he says. "I really did. Maybe next time."


May 29, 1985



Section: SPORTS

HE'S THEIR ENGINEER, BUT K.C. LACKS FAME

Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Staff


It is the strangest of coincidences. He never gets much credit, but K.C. Jones always seems to be standing there when the flags are raised and the rings are handed out.

He was a member of two NCAA championship teams and an Olympic gold-medal- winning team. He played on eight NBA champions in a nine-year career. He has been part of the second-longest winning streak in NCAA history (56 games, at the University of San Francisco) and the longest winning streak in NBA history (33, when he was an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers). He has 11 NBA championship rings and a lifetime winning percentage of .683 (280-130) as an NBA head coach.

The 1984-85 Celtics haven't won a new crown yet. A 1-0 lead in a best-of- seven set with the Lakers is about as stable as the presidency of a banana republic. But on the heels of 63 regular-season victories, a 4-1 conquest of the mighty Philadelphia 76ers and a 34-point Game 1 smoking of the deified Lakers, maybe it's time Celtics fans started giving Jones some applause.

"It's quite interesting that a guy can accomplish as much as K.C. has and still he doesn't get the credit he deserves," says M.L. Carr. "You could probably find 16 coaches across the country with half as much ability and everybody'd be ready to crown them, but K.C. does not get his due.

"The man should have been coach of the year this year. Point blank. But even if we win the championship this year, next year it'll be the same thing. People will say we're supposed to win because we've got a lot of talented guys and Case won't get the credit. If it was me, I wouldn't be overlooked. I'd get my own TV show and tell you how good I am, but that's not Case's way."

The precision of Boston's victories over Philadelphia and Los Angeles indicate that something other than raw talent is guiding the Green. The Celtics had only one day to prepare for the rested Sixers, yet Boston was able to effectively minimize its own weaknesses while forcing and exploiting Philly breakdowns. After outplaying Moses Malone, Robert Parish credited Jones' defensive schemes. The Celtics held Philly to 100 or fewer points in four of the five games.

Two days ago, Boston stunned NBA America by outrunning the Lakers' greyhounds. When the Celtics got into the halfcourt game, they moved the ball with speed and precision. The result was a succession of wide-open jumpers for Danny Ainge and Scott Wedman, and ice cream turnarounds for Parish and Kevin McHale.

Defensively, the Celtics now wear the imprint of K.C. Jones, one of the best shutdown guards in NBA history.

"K.C. made this team a defensive team," says Carr. "Four years ago, we were a great team, but now we have more of a defensive personality, and it's his personality. We feel we can shut teams down now."

Since the 1985 playoffs started, the Celtics have stymied a succession of rival scoring machines. World B. Free scored but struggled against Boston. Detroit All-Stars Kelly Tripucka and Bill Laimbeer were muzzled, and Isiah Thomas was never the explosive force he can be. Julius Erving, Andrew Toney and Malone all stumbled in the Eastern finals, and on Monday, the Celtics were able to stop Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (12 points) and Byron Scott (5 for 14).

"Case has done a great job preparing us mentally and physically," says McHale. "He's helped us individually and as a group defensively, and I think that's our biggest improvement. He stresses it more and understands it more."

Still, there is little notoriety for the 53-year-old coach. His postgame quotes often lack imagination, and he's neither a self-promoter nor a chair tosser.

Earlier this season, Jones talked about his curious credit deficit: "It's always been a prevalent thought that when a team is very talented, you can just drop anybody in there and they can do the coaching. I just leave it alone. The people who want to think that already have their answer. If I get to thinking about it, it takes my mind off the club. Does it bother me that I don't get the recognition? No, as long as the guys win games. That's my reward, and that's what keeps me on the job.

"I'm awfully smart at the game of pro basketball," he added. "I've spent a lot of time in it as a player and a coach. My record is a combination of myself and my players. I could be a genius at the game and try to get that point across to the world, but I prefer having my players come across as the geniuses."

Still, team president Red Auerbach sees red and says, "The coach of the year a lot of times is a popularity contest. They prefer to give it to a guy who finishes second after the so-called experts picked his team fourth. How much can you do more than win? K.C. or Billy Cunningham or Pat Riley should have been coach of the year this year. Case has no help from last year. We gave away a first stringer (Gerald Henderson), he had the same guys back and got the best record again.

"His bench work is very, very good. I think that's his strongest point - substituting . . . K.C. is improving all the time. He knows how to communicate and he knows how to get mad. He doesn't get stepped on."

He just gets ignored. But on a day when Cunningham resigned, Kevin Loughery was fired and Hubie Brown did homework for CBS, K.C. Jones was quietly plotting the course for another championship.



May 29, 1985



Section: SPORTS

RILEY WATCHES A HORROR FILM

Ian Thomsen, Globe Staff


When Pat Riley is alone in his hotel room, is his hair combed like that?

Oh, to deal with such unimportant questions. Instead, there was that dreadful 148-114 Lakers' Game 1 loss to the Celtics Monday afternoon, which led to this important question: Just what did Pat Riley do alone in his hotel room Monday night?

"I watched the game again," he said. "We were worse than I thought we were, and I'd thought we were bad."

As did everyone else.

"It was like 'Friday The 13th,'" Riley said. "'Part Four.'"

That bad?

"I thought it would just be the Celtics being just so great," Riley said. "Then you get home and take an objective look at it. You don't see a lot of things until you sit down and watch. Even the three things we emphasized doing on offense and defense - we really didn't concentrate on those things enough."

Riley wouldn't divulge them, but one "thing" must be held responsible for plays such as Larry Bird's four backdoor layups.

"If they're going to get those, we're not concentrating," Riley said. "Effort has a lot to do with it."

Tapes of the accident indicate that effort (i.e. lack of such) was further related to LA's flimsy inside game. Yes, Riley agreed, the Celtics did surround Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. "But sometimes offensive players have to do things on their own," Riley said. "You can't always depend on the ball being thrown to you. You have to get the offensive boards, make things happen." Abdul-Jabbar's stats: 12 points, three rebounds (one offensive).

And this from Riley on Robert Parish: "He beat our big guys up and down the floor all game. We can't let that happen."

Still, the younger Lakers were accepting blame yesterday. Byron Scott was 5 for 14, beginning with a noisy 1 for 5, and said he hadn't started so badly in two playoff series. Had he continued his 65-percent shooting of the Denver series, "that would have opened it up inside a little more," he said.

Scott was still upset with Danny Ainge. "He blatantly just grabbed my arm to keep me from getting the ball and Magic threw it out of bounds," Scott said. "The next time down, he threw an elbow, and I threw an elbow." Then Ainge threw the ball - at Scott.

"I'll be ready," Scott said. "I'll think about it. I'll be definitely ready Thursday."

James Worthy (5 for 14 in the first half) was another disappointment. "I think it (better early shooting) would have kept us in the game a little longer," he said. This indication that almost no one person or thing could have beaten the Celtics was more sobering when he considered his defense against Bird, who had only 19 points.

"He really didn't hurt us," Worthy said. "I still can do a better job. I should have been denying him the ball a little more."

Originally, he did. But watching Bird drive around you once too often - or five or six times - can create a healthy distance. "He and Parish work well together," Worthy said. "I'd be trying to deny Bird and I'd get backpicked. He goes in for the layup and then you get worried. You don't want to let him beat you anymore."

"I thought we contained him pretty good," Riley said of Bird. "It's the other guys they know we're not going to focus on that are hurting us."

Which means Riley must decide whether to defend Boston's guards and Scott Wedman on the perimeter. "We'll be more conscious of them," Riley said. "I don't know if we'll challenge them. We're banking on them being a 48-percent shooting team. Now, sure, we're more conscious of Scotty and of Danny."

This petty analysis will continue for another day, and then everyone will really get started. "Game 2 is just as crucial for Boston as it is for us," Riley said. "I've always thought the second game was the most pivotal. The team with the home court is holding serve, and it's crucial for the team that needs the split."

Humanitarians are hoping for a split. Or at the very least, Riley shouldn't be allowed to sit through another loss like Monday's. "Friday the 13th, Part Five?"


May 29, 1985



Section: SPORTS

RILEY NOT SURPRISED

Ian Thomsen, Globe Staff and Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Staff


Lakers coach Pat Riley was not surprised with colleague Billy Cunningham's resignation yesterday from the 76ers.

"He's eight years in one place and he's had a great, great coaching career," Riley said. "He's won more games faster than anyone . . . and obviously he was never getting the credit he deserved as a coach.

"The coach of the Lakers, 76ers and Celtics will never be Coach of the Year - and they all win 60 games. We all have the best talent, we're supposed to win those games - it (supposedly) doesn't take as much to win with those players.

"Well, maybe there's more of a challenge of coaching those players than guys you can just ride roughshod over. I don't mind. I think I get enough recognition and credit for not getting enough credit."

Scribes from Detroit and Philadelphia believe that Chuck Daly will be the next coach of the 76ers.

One can argue that the Celtics have established some dominance over LA since the middle of Game 4 of last year's finals. The Celtics won Games 4, 5 and 7, and Riley said afterward, "We only played one half of basketball in those last three games." The Celtics split two games with the Lakers during the 1984-85 regular season, losing in LA by six as Robert Parish sat out the second half with a turned ankle . . . Boston's 148-point total Monday was the highest-scoring game by a Celtics team in 15 years. The Celts scored 153 against the Baltimore Bullets on Nov. 27, 1970 . . . It was the Lakers' worst loss of the season and worst ever in a championship series, and only their fourth opening-game loss in their last 18 series . . . Statistical oddity: The Celtics shot .778 (7 of 9) from the three-point area, but only .680 (17-25) from the free-throw line . . . The Lakers shot under 50 percent (49 of 100) for the second time in 14 playoff games . . . Understated Byron Scott, after watching game films, said: "I don't think the effort was really there. We didn't communicate on defense. We wanted to double and in some cases we ended up triple-teaming players." . . . Riley said the Celtics executed their offense better in the second half. "They didn't run a lot (of set offense) in the first half," he said. "It was a lot of transition."

Larry Bird was a unanimous selection to the NBA's All-League team. He was named to the first team on all 78 ballots. He is expected to be named MVP for the second straight year next Monday in Los Angeles . . . K.C. Jones on the shooting of Danny Ainge and Dennis Johnson: "Cleveland totally insulted (Ainge) and Dennis. Our guards weren't shooting that well from the outside, but they really came together in the last two or three games against Detroit.". . . Ainge worked out lightly yesterday because of a slight groin pull, but expects no problems tomorrow night . . . Each of the first 10 Lakers is still shooting better than 50 percent in the playoffs . . . LA has not lost two straight since leaving Boston Jan. 16 . . . Bird has scored under 20 points in three straight games for the first time this season . . . The Celtics are 9-0 in Garden playoff games this year, 12-0 over two seasons, and have won 21 of their last 22. Boston's only home playoff loss in the last two springs was Game 1 vs. LA last year . . . Portland forward Kiki Vandeweghe is in Boston, reporting on the series for an LA television station . . . Channel 4 did a live interview with Kurt Rambis last night. He closed with a "Hi, Jeanne" to co-anchor Jeanne Blake, a close friend.





May 31, 1985



Section: SPORTS

LAKERS GET SPLIT DECISION CELTICS ON THE ROPES, 109-102

Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Staff


The euphoria of Boston's Memorial Day Massacre vanished early in the evening. Led by a proud, 7-foot-2-inch center who has been part of America's hoop scene since 1963, the Los Angeles Lakers took charge early last night, roared to an 18-point halftime lead, and held off a late Boston rally. By the time the Celtics delivered their midnight confessions, LA had a 109-102 Game 2 victory and a 1-1 Garden split.

In other words, after all the giddy glory of Game 1, the Celtics are facing the situation they dreaded most - Boston's boys of summer settle into their hotel California tonight knowing that failure to win in the Forum means the end of a dream. Meanwhile, the Lakers go home with a mission accomplished.

Blame it on the big fella with the goggles. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a certified adult in a game dominated by youngsters, destroyed the Celtics with 30 points, 17 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 8 assists. He scored 22 points in the second half when the Lakers protected their lead. And all this came after Game 1 in which he had an embarrassing 12 points and three rebounds in a 34- point humiliation.

"He's the greatest player that ever lived," said Laker coach Pat Riley. "He was committed tonight. He knew he let his team down."

This was a night when the Lakers played superior defense, re-discovered their fast break (34 points off the break to Boston's seven), and outrebouned the Green, 49-37. The Celtics were held to a season-low offensive rebounds.

"The rebounding, for a team that can't rebound, was exceptional," said a sarcastic Riley.

Boston's first half could be summed up in one play: With his team trailing by 11, a fast-breaking Bird chose to feed Greg Kite rather than shoot late in the second period. The difficult pass was picked off and LA ripped off the final seven points of the half for its 18-point cushion.

All night long Bird was like Luis Tiant in Game 5 of the 1975 World Series. He had nothing, but he tried to lead his team by sheer force of will. He finished with 30 points and 12 rebounds but shot 9 of 21, had five turnovers and was no match for the Great Goggled One.

Both teams came out tossing bricks (LA guard Byron Scott missed his first four), but the Lakers dominated the boards and clawed to an 11-4 lead in the first five minutes. The Celtics were shooting .333 with three turnovers at that juncture.

It got worse after a timeout. Robert Parish (hobbled by an elbow to his lower back) hit a jumper, but the Lakers answered with three straight fast- break baskets, two after misses by Bird. LA led, 17-6. The Lakers pushed it to 21-8 before Bird or Kevin McHale were able to score.

"As soon as the game started, they knew they were in a game," noted Abdul-Jabbar.

"They came out and started with a vicious attack on the boards and created chaos when we had the ball," said K.C. Jones. "They totally outhustled us in the first quarter."

LA's lead was 28-14 when three Boston subs came in and helped Bird and Dennis Johnson to a quarter-closing 12-3 run. A DJ transtion jumper cut it to 31-26 at the end of one.

Scott Wedman scored on a back-door feed from Ray Williams to cut it to three at the start of the second. Then the Celtics started missing and LA started running. Before you could say "Michael Cooper," the Lakers led, 43-32. Cooper was on his way to a 22-point night in which he'd hit eight of nine floor shots.

The ubiquitous Magic Johnson (13 assists) did a great job finding the open man - and guarding Bird part of the time - and the Lakers' lead swelled to 53-38 on a free throw by Mitch Kupchak with 3:46 left in the half.

Ainge trimmed the lead to 11 when Bird made his dumb play. LA made the Celtics pay with three straight breakaways (two by Scott) and the Garden crowd went silent as it looked at the Lakers' 64-46 haltime lead.

Abdul-Jabbar and Ainge traded baskets early in the third, but the Celtics were getting nowhere. Cutting the lead to 13 seemed to be a major accomplishment.

Trailing by 79-62, the Celtics ripped off eight in a row, but the Lakers calmly drove the lead back to 87-75 by the time the third quarter ended. Abdul-Jabbar had 12 in the period.

And he kept the heat on in the fourth, scoring 10 more with five rebounds over Parish.

The Celtics' best run started after an Abdul-Jabbar sky hook gave LA a 94-81 lead. DJ hit a jumper, Bird followed with a jumper after a bad Magic pass, then Bird hit two free throws after stealing a Larry Spriggs pass. It was 94-87 with 6:46 left.

They traded baskets for a minute, then Worthy fouled out driving to the basket with 5 minutes left. A three-point play by Parish (off a nice feed from Bird) cut it to four with 4:22 left, but the Celtics never got any closer. Magic drove to make it 102-96. LA's lead was still six when Kareem rebounded a Bird three-point miss. The Lakers called time with 2:32 left.

Bird cut it to four with two free throws after a Bob McAdoo rebounding foul, but Cooper hit a bomb from out top (barely beating the 24-second clock), then rebounded an Ainge miss. One free throw by McAdoo with 1:17 left made it 107-100 and sealed Boston's fate.

"It's a slap in the face to us," said Ainge. "They came in and stole one, and everybody is really upset. We'll be ready for the next one."


June 3, 1985



Section: SPORTS

LAKERS SHOW UP CELTICS, 136-111

Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Staff
INGLEWOOD, Calif.

More role reversal. East is West, West is East. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a backboard-eating rebounder, while Larry Bird is missing open jumpers in the clutch. The Lakers are getting the rebounds and floor burns, while the Celtics are getting their hides tanned.

Looking every bit the inferior team, Boston's traveling troupe was shoved off the Forum floor yesterday afternoon. A national television audience and a howling Hollywood throng (which had enough stars in it for a remake of "We Are the World") saw the Lakers take a 2-1 championship-series lead yesterday with a 136-111 conquest of the Green.

Abdul-Jabbar had 26 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, rocketman James Worthy chipped in with 29 high-flying points, and Magic Johnson guided the passionate Lakers with 17 points, 16 assists and nine rebounds.

Meanwhile, Bird made only eight of 21 shots, and Boston's starting guards, Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge, clanged the rims to the tune of 23 percent (5 for 22). DJ and Ainge have had fickle fingers throughout their careers, but Bird is mired in the most ill-timed drought of his six historic seasons. Stripped of his fast ball, Bird is still an effective artist, but the Celtics are trying to win without their most potent weapon.

Two more games like yesterday's and Paul Mooney can shut out the lights on Causeway Street. If the Celtics don't win here Wednesday or Friday, they can hold their breakup dinner at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

The week-old Memorial Day Massacre (Boston's 148-114 victory in Game 1) now seems part of another season. Was it a dream, or is this a Celtic nightmare? The Lakers haven't been the same since. Neither have the Celtics.

"They were expecting us to crawl into a hole," Laker assistant coach Dave Wohl said after yesterday's drubbing. "We're not gonna do it. It's like the bully on the block. Day after day he takes your lunch money, he takes your quarter. You finally have to deal with it. All of a sudden you whack him and find out it's something you should have done four years ago. Our guys are tired of having their lunch money taken away."

There was no full-fledged barroom brawl yesterday, but there were five technical fouls, one ejection (of Ray Williams, for tackling Kurt Rambis), and plenty of shoving matches and entanglements. It seemed like a hockey game might break out at any moment.

"The misconception about this team is that we run up and down the court and don't play physical," said Bob McAdoo, who scored 19 points off the pine. "You don't get to the finals four straight years without being a physical team. We're tired of being called a patsy team from the West . . . They're very disrespectful."

When the Lakers weren't forechecking with the body, they were rebounding, running and capitalizing on Boston mistakes. LA had 49 rebounds to Boston's 37, the same count posted in LA's Game 2 victory in Boston. In overcoming a 10-point second-quarter deficit, LA scored 25 points on 15 Celtic turnovers.

"There's no excuse for the way we're playing," said Kevin McHale, who scored a game-high 31 points (10-of-13 shooting) with 10 rebounds. "They're beating us on the boards and beating us up and we have to go out and play harder."

McHale was the focus of Boston's offense, but even Red Auerbach said that the Celtics were looking inside too much.

Bird missed five of his first six shots, but McHale scored eight in the first as Boston bolted to a 29-25 lead. Abdul-Jabbar kept the Lakers in it with 12 points and five rebounds in the first 12 minutes. Worthy didn't score in the period.

McHale and Robert Parish got it going in the second and the Celtics had a stunning 48-38 lead when Parish scored with 7 minutes 16 seconds left in the half.

Then Worthy, Magic and Kareem went to work, leading a 22-7 run that pushed LA to a 61-55 lead. LA scored 40 points in the second quarter and it was 65-59 at the half.

Taking advantage of Bird's lack of foot-speed, Worthy exploded for 14 in the third quarter as the Lakers ran away from the Celtics. They outrebounded Boston, 13-7, in the period and led, 100-85, at the end of three. Parish did not have a point or a rebound after intermission.

Boston's gradual disintegration was complete when the Celtics scored only one field goal in the first 5 minutes of the final period. LA's lead cracked the 20-point barrier with 7:47 left. Goonball dominated most of garbage time.

Boston's low point came when Williams was ejected for tackling Rambis near the LA bench with 4:11 left. The Lakers led, 120-100, and Forum fans were treated to Carlos Clark and Chuck Nevitt in the final minutes.



June 3, 1985



Section: SPORTS

CELTICS' MISSING PERSON LOOKING TO FIND HIMSELF

Leigh Montville, Globe Staff
INGLEWOOD, Calif.

He stood at the same plywood locker stall a year ago and ripped his teammates. He said they were not playing hard enough or tough enough. He said they were "a bunch of sissies."

There was none of that talk this time from Larry Bird.

"I can't say that," the Celtics star said with quiet disgust yesterday afternoon in the visitors' concrete-gray locker room in the basement of the Fabulous Forum. "Because I'm about the only one playing like a sissy."

The man is struggling. The Los Angeles Lakers' afternoon dance, their 136-111 romp to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven NBA finals was one story. The continued out-of-synch performace of Larry Bird was another story.

Then, again, maybe it was the same story. Maybe it was the only story.

His game is the basic component of the Celtics' game. The Larry Bird jump shot, free and perfect, is the point where the entire Celtics' offense begins. That one shot is the hum in the background that other teams have to stop first, a night light that the Celtics always can use to ward off the dark, a reason for all the Celtics' success. That one shot. The Larry Bird jump shot.

The shot that is not working.

"I can't play any worse than I did today," he said quietly. "You - pointing toward a sportswriter - could play better than I did today."

"I know," the sportswriter said.

The box score will show that Larry Bird scored 20 points and that he hit eight of 21 shots in the process, but the 13 shots he missed were more important than any he made. They were easy Larry Bird shots, perfect Larry Bird shots. Fifteen feet. Ten feet. No one guarding him.

"I started out wanting to get the ball inside," Larry Bird said. "But I'd come off a pick and there'd be no one there. Those were shots I had to take."

Each miss was an absolute surprise. No matter that he has been struggling with his shot since the end of the Cleveland series, 14 playoff games ago. Each time Larry Bird missed it was as if Norman Mailer no longer could write a simple declarative sentence, Stevie Wonder couldn't hit a high note, Richard Pryor couldn't remember the punch line to a joke.

"Have you ever seen him go through a stretch as bad as this?" Celtics coach K.C. Jones was asked.

"No," the coach replied.

If this were any other player on the floor, either team, the list of knocks already would have begun to arrive. He would be called a gagger, a choker, unable to respond to the biggest moments. His ability and stability would be questioned as if he were on a witness stand.

There can be none of this with Larry Bird. Gag? Choke? Not care? His list of references is far too long. His eyes alone would refute the argument. He works too hard, does too much. He is the strangest of characters on any athletic floor. He almost is above criticism. Too strong to say? No.

His troubles seem almost medical in nature. Not the creaky elbow, not the swollen index finger. It is as if he has contracted some strange disease. Some shooter's flu or a sort of amnesia. Something new that hasn't even been discussed at the Harvard Medical School.

"I don't know what it is," he said. "I shoot well in practice and then . . . I don't know what to do. Shoot more? Maybe I should run 20 miles and then start shooting. Maybe that will do it."

Wanting to play defense or to grab more rebounds can be a mental choice. A commitment. The commitment does not matter in wanting to shoot a basketball well. The mind really does not count. This is almost an instinctive skill, determined by feel and touch and a whole lot of stuff that is usually discussed by gypsy women who read the lines on the palm of a stranger's hand. Rhythm.

"When I'm shooting good, I can tell whether the ball's going in or not," Larry Bird said. "Today? Some went in that I thought were going to miss. The ones that missed, I thought were going to go in."

He felt good about this game before it began. He didn't think the Celtics were going to beat the Lakers. He thought the Celtics were going to kill the Lakers.

Even at the half, the Celtics trailing, 65-59, the shot missing, he felt good. The third and fourth quarters, the Lakers rolling down the floor in waves and more waves, the increasing humiliation in the noisy building, were surprises again. Personal surprises. Team surprises.

"The bottom fell out," Larry Bird said. "Those are the two quarters that usually belong to us. That was what hurt."

He seemed to carry this loss as if it were a personal weight. His fault. He has become an increasingly patient and candid interview in his Boston years but now another quality surfaced. He seemed almost humble.

"Thank you," a television reporter said from the microphone jumble in front after Larry Bird answered one question.

"Thank you," Larry Bird replied.

"The man's tired," teammate Robert Parish said. "He gets a lot of attention in these games. He's played a lot of minutes on the floor. He hasn't had much time off. He had very little summer. That's the way it is when you're world champs. The season gets longer and longer and this one here is going to be the longest yet."

"He'll work it out," Celtics president Red Auerbach said.

"He'll be all right," K.C. Jones said. "What am I going to tell him? He knows things about shooting a basketball that I've never heard of. Those same shots will be there and he'll take 'em and he'll hit 'em the next time."

At the end of his day, Larry Bird tied his pair of gray Hush-Puppies with purpose. He was the last player left in the locker room, and the trainers and assistant coaches were yelling for him to hurry to make the bus.

"I gotta start setting the tone," he said, almost to himself as much as to anyone else as he tied his shoes. "I know how it is. If I play better, the team plays better. I gotta be angry. Mad."

He will attend a news conference this morning at 11:30, where he will be announced as the NBA's Most Valuable Player. He will answer more questions, talk to more cameras, one more time.

Then he will go to practice to see he can figure out what is wrong.


DJ Hits Game 4 Game Winner

June 6, 1985

INGLEWOOD, Calif.

File this one away with all the rest. Open up the dusty books and run your finger down the index for "Big Games: Victorious" and insert the night of June 5, 1985.

Slide Dennis Johnson's name in there with all the rest, with all the other late-night heroes of the past. Clip out a picture of the jump shot that left his hand with two seconds remaining in the game. Record his happy smile as the ball went through the hole with zero seconds on the fat scoreboard on the roof.

That's right. The Boston Celtics did it just one more time last night.

"All I could do was watch the spin of the ball," Celtics coach K.C. Jones said as he described Johnson's final shot that went through the climate- controlled air of the Fabulous Forum to give the Celtics a 107-105 win over the Los Angeles Lakers and stop just one more party in one more foreign port of call. "I watched the way he released the ball. I watched the spin. That's all I had a chance to do.

"Then I started cheering."

How does it figure? One more time this team was strung out, supposed to be stretched across the tracks and waiting for the train. One more time the entire City of Angels was ready to boogie, ready to go ahead, three games to one, in this best-of-seven series. One more time - gotcha - the Celtics found whatever they had to find in the fourth quarter.

What do these Celtics know? What water do they drink when they absolutely have to drink? How do they summon that concentration, blended with sure hands, that wins a basketball game in a confined number of minutes and seconds? How?

Here they were, dying, dead, gone with only nine minutes to go. The Lakers were ahead, 92-85, and the building was rocking to recorded music and a chant of "We're Not Going Back." How?

Kevin McHale was the one offensive force the Celtics had working. Kevin McHale and Dennis Johnson and that was it. Robert Parish was out of the offense by design and Danny Ainge was missing jumpers and Larry Bird, of course, still was troubled and . . . wait a minute.

That last basket was, in fact, by Larry Bird. It was a stand-up jumper, 15 feet, the exact type of shot he has been missing for a month. It was the shot the Celtics have been waiting to see for a long, long time. Wait a minute.

How did Tom Heinsohn describe the change on television? "He's got that mean look on his face." Wait a minute.

Larry Bird was back.

"You don't know me," he said. "I used to do a lot of this stuff for the Boston Celtics. I used to take control of basketball games when control was needed. I've been away for a while, but now I am around. Here, please check my American Express card."

He was Charles Bronson walking onto the subway to see the transgressors who were making a lot of noise. He was Chuck Norris, himself. He was wearing a blue uniform and riding a painted horse and the sound of a trumpet was announcing his arrival.

He suddenly was here, there and a familiar everywhere. One point on a technical foul as LA played a zone. A killer rebound on a Parish miss, a layup and foul shot. A stolen pass. A runner for two more points. Another stolen pass. Dennis Johnson, fouled by Magic Johnson.

Little more than a minute and a half had passed, but the team that was dead, going, gone, was ahead by a point, 93-92. Hold off on that poolside party. Cancel that order for extra dip. Maybe check that "We're Not Going Back" cheer for a while, too. The game was not only a game again. The specter of Larry Bird raced through this building as if he were Marley's Ghost.

"Sure we were worried about him," Lakers coach Pat Riley said. "You're always worried about a guy like that."

"Seeing Larry shoot like that was like seeing an old friend return," Dennis Johnson said. "We've all been waiting for it and we all knew it would be back. He hit some big baskets for us. He wouldn't say they were big, perhaps, but I would."

The edge now belonged to the Celtics. The score of the game may have fluctuated, back and forth, one- and two-point leads, up and down, a ball of noise on the outside, but the edge now belonged to the Celtics. They were where they live. They were home. A close game. Closing minutes. They had hung long enough to create the situation they wanted.

"Welcome to my parlor," said the spider to the fly. That sort of stuff.

How many times could they have wilted? Trailing by three points after a familiar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hook shot, a tough shot, a great shot, there was Ainge to hit a jumper to make the score 102-101 with 1:41 left. Trailing by two after a Kareem foul shot and miss, there was McHale hitting both of his foul shots with 1:12 left. Tie game.

There was Ainge again, after a Bob McAdoo miss, hitting another jumper with 33 seconds left. The Celtics led by two. There was Magic tying the game with a lovely rebound with 19 seconds left. There was . . . timeout, dribble, dribble, pass to Bird. Pass back to Dennis Johnson. There was your next entry to the ledger. Bird was dancing up and down. M.L. Carr was waving that towel. Police were holding down some Celtics wacko who had run onto the floor. The crowd was walking out of the building with that dumbstruck feeling. Lightning bolts had landed on every LA head. Stones had been attached to every LA heart.

How do you figure it? One more time.



June 8, 1985



Section: SPORTS

LOSS PUTS CELTICS BACKS AGAINST THE WALL

Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Staff
INGLEWOOD, Calif.

The Forum farewell was everything the Lakers had hoped it would be. Magic was Magic, Worthy was Worthy, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was . . . still dominant after all these years.

After watching their 18-point lead dwindle to four in the fourth period, the much-maligned Lakers showed some serious fortitude and put back the Celtics, 120-111, last night. On an evening when they could have caved in to the cries and whispers that followed Wednesday's two-point loss, the LA greyhounds resumed the fight and took back the night.

As a result, LA takes a 3-2 championship-series lead back to the parquet chamber of horrors on Causeway Street. The Celtics are now on the threshold of becoming the 16th consecutive titlist to fail to defend. Game 6 is tomorrow at 1 p.m.

"Our guys were ready for this game," said Laker coach Pat Riley. "The loss the other night was a hard one. We needed to come back strong . . . We are the first team to get the chance to win the title. We are going to come out tough. I don't care if this game was going to be played in Liverpool, England, on some soccer field, we're going to be tough."

Game 5 was pretty much a Laker clinic, wire-to-wire. The Great Goggled One led all scorers with 36 points. James Worthy had 33 (13-of-17 shooting) and terrorized every woman, child and Celtic in the building. As usual, Magic Johnson orchestrated the home team's attack, this time with 26 points, 6 rebounds and 17 assists.

Meanwhile, the Celtics' lack of depth was never more evident - or more costly. A mere seven Celtics played and only six scored. Dennis Johnson never came out of the game. Scott Wedman served as the third guard, and what's left of Cedric Maxwell contributed five minutes of shutout ball. LA's first prototype torching (a devastating 15-3 job) came late in the first half when Wedman and Maxwell were manning the corners.

Center Robert Parish was Boston's high scorer (26 points) but struggled in the first quarter as forever-young Kareem scored 12. LA led, 35-31, after one.

"Tonight I just read the double-teams very well," said Abdul-Jabbar, who also had seven assists. "When I had the shot I took it and when they collapsed, I passed off. The team was making the right passes tonight and it really paid off."

Kevin McHale (24 points, 10 rebounds, 2 minutes of rest) and DJ (22 points and 17 assists) kept the Celtics in it for the first seven minutes of the second. Then Boston's depth dilemma surfaced: a 49-48 ball game turned into a neo-blowout.

With Parish trying to hold down the frontcourt alongside Maxwell and Wedman, the Lakers got every big rebound for the rest of the quarter, streaking to a 64-51 halftime lead. The Lakers outscored the Celtics, 15-3, in the last 4 minutes 33 seconds of the second. Worthy had seven of the 15. Bird, meanwhile, was 1 of 5 with two points at intermission.

Worthy was en route to an 11-point quarter as LA ran its lead to 70-52. When Boston coach K.C. Jones was ejected by Darell Garretson (arguing what he thought was a foul on Kurt Rambis) it looked like the Celtics might try to catch the next red-eye flight out of LAX.

Enter Bird. Boston's MVP awoke and helped close the gap. Boston had a chance to cut it to six, but Danny Ainge lost control under the basket. That was all the Lakers needed. Worthy and Magic ripped off a tidy, 9-2 run that made it 85-70 and forced a Celtic timeout. With Wedman in the backcourt instead of Ainge, the Celtics got it back down to 10 again, but Magic and Worthy had it back up to 95-81 when the third quarter ended.

The Lakers missed seven straight shots at the start of the fourth. A couple of DJ jumpers and a Parish turnaround cut it to eight with 9:02 left.

After a timeout, Kareem missed a hook and DJ cut it to 95-89 with a jumper. Kareem snapped the skid with a hook, but with 7 minutes to go it was still a six-point ball game.

Bird (eight of 17 for 20 points), Parish and DJ closed the gap to four points five times midway through the fourth. It was the Celtics' finest stretch. The only man missing was McHale, who was held to six in the second half.

The last time Boston was within four came when Bird hit two free throws with 3:55 left.

Abdul-Jabbar answered with a skyhook, then Magic rebounded a DJ bomb and Rambis hit two free throws after being fouled on a follow-up. When Rambis stole a DJ pass, setting up Magic on a sneakaway, it was 113-103 with 2:40 left.

"When they cut the lead to four, we came back and made some key plays," said Riley.

The Celtics never got closer than six the rest of the way. With 1:22 left, a dunk by Kareem (off a Worthy feed) made it 117-107, and the Celtics were going home, 2-3.

"I think this gives us a little edge," said Magic. "We knew tonight was do or die, and now we can go back with two chances to win one."


Lakers End Celtics' Jynx

June 10, 1985




The bus waits in a dark warehouse area at the back of the Boston Garden. Hub Bus Lines. Bus No. 825. The door is open. The sound of a party can be heard from inside.

This is the Los Angeles Lakers' bus.

"How were these guys when they came to the game?" I ask the driver, a local guy named Rick Ash. "Were they quiet or noisy?"

"Quiet," Rick Ash says. "They're always a pretty quiet group. This is the rowdiest I've ever heard them . . . but I guess they have a reason."

Lakers 111, Boston Celtics 100. End of game. End of season. End of jinx. End.

Demons have been purged. Harpies have been sent running in a fright. All those years and all those games and all of that . . . stuff has been put away forever. The Lakers are the champions of the basketball world. The Celtics are not.

I watch what never has been watched in this city. I watch invincibility rolled up, tucked into a carrying case and taken away forever. I watch the Lakers celebrate.

What was it that M.L. Carr, the talkative spokesman of the Celtics, said?

"These are not the Fakers any more," he said. "These are the Lakers. They are real and have to be believed. They are champs."

I have stood for awhile in the crunch of the Lakers' locker room, breathed the mingled smells of sweat and champagne and relief. Has there ever been a happier group of athletes in this little locker room? Ever? Even the winners of state schoolboy championships and Stanley Cups postmarked to Montreal? Ever?

I have heard Kurt Rambis, the sweatshop Laker forward, talk about how the weight of the building and the losing was carried by every player on the team. How it was felt and shared and confronted. How it definitely was noticed.

"I think all of us thought about last year (and losing the final game) in this dressing room today," he said. "I know I did. I pictured all of the Celtics at the end of that game. How they celebrated and how we had to watch. I pictured myself, too. How I had that hang-dog expression and that frown."

I have seen the joy of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Lakers center and MVP in the interview room, another small room packed with people. He compared his joy to the joy of Johnny Podres, finally pitching the Brooklyn Dodgers past the Yankees after years of World Series frustration in 1955. He knows because he was a Dodger fan.

"Why do you call this your most enjoyable championship?" he was asked.

"Because Boston never had lost one at home," the big man said. "Because Boston never had lost one to the Lakers. And because Boston never had lost one with Abdul-Jabbar on the team."

I have stood next to a Los Angeles record producer named Lou Adler and his son, Nic, on the side of the Lakers celebration. They are Lakers fans, and friends of the actor, Jack Nicholson. They are wearing T-shirts that Nicholson had printed with a cartoon of Magic Johnson on the front. The cartoon originally was drawn by Larry Johnson and it ran in the Globe, but Nicholson had one item added for the shirts. Magic is holding a 'World Champions' flag.

"Jack handed them out near the end of the game," Lou Adler said.

"How much time was left?" I asked.

"It was 1:43," Nic Adler said proudly. "I remember."

I have talked with Abdul-Jabbar's father in the Garden hallway. His name is Ferdinand Alcindor, same as his son's name originally, but he is called Al. He is retired from the transit company and watched the game with his wife, Cora. Al and Cora Alcindor made some noise in this game.

"I've seen just about all the championships he's ever won," Al Alcindor said, "but this is one of the best. First time in this building. That's for sure."

"How does he keep playing the way he's playing?" I asked.

"I don't know," the father said. "We just fed him regularly and kept him happy when he was a boy."

I have visited the Celtics' locker room, not as crowded, at least 10 degrees cooler. I have watched Larry Bird, as always, standing and handling the bad-news interviews. I have listened to reserve center Greg Kite talking about spending some intimate moments on a basketball court with Mr. Abdul- Jabbar.

"You just hope they don't pass him the ball," Greg Kite said. "If they do, you know the skyhook is coming. It's the most predictable move in the history of basketball . . . but it's also the most successful."

I have landed at the bus by following Abdul-Jabbar from the Lakers' locker room. He still was in his game uniform except he had added a yellow T-shirt that read "Los Angeles Lakers, 1985 World Champions."

Accompanied by a security guard, he walked though the Garden hallway and into the East Lobby where a number of fans still were standing. Most of them were Celtics fans in Celtics green, but as he passed, they began to clap. One more ovation. He waved a hand in thanks.

"Congratulations," a guy in another Celtics shirt said as the big man moved onto the bus.

"Thanks," Abdul-Jabbar says, ducking his head.

At the bus, I watch as a guy named Lou Rosen, a member of the Lakers' front office, hurries with the Lawrence O'Brien Trophy that goes with the NBA championship. He carries it as if it were a bag of groceries. He disappears onto the bus.

I watch as Kurt Rambis arrives in a late hurry. I watch as Mitch Kupchak arrives. That it? I watch as the trainer, Gary Vitti, arrives and says the locker room is empty.

"Are you a Celtics fan?" I ask the bus driver, Rick Ash.

"Hell, yes," he says. "That's why I'm working the job. I wanted to get in to see the game. I wanted to see the Celtics." He pauses.

"What are you going to do?" the driver says. "These guys played better. They deserved to win."

The time is 4:48 on the afternoon of June 10, 1985, as the bus finally leaves. End of game. End of season. End of jinx. End. I notice that the bus is made by the Prevost Co. and that the model is "Le Mirage." Le Mirage?

Nope. I don't even write that information in the pad. This was real.




WALTON TAKES OVER, LAKERS CRUMBLE


January 23, 1986



Section: SPORTS

CELTICS SUPREME BIRD, WALTON LEAD PARADE AS LAKERS CRUMBLE, 110-95

Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Staff


Wade Boggs will be hitting .370, John McNamara will be making excuses for his young pitching staff, and graduation gowns will be hanging in New England hallways and closets when the Lakers and Celtics next meet in Boston Garden. Celtic fans can hardly wait.

This was one for all the local lonely hearts who couldn't make it to that football festival of greed and gluttony. Pro basketball doesn't have a Super Bowl, but last night's Celtic-Laker joust should serve as a preview to NBA Championship Series XL.

The good news for Boston fandom is that it wasn't even close. The Celts won, 110-95. Boston led by 23 in the fourth quarter and when the carnage was complete, none of the 14,890 could be heard mumbling, "Gee, I wish I was in New Orleans tonight."

Larry Bird (21 points 12 rebounds, seven assists) and Dennis Johnson (22, seven and six) led the Celts to a 16-point first half-lead, but it was new weapon Bill Walton who took over in the final period when the C's ran away with it.

Walton hit five of six floor shots and finished with 11 points, 8 rebounds, 7 blocks and four standing ovations in 16 minutes. In the Celtic 1985-86 game plan, he is supposed to be the difference in this rivalry, and hoop fans from coast to coast will no doubt tout the genius of Red Auerbach when they read this box score today.

Regular-season victories don't establish much of anything, but this one should stifle the theory that the Lakers won't be tested this spring. It should also put a lid on those "best ever" stories about the Los Angeles team. LA has eight losses -- same as Boston. They have to worry about being the best in 1985-86 before they are compared with the best ever.

The Lakers led for only 50 seconds as the Celts won for the sixth straight time. Boston has won 10 of 11 since losing five of nine in December.

"They were certainly the better team tonight," admitted Kareem Abdul- Jabbar.

Abdul-Jabbar (3 for 14, 12 points) left his skyhook at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, and James Worthy was invisible (5-15, 12 points). LA hummed the Big Chill soundtrack to the tune of 39 percent from the floor (worst of the year), and compiled a season-low 17 assists. Magic Johnson had 15 points, 6 assists and 1 rebound. Need we go on?

"They played excellent team defense," reasoned Abdul-Jabbar. "They blocked the middle, there was no room inside, and we didn't hit our outside shots."

Robert Parish, who had 16 points and 11 rebounds, did a particularly good job turning Abdul-Jabbar away from the basket.

The Celtics rode an 8-0 streak to a 15-7 lead in the first four minutes. Danny Ainge had the final four of the spurt, including a fast-break layup after stealing a Maurice Lucas pass.

LA responded with a heat-seeking 14-4 run and took a 21-19 lead on a three- point play by Lucas. K.C. Jones called time and replaced Kevin McHale with Walton. McHale has been hobbled by a sore left Achilles and had his worst offensive game (3-14, 12 points) in over a month.

McHale's defense was another story. "James (Worthy) was neutralized," said Lakers coach Pat Riley. "He had to shoot over a long arm."

Walton started a 7-0 run with a lefty hook over Kareem. Free throws by Bird and McHale powered the Celts to a 31-25 lead at the end of one. Ainge scored nine in the period, and LA never led again.

The Lakers missed 10 of 12 at the start of the second and DJ drove the Green to 10 straight points and a 47-31 lead. Parish scored on a dunk after handling an impossible Bird pass through a sea of legs, then DJ scored six straight on a tap, a drive and a jumper.

The Lakers cut it to eight by halftime, but Bird came out bombing in the third period and the Celts got the lead back to 13. It was then that Walton started to make his huge presense felt.

The final hoop of the third was a rugged follow-stuff by Walton. It was 88-75 and Celtic fans were chanting "Beat LA."

Then Walton took over the game. He hit an eight-foot turnaround banker to push the lead back to 16, then blocked a shot by A.C. Green which led to a Jerry Sichting transition jumper. Boston led, 95-78, with 10:04 left. Walton had six blocks when Bird checked in with 9:46 left. A Walton tap and free throw made it 98-79 with 8:10 left. There was one more block (a Mike McGee shot), then Walton came off with 7:55 showing and the Garden exploded.

A DJ jumper put the Celts ahead by 21 and the rout was on. Boston led, 102-79, with 5:15 left when Bird got his curtain call.

The rest was garbage, and again the Lakers were off their game. McGee, who specializes in garbage time, managed to hoist only five shots in 13 minutes.


Celtics Stifle Magic, Dominate Lakers in LA

February 17, 1986



Section: SPORTS

CELTICS LEAVE LAKERS PINING, 105-99 BOSTON'S BENCH HELPS TO UNSEAT THE CHAMPS AGAIN

Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Staff
INGLEWOOD, Calif.

The Celtics spoiled Sunday brunch at the Forum Club yesterday. Larry Bird, Dennis Johnson and an impressive quintet of green pine brothers drove Boston to a 105-99 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

This was no blowout, but neither was there much doubt about which team would win. Stretch limos burned little midday oil waiting for disgusted, high- rolling cargo to give up. The Lakers never led after the first quarter and the Forum was virtually empty when the final buzzer sounded.

Afterward, the Celtics and Lakers pledged to renew their private party this spring, but dismissed the future impact of Boston's 2-0 regular-season sweep.

"I don't think anyone will remember," insisted dry-cleaned Laker coach Pat Riley. "I swear, I won't pull out the box score in May or June, if we're there then."

"This is my seventh year, and winning the season series hasn't mattered yet," added Bird (22 points, a season-high 18 rebounds, 7 assists).

OK, never mind the future. What about now?

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar admitted, "It was an important game for us to have won. If we had, it would have proved we were on a par with them. Now there is no reason for anyone to perceive us as a favorite."

Consider:

- The Celtics are 20-2 since Christmas while the Lakers are 15-10.

- Three and a half weeks after beating the Lakers by 15 in Boston (having led by 23 in the fourth quarter), the Celtics beat LA in the Forum without Kevin McHale.

- LA has not scored 100 points against Boston this season. The Lakers have cracked the century mark in 46 of their other 50 games.

- Magic Johnson did not score a basket yesterday. He didn't have a rebound when LA played in Boston. He has averaged only 10.5 points and 3 rebounds against Boston this year.

- The Celtics outrebounded LA by 16 in two games.

- Abdul-Jabbar scored 23 yesterday, but was unable to exploit a foul- plagued Robert Parish (23 minutes), and again appeared very much intimidated by Mr. Bill Walton.

- The Lakers scored only 12 fast-break points yesterday.

- Boston's bench outscored the Laker subs, 62-53, in two games.

K.C. Jones was the best basketball coach on the planet yesterday. While Riley inexplicably buried Maurice Lucas (six minutes, none in the second half), Jones went to his second unit and found ways to build a lead with folks named Jerry Sichting, Rick Carlisle and David Thirdkill on the floor. Boston's coach could not miss.

The Celtics' outside shooters were equally torrid. With McHale on the shelf and Parish in foul trouble, the Celtics abandoned their post-up game and kicked the ball around for a succession of wide-open jumpers. DJ (23 points), Scott Wedman, Sichting and Carlisle made LA pay for its sagging defense.

"They do a lot of doubling down low," said Sichting, who drilled four jumpers in the first half. "They gamble and leave guys open. If you've got good ball movement, and you're careful with your passing, you can exploit that."

DJ carried the Celtics in the first quarter. Parish went out after picking up his second foul in the sixth minute, but DJ scored 12 points and gave Boston a 30-29 lead with a short jumper at the end of the period. LA never led the rest of the way.

Carlisle (10 points in 11 minutes) and Wedman shot the Celtics to a five- point lead early in the second. Parish played less than two minutes of the period before picking up his third foul, but it didn't matter. Walton (10 points, 7 rebounds in 26 minutes) was there.

A flurry of ugly incidents marred the second period. First, Byron Scott cracked Sichting wih a forearm shiver. Scott picked up a technical. Then Greg Kite bear-hugged Mike McGee as McGee attempted a layup. James Worthy and Magic gave Kite some lip service before things calmed down.

"It didn't surprise me," said the ever-persecuted Abdul-Jabbar. "They're known as a cheap-shot team."

A buzzer-beating tap-in by Bird gave Boston a 58-55 halftime lead.

DJ (the sport's best big-game guard?) drove the visitors to a 71-59 lead early in the third before Parish picked up two fouls in four seconds and returned to the bench. The Celts closed the quarter with four subs on the floor, and took an 86-80 lead on a three-point play by Thirdkill.

Everything worked for Boston. By the time the fourth quarter started, it was obvious that the dazzling Worthy (35 points) was LA's only offensive threat. Abdul-Jabbar (only two points in the final period) was unable to do anything with Walton, and failed to exploit Parish when the Chief finally reappeared.

Boston led by 10 after Carlisle swished a hideous shot-clock-beating fallaway from the left corner. "It would have been a three-pointer, but my feet are too big (15 1/2) for me to be outside the three-point line and still stay inbounds," joked Carlisle. "I learned the shot from DJ."

LA trimmed the lead to four (100-96) with 3:52 left, but DJ answered with a line-drive jumper from the right corner. Then the Lakers decomposed. They missed 10 consecutive shots, turned it over twice and failed to inbound within five seconds. Is it any wonder that the Forum front-runners fled?

"There's no excuse," said Magic. "They are the better team right now. We've got to get our game together before the play-offs, but right now Boston is a much better team."


Lakers End Celtics 48-Game Win Streak

December 13, 1986



Section: SPORTS

LAKERS STOP CELTICS

Bob Ryan, Globe Staff


Hey, Celtics junkie. Get your face up off that floor. Don't put the match to that stock certificate. Stop looking for that Bruins schedule. The Celtics lost at home, but life will go on.

And look at it this way. Did they lose when some fool from San Antonio threw in a ridiculous three-pointer at the buzzer? No. Did they have it stolen by a couple of bozo referees? No. Did they just come out and smell up the joint for 48 minutes, not only losing the game but providing not a scintilla of entertainment? No.

You want 'em to at least lose to somebody good, right? And maybe get a little history thrown in, right? So why not lose on a night when shooting 63 percent for three quarters isn't good enough? Why not lose to a team committing seven (7) turnovers in the entire game? And why not lose to a Living Legend named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who throws in six of those hook shots in the fourth quarter, and who scores 20 of his 26 points in the second half after missing all but six minutes in the first half because of foul trouble?

Yeah, why not lose to the Los Angeles Lakers by a 117-110 score? Yeah, that's the ticket.

You want to talk about a team deserving to win a game? The Lakers last night were Exhibit A. They somehow stayed alive as the Celtics hit 41 of 65 shots in the first three periods and, when the time was right, they blew away Boston with a 25-10 run which turned a 98-90 Celtics advantage (10:16 remaining) into a 115-108 Lakers lead with 2:01 to play. They didn't just end the Celtics' 48-game Garden winning streak. They stuck a giant exclamation point on the end.

The lasting memory of this game will be that of the 39-year-old Abdul- Jabbar taking the game over at the offensive end with the single greatest offensive weapon the game has ever known. He hooked inshots over a helpless Robert Parish to give the Lakers leads of 107-104 (4:57), 111-106 (3:38), 113-108 (2:47) and 115-108 (2:02). He also had two free throws (105-102), and back when the Celtics appeared to be in firm control, he started the big climb with successive hooks that left them trailing by a 98-94 score with 9:20 remaining. "A 7-4 man shooting the sky hook," sighed Parish. "It's very difficult to stop that."

Of course, it's been ever thus in the NBA since 1969, or slightly after man landed on the moon. If this was to be his last visit to the Garden (he may or may not retire and these two may or may not reach the finals), he certainly gave the 282d consecutive Garden capacity crowd of 14,890 something to remember him by.

He received ample assistance from three mates in particular. First, there was Magic Johnson, who bounced back from a knee injury sustained on Wednesday to score 31 points, an astonishing number of them on long set shots. Next there was James Worthy, who hit six of his first seven shots en route to a 17- point first half and 25-point evening. Finally, there was Michael Cooper, whose flypaper defense limited Larry Bird to one field goal attempt in the final period. This was, moreover, not an average Bird, but a sizzling Bird, a Bird who shot 11 for 13 in the game and who might have had 20 in the fourth quarter against an ordinary defender.

The Celtics huffed and puffed and played well enough for three periods to defeat, well, anybody. When a team shoots 65 percent en route to placing four men over 20 points, it generally means that they're up by 23 after three and the stars get to watch the fourth quarter. All it meant last night was that the other guys were down by six and they were, by far, the fresher team.

The Celtics shot 7 for 19 in the fourth quarter. The Lakers shot 12 for 21. The five Celtics starters played an average of 43 minutes. Shots that swished in the first three quarters boinged in the fourth quarter. When the Celtics defeated the Lakers twice last year, Bill Walton was around. Last night Parish played 44 minutes.

Boston tried hard for the knockout punch, going up by seven (37-30) in the first period, by eight (51-43) in the second and by eight (96-88, 98-90) in the early fourth. But, as Thomas Hearns discovered when he fought Marvin Hagler, when you step up in class, it doesn't come out the same. A performance that would have defeated about 45 of the previous 48 victims wasn't good enough this time.

LA took control with a 15-4 run, going ahead on a Byron Scott transition jumper with 6:58 remaining. The Celtics would never lead again and would come within one only once, when Bird threw in an impossible banner-scraping turnaround (105-104). But Kareem stuck in a hook, and you could feel the momentum shift. The Lakers knew what was happening; you can believe that.

"This was a great win," beamed Pat Riley. And Boston-LA is a great rivalry. A record like that deserved to be broken by an equal, and it was.


Lakers Rally from 17 Down, Beat Celtics

February 16, 1987



Section: SPORTS

LAKERS PUT MAGIC SPILL ON CELTICS

Bob Ryan, Globe Staff
INGLEWOOD, Calif.

What took place here yesterday afternoon at the Fabulous Forum bore about as much resemblance to the joke Celtics blowouts of Denver, Golden State and Portland as Bruce Springsteen has to some third- string lounge act in Brighton.

But the grandeur was better appreciated by the Los Angeles Lakers, who came from 17 points back midway through the third quarter and who received some MVP play from Magic Johnson in the last two minutes to escape with a 106-103 triumph over the Celtics. "It was," said a very emotional Magic, "the type of game that doesn't happen all the time."

You'll never glean from the box score the tenor, fervor, pitch, tempo and sheer sweat engendered by this game. It was a demonstration of class and professionalism the Dallases, Houstons, Atlantas and Milwaukees aspire to.

The Lakers won it with a run of 8-2 after a free throw by Danny Ainge had given the Celtics a lead of 97-94 with 2:27 remaining. Six of those points were supplied by the Magic Man, who hit a set shot (97-96, 2:05), a coast-to- coast spinning lay-up (98-97, LA, 1:29) and, finally, another set shot behind a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar pick with 23 seconds left that gave LA a 102-99 lead.

Magic finished with 39 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists, and the Lakers needed everything he could give them because they got very little (until, typically, when it was most needed in the fourth quarter) from Abdul-Jabbar, who was 1 for 8 entering the fourth quarter and who needed 8 points in the final seven minutes to extend his double-figures scoring streak to 743 games.

But this is clearly Magic's year, and, in the end, it was Magic's game. "There will be other opinions about who should be the MVP," said Kareem, "but I think Magic would be a sound choice for it."

The second set shot gave LA a necessary three-point cushion they were able to live on for the rest of the game. Robert Parish scored twice, but each Boston basket, time out and subsequent personal foul was answered by a pair of free throws, first by Kareem (104-101 at :14) and then by Magic (106-103 at :04). The Celtics had one time out left and were able to get off a last attempt, but Larry Bird's only field goal try of the fourth period, a 30- footer at the buzzer, hit the backboard and bounded off the rim.

The Celtics were left with the unpleasant task of explaining how a 17-point (75-58) lead with 5:41 remaining in the third quarter had turned into such a disappointing loss, and the rationalizations varied.

"We made some bad decisions," said Danny (3 for 11) Ainge, "and they are a team that can strike fast."

"Hard to play when your big men (Kevin McHale and Parish) are in foul trouble," grumped K.C. Jones.

And then there was the opinion of Bird, who is not noted for his sugar- coated analysis. "We lost our composure for a while in the third quarter," he decided.

For two and a half periods, the Celtics were doing unto the Lakers much as they had done unto the Nuggets, Warriors and Trail Blazers, which is to say they were getting the ball in low (although not without great difficulty in the face of determined LA post defense) and then getting it back out to open men for jump shots. Dennis Johnson (22 points, 10 rebounds in a classic DJ big game performance) also was taking it to the hoop when the opportunity presented itself, and sometimes when it didn't.

The result was a 32-28 first-quarter lead, a 58-50 halftime lead (on Ainge's three-pointer with one second left) and that aforementioned 75-58 lead via a 17-8 third-quarter start. Considering the quality of the opposition, the Celtics were playing as well as they've played all year.

But after scoring 75 points in the first 30:19, the Celtics were limited to 28 points in the final 17:41. One reason was they simply turned cold after hitting 28 of their first 48 shots. Another is they had to play the final two- plus minutes of the third quarter without both McHale and Parish, each of whom picked up a fourth personal foul via the offensive route.

But the biggest reason was the Lakers simply awoke and took the game away from them. "We started taking the ball to the basket," pointed out coach Pat Riley. "We just put our heads down and went. That aggressiveness got us back in the game -- that, plus their cold spell."

From the Boston perspective, the last half of Period 3 was not pretty. The Lakers got three shots before two free throws by Michael Cooper made it 78-64. Parish (78-66) and McHale (78-68) were called for those offensive fouls, and McHale made it worse by drawing a technical. Bird missed two free throws at 78-69, a very bad omen. Things continued to deteriorate until Magic sent the crowd into a frenzy with a halfcourt buzzer-beating three-pointer that sent the Lakers into the final period down by only four (81-77).

LA was not going to allow either McHale (16 of his 23 in the first half) or Bird (19 of his 20 in the first three periods) to beat them by scoring. Each post-up or isolation drew a double- or triple-team, and for a while the Celtics made the Lakers pay via jumpers from Johnson or Jerry Sichting.

LA got its first lead at 86-85 on a Cooper three-pointer, and the Lakers got a big lift when Kareem came off the bench to hit two hooks (89-88 and 91-90, Boston). Later on, the Big Fella put the Lakers ahead to stay at 100-99 (:58) with a left-box runner when Parish played him for the hook toward the middle.

Another major contributor was newcomer Mychal Thompson, who gave LA 29 valuable bench minutes (10 points, 4 rebounds). Without him, no W.

Settled for the moment is the matter of the league's best record. It now belongs to LA, at 38-12. Settled, too, is the issue as to which NBA matchup presents the most epic confrontation.

Now that this thing is over, each respective titan can resume the normal butt-kicking of all those ordinary teams, while their fans and the basketball public at large can dream how great it would be if they could meet more often.



1987 Finals: Lakers Win Game 1


June 3, 1987



Section: SPORTS

LAKERS BREAK CELTICS' BACKS LA RUNS BOSTON DOWN

Bob Ryan, Globe Staff
INGLEWOOD, Calif.

How do they put it in legal shop talk? "Worst Case Scenario"?

It was worse than worse. It was a horrifyingly Worst Case Scenario at the Forum last night when the Celtics found themselves used as foils for one of the great fast break exhibitions ever seen in the NBA playoffs. The Lakers scored the game's first 9 points and never allowed the game to get any closer than 12 in the final 34 minutes as they cruised to a 126-113 victory in Game 1 of the best-of-seven NBA Finals.

Answered in this game were any questions surrounding the prolonged Los Angeles layoff (no games in eight days and four in 21), as well as any doubts about what would happen to the Celtics should they fail to play a brilliant offensive game. Boston was cooked as soon as its first few shots started clanging off the rim. There were very, very few second-shot ooiprtunities afforded them in this game, and any they did get were long after the fact; in oither words, any time after the midway point of the second quarter.

"I think it was apparent we had a lot of energy," said LA coach Pat Riley, who probably had spent half the night before worrying about the potentially debilitating effect of the LA layoff. "You never know what to expect in these situations. I was worried about our ability to catch the ball and react. But our running game was sharp. The players were committed to running. The teams sparred for the first few minutes. The Lakers actually misconnected on their first three fast break attempts. The first basket of the game was a little jump hook in the lane by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who then ignited the real LA attack by blocking/goaltending? a Kevin McHale shot and starting a fast break that culminated in a second-chance basket by James Worthy, who helped himself to a game-high 33 points, almost all of the baskets on an infinite variety of 2-foot shots.

The Lakers jumped into that 9-0 lead, expanded it to 23-13 (a total that included 15 fast break points) and exited the first quarter with a 35-26 lead. The most telling figure was four fast break baskets after Boston scored. Nothing demoralizes a team more.

"We all put a lot of emphasis on hitting baskets back on them," pointed out Worthy.

"When we called our first timeout (9-0, 9:27 left in the first quarter)," said Larry Bird (32 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists), "I knew we had to start getting back faster. We just couldn't beat them up and down the floor."

While Worthy was drawing the fans' attention with his dunks and swooping drives, the man with the keys to the engine was, of course, Magic Johnson. He was the one pushing the ball up the floor and commanding most of Boston's attention. Let's set the record straight; James Worthy is good, but he is very fortunate to be playing with Magic Johnson, not the other way around. The Celtics were never in the game after the initial 9-0 run. It was a matter of how close the scoreboard was. Whenever Boston would make the slightest push to make the score interesting, the Lakers would simply downshift and embarrass the Celtics in what Riley loves to label "skirmishes." But that military term suggests some sort of mutual fire. Those weren't "skirmishes" going on out there; those were target practices.

The most devastating of those "skirmishes" came when a Sam Vincent second-quarter drive created a 39-30 LA spread. This innocent shot must have struck some kind of nerve in the LA psyche, because what happened after that wasn't nice. Worthy almost immediately spun in for a three-point play. Two Boston turnovers created two more Worthy transition baskets. Finally, Worthy pitched the ball from the left box to a spotted-up, unguarded Michael Cooper. Mr. Three-Point calmly swished a home run ball. The Lakers had just run off 10 points.

In 66 seconds.

Now it was 49-30, and the show time had only begun. For when A.C. Green retrieved a Boston miss, he quickly handed the ball off to Cooper, who had circled behind him along the baseline. It was as if he were Gretzky and he had just picked the puck up behind the net. Cooper dribbled upcourt at top speed and, one step inside the three-point arc, he pulled up for a 21-footer that touched, as they say, nothing but net. That capped the run at 12 straight, and the rest of the game was conversation as far as the final outcome was concerned. Almost lost in the local rush to crown the Lakers the Team of the Century was an inspired performance by Bird, who made 11 shots in succession, the last four in the half and all seven in the third period. He scored 26 points in the span of 16:26, and without that hot streak, this easily could have gone into the books as one of those 40-point humiliations instead of the gentle 13-point drubbing it turned out to be.

But Bird's showing had no effect on the overall outcome. What mattered were the 17 LA fast break points in the first quarter, and the 12 transition points the Lakers added in the second. The Lakers had watched Milwaukee and Detroit run on Boston, and they had no doubts they could run even more.

"I was disappointed with our effort," Bird said. "This isn't Detroit or Atlanta we're playing. It's the Los Angeles Lakers, probably the best team in the league. It's going to take a great effort on our part and we just didn't have that."

For his part, Riley was careful to play the role of Gracious Conqueror, sort of like General Grant at Appomatox. "All we did," Riley claimed, "was light a fire under the Celtics. "They're gonna come hard and heavy Thursday night; you can believe that."

After what he just saw, you've got to wonder what he really thinks.


June 5, 1987



Section: SPORTS

LA PUMMELS CELTICS AGAIN IT'S ANOTHER ROUT, 141-122

Bob Ryan, Globe Staff
INGLEWOOD, Calif.

A good, solid first quarter that would have earned a 10-point lead over any other team in the league? It meant nothing.

Three starters over 20 points? Meant nothing.

Shooting 55 percent for the second game in a row? Meant nothing.

Playing with dignity? Meant nothing. The way the Lakers played in these first two games of the best-of-seven NBA Finals, nothing the Celtics do means anything. Their good deeds are instantly forgotten. The Celtics go out and play a good basketball game -- no matter what they may tell you -- and all it gets them is a 141-122 loss and the realization that they will need a lot more than merely a set of white uniforms to prevent the Lakers from sweeping this series.

History will place the Lakers in the proper context, but you don't need your PhD in Hoopology to know that if the Lakers continue to play this way, the argument for them being the best thing ever will be strong. "I'm elated," said LA coach Pat Riley. "Ecstatic. We're playing championship basketball."

The Lakers blasted their way into the record books, too. Michael Cooper, one of five Lakers crashing the 20-point barrier, sneaked in there twice by making an astonishing six (6) three-point shots and by handing out eight (8) second-quarter assists, which tied a record. He was quickly joined by Magic Johnson, who came up with eight third-period assists. The five men over 20 points is, of course, another record.

But the most important LA accomplishment on this particular evening was in taking what may be the best the Celtics have to offer and dismissing it as inconsequential. For Boston had jumped into a 14-8 lead. There were eight first-quarter lead swaps, seven of them from 22-21, LA, to 29-27, LA. It was still a competitive game at 47-42, LA, 3 1/2 minutes into the second quarter.

So for 15 minutes, it was a high-level championship series game. "That doesn't matter," said Larry Bird. "It's a 48-minute game. It doesn't matter what you do in the first quarter if you lose by 20 points."

Reporters from Presque Isle to Palos Verdes huddled around the Bird locker, awaiting his arrival following the game. He has become the unquestioned team spokesman, and what he had to say was sobering. "What we have to do," he said, "is get home, regroup and find out where our team's at. There's no question that right now we're not playing very well."

Not well enough to beat the Lakers, anyway. LA has become one of the great offensive machines of all time. "Right now," said Riley, "our best defense is our offense." In other words, the Celtics are so worried about what will happen if they should happen to miss a shot that they can't function normally on offense.

The final lead swap in the game came, fittingly, on a Cooper three-pointer that made it 29-27, LA, with 3:14 remaining in the first period. He caught the Celtics in a nonexistent defensive rotation and casually drilled a set shot from the left wing. Five of his three-pointers were in the half-court. The sixth was a neo-Bird pull-up on the break in the second quarter. In no case was there anyone within 10 feet of him when he shot.

"He had time to study the shot and test the wind," said a disgusted Danny Ainge. "There was nobody running at him. We've got to make some adjustment."

Cooper's bombardment changed the game. "He broke our backs," said Bird. Agreed Riley, "The key to the game was Coop. He really opened up their defense with those three-pointers."

This was as beautiful a mix of inside-outside and transition/ half-court offense as the NBA could possibly provide. Start with LA's 33 first-half fast break points. Factor in a bunch of hook shots by the revived Kareem Abdul- Jabbar (23), some spectacular drives by James Worthy (23), perimeter sniping by Byron Scott (24) and the usual choreography by Magic, who had 22 points and 20 assists, the latter figure a typically upgraded Forum handout total. The Forum stat crew is to assist exaggeration what Argentina is to inflation. Ah, well . . .

Anyway, the Celtics were hanging around nicely at 47-42 (thanks to a strong 12-point, 7-rebound opening period by Robert Parish) when LA struck with one of those machine-gun bursts that continually disrupt a game and render everything preceding it superfluous. The "skirmish" began when Magic responded to a Bird reverse layup with a short running hook. Cooper then stuck in the aforementioned fast break home run ball. And when Parish missed a jumper, Kareem sneaked off to dunk a fast break opportunity. Boston called time. LA had scored 7 straight in 55 seconds, and the game would never be competitive again.

By halftime, the margin was 19 at 75-56, and LA had just gotten through hitting on 24 of its final 35 shots of the half. Worse yet, the Celtics had finished the half without Kevin McHale, who had rolled over his right ankle with 47 seconds remaining in the half by stepping on Parish's foot as he backpedaled away from a Bird air ball.

McHale limped off the court, but when the second half began, he was back out there and was instrumental as the Celtics enjoyed another decent period of play, riding the inside play of McHale, the all-around play of Bird and the jump shooting of Dennis Johnson to a 36-32 period advantage and a respectable 101-87 deficit as they entered the final quarter.

Before that gruesome exercise was over, however, they had to endure the indignity of fans chanting, "We Want Detroit!" It was vintage Forum Show Time. Hell, Mike Smrek even banked a turnaround, for all you ECAC North aficionados.

When it was over, Bird was left to assess the damage. "Can the Lakers be stopped?" he was asked.

"Not yet," he replied. "At this point, it's very questionable."




Celtics Raise Hand from the Grave


June 8, 1987



Section: SPORTS

UNSTOPPABLE? NOT SO FAST

Leigh Montville, Globe Staff


They were in the strangest of positions. They were straight men and character actors, back-up singers to the stars. Window dressing. The Boston Celtics were the defending basketball champions of the world but somehow they had become so much window dressing.

Until yesterday.

"Had you ever seen so many negatives attached to this team?" guard Jerry Sichting was asked after the Celtics had changed a lot of those negatives to positives with a 109-103 win in the third game of these best-of-seven NBA Finals at the Garden.

"Not since I've been here," Sichting replied.

The series was finished. The Celtics were done. Or vice-versa. The CBS television network already had scheduled a meeting on Monday to decide how the presentation of the championship Podoloff Trophy could best be held in the tiny visitors locker room. The Lakers were too good. The Celtics were too slow, too tired, too damn hurt. No chance. They were drowning.

Until yesterday.

"Not really drowning," star forward Larry Bird replied. "Nothing feels that bad. Because I almost drowned once. I came back up for that gasp of air and there's no feeling like that."

OK, maybe this wasn't as serious as actually drowning -- 7-year-old Larry Bird in trouble in the middle of an Indiana lake, saved by an older brother as his mother laughs because she thinks the two kids are clowning -- but this definitely was a last-gasp time. The Celtics had been destroyed twice in Los Angeles. What was to stop them from being destroyed two more times in a row?

This Lakers team was the greatest team of all time. Or could be. Or should be. Something like that. If a man could read a Los Angeles newspaper or listen to a Los Angeles drive-time disc jockey, he would know that fact. Bring these Lakers into your dirt farm and they could find water, plant crops and have the largest cabbage in the county ready in time for the state fair. They could do anything. They could score from the inside, the outside, from upside-down. They could not be stopped.

Until yesterday.

"You can tell yourself that you're not going to listen to all the nice things people are saying and you can guard against it, but still sometimes reality has to come and slap you in the face before you can do it," Los Angeles Lakers coach Pat Riley, who had worried about all the talk, said. "If you could make your players blind and deaf for the three days between games it wouldn't hurt sometimes."

The best encouragement the Celtics players received was "you guys won't let 'em sweep you, you're too good for that." Even the stories about the mystique of the Garden seemed tired and old. Yeah, the leprechaun. Yeah, the ghosts. Yeah, the crowd and the dead spots on the parquet floor and the banners on the ceiling. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How many times can votive candles be lit and prayers answered? This seemed to be asking too much.

The oddsmakers in Las Vegas had made the team 3 1/2-point underdogs at home. When was the last time that had happened? When Sidney Wicks was playing? Or was it Fat Freddy Scolari? This was science fiction, wasn't it? The Celtics never were underdogs at home.

Until yesterday.

"We're under a dark cloud," coach K.C. Jones had admitted on the evening news.

"What do you do now?" the reporter asked.

"Hope that it doesn't start raining," the coach said.

There seemed to be no place to attack the problem. The Lakers seemed too hot to touch anywhere. A kettle on the stove. Bubbling. Uncontrollable. There were none of those little stories about "if we double James Worthy, then we give up this and if we give up this, we can pick up that." Nothing. There almost didn't seem to be a strategical hope. How do you stop a tornado that comes down Main Street? Don't you simply go to the root cellar and come out later to see if the roof still is on the house?

The Lakers seemed to have every feature of the Celtics' game covered. The Celtics didn't seem to know where to begin.

Until yesterday.

"I think now we have some ideas," Larry Bird said. "I think in this game we were able to win and learn at the same time. Those other two games, they were so far out of control, we couldn't study anything. I think this game was a game you could study."

What happened? There was a sense as the game started that the people in the stands were terrified. They believed what they read and heard. They believed what their late-night television showed them from the West Coast.

The building was dead for the first few minutes. The air had been sucked in by 14,890 nervous customers and swallowed. The search was for dignity more than a championship. Death with honor. Bird noticed the strange feeling. The other players noticed the strange feeling. They never had seen the crowd this way.

Until yesterday.

"This was a very big game for the organization and the crowd was just out for a Sunday stroll," Bird said. "Until they realized we could win this thing. Then they got into it and so did we."

What happened? Greg Kite was a star with zero points and James Worthy was human with 13. The Celtics' guards were hitting every shot they took. The Lakers had two starters who combined for 6 points. One thing led to another. What happened? Wasn't this supposed to be a romp, a roll, a grand Los Angeles giggle, two games and home, an intermittent stop at Springfield to leave Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's goggles at the Hall of Fame? What happened? Wasn't this supposed to be easy for this visiting team of destiny? What happened?

"Did you have a sense the playoffs really had begun after those two games in LA?" Larry Bird was asked.

"No, I didn't," Bird replied. "This just didn't seem like a final playoff series to me."

Until yesterday.



Junior, Junior Sky-Hook Dooms Boston

It was a process that required almost surgical skill. Down by a point, seven seconds left. Sixteen banners above, deadwood below. Nothing could help them here, not the witches of Eastwick or even Jack Nicholson himself. Nothing but a sneak punch to the gut.

"I thought my best choice was to drive on him," said Magic Johnson, who maneuvered around Kevin McHale for a 12-foot hook with two seconds left that put the Lakers 50 yards ahead of the Celtics in the NBA Finals. "I didn't really see it go in because there was somebody in front of me."

He didn't see it go in because McHale, Robert Parish and Larry Bird all converged on the point of attack. He didn't see it go in because an entire Garden crowd dared the shot to be different.

"The release felt pretty good," said Johnson, who finished with a team- high 29 points and 8 rebounds. "But I never watched it. I'll have to see it some other time."

It was everything great finishes should be. Johnson hesitated on the left wing, decided what to do, then stutter-stepped around McHale and let his "junior, junior sky hook" go. When it fell through the hoop, the Laker bench erupted and Pat Riley pumped a fist that would have made Marvin Hagler take a second look.

"We were trying to do whatever was available," said Mychal Thompson after the game, "but if you put the ball in Magic's hands, it's going to be a great design play."

Johnson has always had the hook in his shot parade, but he never really used it until this year. Earlier in the playoffs, he beat Golden State with nearly the exact same shot. In the second period last night, he dropped a lefthanded version of his baby sky.

"I don't have the depth that Kareem has," he said. "I have to be within 7 or 8 feet."

Make that 12. Johnson's soar to the basket drove a blade through the Celtics' heart and gave them only two seconds to recover, only two seconds to score.

"I saw Larry's shot got up at the end, but I didn't think he was set," said Johnson of Bird's final attempt. "If he'd had another two seconds, I think it would have gone for him."

In Los Angeles, the memory of Johnson scoring probably will win Best Picture this year. And it wasn't even the shot Riley wanted.

"James Worthy was our first look," said the coach. "Michael Cooper had him open for one count but didn't force the pass. Magic was open for a jumper but he went back into the lane. When it licked the net, it was amazing. This is about as emotional a game as I have ever been involved in."

From the beginning of the game, Johnson showed his cheeky, cocky charm. His sixth point pulled the Lakers within 2, 17-15 and his 10 points in the second quarter made it 55-47, Celtics, at the half. Johnson had totaled 19 of LA's 47 points, the only Laker in double figures. And down the stretch, he was always murderously there. With 29 seconds left, his alley-oop pass to Kareem Abdul- Jabbar put the Lakers ahead by 1, 104-103. His running hook ended it all.

"We'd been standing around too much in the beginning of the game," he said. "We were fumbling and missing and dropping the ball. We had to calm ourselves."

They calmed themselves, all right, calmed themselves into a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Johnson said he and Bird are the type of players "who'll do whatever it takes to win, who aren't afraid to take the last shot."

Score one for the California cooler with the baby sky.


Celtics Force Game 6

June 12, 1987



Section: SPORTS

CELTICS CRASH LAKERS' PARTY THEY COAST TO COAST, 123-108

Bob Ryan, Globe Staff


This one was for the guy in the "Big Bird" suit waving the sign that said "Certified Bird Sanctuary." This one was for the kid walking around as a Celtic ghost.

This one was for the people who remember Ed Sadowski and Hank Beenders and Dickie Hemric. This one was for the people who recall that Richie Niemann was once a Celtic. This one was for the people who lay awake with a transistor radio plugged into their ear listening to Johnny Most tell them about the night in Seattle when the game had three endings and the Celtics lost at the final-final-final buzzer. This one was for all the fans who lifted the team in the last-day Atlanta game and who pulled the team through Milwaukee 7, Detroit 5 and 7 and LA 3.

Most of all, this one was for themselves. It was Boston 123, Los Angeles 108 last night at the Garden. The Lakers will drink no champagne, make no speeches or dance no victory dances in this town. There will be a Game 6. It's a 3-2 series now, and if the Lakers are to win it, they'll have to celebrate with Dancing Barry, either Sunday or Tuesday.

"We had to win this one," said Danny Ainge, whose downtown marksmanship tilted the game in Boston's favor during the third quarter. "We let it all out on this one. If you think of winning three games now against LA, it's pretty mind-boggling. But if you think of winning one game at a time, then it's not too bad."

Mark it down: This one was a registered stomping. And get this. It was Boston's biggest rout of this endless postseason. Oh, the Lakers were close on the scoreboard in the final period at 103-95, Boston, with 5:59 left, but that's as close as it came because The World's Greatest Starting Five wasn't going to let this one get away. The Lakers had started off Period 4 trailing by 19 (96-77), but by connecting on 9 of their first 11 fourth-quarter shots, they made the crowd very nervous. But their heroes didn't disappoint them this time.

When Ainge (whose four third-quarter three-pointers had cracked open this game) missed a drive, the resourceful Dennis Johnson (25 points, 11 assists) was there for a lefty tap-in (106-95). Kareem Abdul-Jabbar came back with a short sneakaway hook, but Robert Parish (21) took a pass from a trapped Kevin McHale and dunked one to restore the 11-point lead. By this time, the Celtics, who had suffered through a 2-for-8 fourth-quarter start, had restarted the engine.

The decisive sequence came at 112-99. Larry Bird (23 points, 12 rebounds) pulled down a James Worthy brick, starting a fast break culminating in a fast break jumper by the irreplaceable DJ. Bird retreated and tipped away Michael Cooper's long outlet pass. Johnson came back and stuck in another transition jumper. That made it 116-99, and at that moment, Pat Riley knew he'd be playing in the Forum Sunday.

The Celtics originally broke the game open in the second quarter, taking the lead at 32-31 (there had been 10 ties before Period 1 concluded at 25-25) and expanding it to a crowd-pleasing 15 at 63-48 by the halftime buzzer when Ainge threw in a 33-foot runner.

The closing sequence was revealing, because it may have indicated exactly whose night it was or wasn't going to be. For the Lakers had come upcourt with 28 seconds left hoping to get a 12-point deficit down to 10 when Worthy (6 for 19) missed a jumper. Greg Kite hauled in the rebound, pitched out to Ainge and then watched along with 14,890 delighted patrons and 10 teammates as young Daniel launched an old-fashioned Cousyesque runner that sailed cleanly through the hoop.

But that bit of show biz was naught but the warmup act for the Ainge headliner, which turned out to be a 14-point third quarter during which he sank four more three-pointers. The first two were back-to-back jobs (72-60, 75-62). The third made it 82-71, and may have been the biggest, because LA was showing definite signs of life at the time. The fourth, with 36 seconds left, made it 94-77 and was the prelude to a delicious Celtic ending when Bird sent -- are you ready? -- Bill Walton in for a gorgeous pick-and-roll layup that capped a dazzling Boston third quarter and made it 96-77 heading into the fourth.

For the third time in as many games, the Celtics demonstrated that in the Friendly Confines of the Gah-den, they not only know how to play the Lakers, but actually are the better team. They unveiled a beautifully balanced offense that resulted in all five starters cracking the 20-point barrier, headed by Johnson, and followed by Bird (23), McHale (22), Parish and Ainge (21). They did the job on the boards (a 46-40 edge). And they even got helpful little contributions from the bench, as the likes of Darren Daye, Jerry Sichting, Walton and Folk Hero Supreme Greg Kite (whose banked free throw only added to his personal mystique) did their parts to send this series back to LA.

And all you folks wearing the "Beat LA" or "I Hate LA" T-shirts, you did indeed see what you think you saw. The Celtics not only beat the boys in purple, but they also ran them out of town. By any reasonable count (underline the word "reasonable"), the Celtics had more fast break points than the Lakers (CBS said 39-30; the Globe says 28-24).

The Lakers were left in the din and the sweat of the Garden like so many Nuggets, Nets or Washington Generals. The trick now is to get your mind off the last minute and a half of Tuesday's game and reflect on the satisfaction the team brought its fans last night.


Lakers End Celtics Season

INGLEWOOD, Calif.

The walk to the locker room was through the celebration. The tired faces had to cut through the sea of smiles.

Down a hallway. Past the line of mini-cams. Past the room where the champagne already was being opened. Through the celebrities -- look, there's Sammy Davis -- and around a corner. Past a television set.

"Hey, Celtics, take a look at this," a young guy shouted, pointing at the picture on the 21-inch screen yesterday afternoon, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar standing next to the National Basketball Association championship trophy.

"Shhhhhhh," a couple of Laker Girls, the cheerleaders for the Los Angeles Lakers, said. "That's not nice."

One by one the tired faces passed, single file, almost as if you were watching one of those World War II movies that shows all the characters in the gallant platoon one last time during the closing credits.

McHale . . . Parish . . . Bird . . . Ainge . . . Johnson . . . K.C. Jones. This was the end of the Boston Celtics' long-running story.

The dead end.

"This hurts," guard Dennis Johnson said, finally reaching the little visiting locker room at the Forum after the Celtics had been thumped, 106-93, by the Lakers in a sixth and closing game to determine the champions of the professional basketball world. "We can be proud of each other and proud of our accomplishments, but this hurts. No doubt about it."

There had been so much work -- the season extended by 23 playoff games, dragged all the way to the middle of June -- that there was an unreality to what had happened. Over? How can this be? These were the first dizzy steps after a long ride on the roller coaster. Over? What do you mean? Isn't there a seventh game Tuesday night for the entire NBA enchilada? What do you mean, "Over?"

"We shouldn't have been here," coach K.C. Jones said in his quiet voice. "That's the thing to remember. This rag-tag team with the broken feet. These guys fought, hustled, grabbed, sat on the floor, did everything they could do. That's the thing to remember."

The work had been so hard and so many people had done so many things that second prize did not seem to be enough. Oh, the Lakers deserved to be champions, running away to this clinching win in the second half, but the Celtics somehow did not deserve to be losers. They were, of course, losers, but the name seemed more harsh than it had to be. For this team.

Didn't these guys stay alive twice with wins in seventh games, situations where they either had to win or go home? Weren't two players playing with broken feet? How do you play basketball with broken feet? Wasn't there a new injury even on this final day, Danny Ainge's sprained ankle being taped and taped again so he could withstand the pain?

Losers?

"You think about how it could have been," forward Kevin McHale, the owner of the most prominent broken foot, said. "You don't take anything away from the Lakers. You just wonder. What would we have done with a healthy Bill Walton, a 7-foot-3 guy off the bench who claims he's 6-11? What would we have done with Scott Wedman off the bench? What would we have done if everyone were healthy?

"I know for me, it was like three-quarters of the year went through in a breeze and then God said, 'Oh, no, I don't think basketball's supposed to be as easy as that.' I haven't been able to practice in a month. Two months. Haven't practiced once. Just shot and played the games. How much does that hurt?"

The Lakers were better. That was the final story. The Lakers were a lot better. That was the story at the beginning. The Celtics somehow pulled and yanked and prolonged this thing to a sixth game, scared Jack Nicholson half to death, and still are one Magic Johnson hook shot away from being tied, three games to three in the series. That somehow was the best story.

At least in Boston.

"I thought when you were retired, stuff like this wasn't supposed to hurt," M.L. Carr, the former Celtic, now on television, said as he sat at a locker stall. "Doesn't it just eat at you?"

This team somehow captured hearts and minds even better than last year's world championship team did. Underdogs. When have the Boston Celtics ever been underdogs? This was what they were here. There was a ragged look to this team. An endearing team. The Celtics of 1986 went exactly where they were supposed to go. The Celtics of 1987 went further than where they were supposed to go.

"I knew we'd be here in the finals against the Lakers," star forward Larry Bird said. "I somehow always knew that we'd be in the finals, even when we had those two seventh games."

"What did you think last year?" a reporter asked. "Did you think you'd be in the finals last year?"

"Last year I knew we'd win the world championship," Larry Bird said.

The final player left in the locker room, an hour after the game ended, was McHale. He somehow was the symbol of all this, wasn't he? The broken foot. The bruise under one eye. The man who decided to play when he didn't have to play. The man who will have his foot put in a cast in the next week and will hobble for the rest of the summer.

"What can we say?" he said as he stood to leave. "We gave it a good run. The run came up short."

A reporter pointed toward McHale's locker and told the player he had forgotten a sneaker. McHale looked and saw it was the sneaker for the left foot, his good foot.

"Maybe I should take it," he said. "That's the only shoe I'll probably be wearing for a while. Then again . . ."

He swung out the door, into the hallway still filled with noise and celebration and the smell of somebody else's champagne. End of story. Dead end. Kevin McHale's shoe still sat in his empty locker in the empty room.



Another Last-Second Shot by Magic Secures Lakers' Victory


December 12, 1987


Section: SPORTS

MAGIC STUNS CELTICS LAST-SECOND HOOP LIFTS LA, 115-114

Bob Ryan, Globe Staff


Is there a longer second or second and a half in sports? Team A by a point. Man from Team B lets fly with the basketball, and by the time the ball either does or doesn't go in the basket, the buzzer will have sounded and the game will be over. All control of the game passes to a higher authority. And isn't the suspense heightened when the identity of the player from Team B is Earvin (Magic) Johnson and the identity of Team A is the Boston Celtics, and the game is being played in Boston Garden?

It was a long second or so, all right, and it was an even longer walk back to the locker room for the Celtics after Johnson's borderline three-pointer (officially, uh-uh, but it sure looked like it) banked in cleanly through the cords to give the Lakers a dramatic 115-114 triumph before 14,890 instant pallbearers last night.

Magic's game-winner from the edge of the three-point line served as a fitting exclamation point to a sizzler that had far transcended the NBA norm from the opening tap-off. Each team came into the game as a loser in four of its last five outings, but this one had a Finals tinge, as befitted the build- up. In order to pull this one out, the Lakers had to come from 13 down (71-58) in the third, from 9 down (98-89) with 8:24 remaining and from 6 down (111-105) with 2:35 to go, not to mention from 3 down (113-110) with 55 seconds to go.

Pick it up right there, after Danny Ainge had rifled a pass underneath to Robert Parish for a layup. The Celtics needed one defensive stop to wrap up the game. Instead, they had a communications breakdown of some sort, because what they did was leave the menacing Michael Cooper (21) alone on the right wing for a game-tying three-pointer.

A steal by Byron Scott (21 points in perhaps his best Garden appearance ever) gave it back to Los Angeles, but the Celtics dug in and prevented the magisterial Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (23) from getting off a good shot. Stuck with the ball in the deep right corner, he missed a leaner, and Larry Bird (35 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals) rebounded. Eschewing a timeout, he initiated a fast break that culminated in an Ainge drive. Danny was fouled by Magic, stepping to the line with three seconds left and the scored tied at 113.

He made the first but missed the second, and Mychal Thompson rebounded. By the time he came down to the parquet, the ball had been jarred loose and Kevin McHale had it in his possession, but referee Mike Mathis ruled that a legitimate timeout had been called, to the anguish of the Celtics, their coaching staff and the patrons.

"Before Ainge took the free throws," Mathis said, "Michael Cooper asked me for a timeout, whether the shots were made or missed. Ainge then missed the second shot, Mychal Thompson grabbed the rebound and Cooper yelled for the timeout."

So the Lakers retained possession. The Celtics called for time after a look at the first LA setup and, when play resumed, LA had a different look, with everybody high.

"All you can ask for is to get the ball in bounds," said Lakers coach Pat Riley. "You just hope you can get some air space. Earvin made a miracle shot, granted, but he was able to get some rhythm going because he had air space."

This was an extremely painful loss for the Celtics, who blew a game in which they committed only 11 turnovers and surrendered but 6 offensive rebounds for 12 LA points. Among the wasted efforts were Bird's high-level game and a brilliant 17-point, 8-for-10 relief job turned in by Jerry Sichting, plus a gutsy big-time game by Dennis Johnson, who scored 19 points on his injured left ankle.

The ultimate reality of this game was that with 2:35 left, the Celtics were in control and they could not finish off the night's work. Riley called time after a Bird steal and coast-to-coast runner and informed his team it could win if it kept its poise on offense and dug in on defense. Accordingly, the World Champs (a salient point, is it not?) scored on five of their final six possessions while limiting the Celtics to the Parish layup and the Ainge transition free throw at the other end.

Included in the stretch run were successive inside-out foul line jumpers by Thompson (111-107, 111-109) and the Cooper crusher from Quincy Market. That, hoop fans, is clutch shooting. And throw in a prototypical second-half shooting display by the 40-year-old Kareem, a 10-for-14 shooter.

Suffice it to say that this game, while flawed, contained more graphic displays of one-upmanship and more sheer outbursts of athletic brilliance than all previous home games put together. "That," said Riley, "was a great game, hot game. Both teams were causing-and-effecting all over the place."

Last year (Game 5, remember?) Magic knifed the Celtics with a game-winning hook. This time he slit their throat with a banked runner.

"In April, all of this will be forgotten," said Abdul-Jabbar, the only person in the joint who looked bored when it was over, "but I will say they gave him the right nickname."



Celtics 36-12 Run Falls Short


February 15, 1988



Section: SPORTS

LAKERS BREAK AWAY FROM CELTICS

Bob Ryan, Globe Staff
INGLEWOOD, Calif.

The moral of the story is: Hang around long enough, you'll see everything.

In this particular case, you'd see the Lakers impose a suffocating first-half defense that triggers a 20-point (64-44) halftime lead. Next you'd see the Celtics play a Michelangelo of a third period, wiping out the deficit with a 36-12 whomping that sends them into the final period leading by 4 (80-76). Finally, you'd see the Lakers demonstrate why they are defending champions (with the best chance to repeat in recent memory) by charging out of the fourth-quarter box with runs of 9-0 (in the first 1:44), 17-4, 20-7 and 31-11, all of which leads to a 115-106 victory in a game that will find its way high onto any list of "Oddities" in this historic rivalry.

"I have never had anything like that happen to a team of mine," said LA coach Pat Riley after yesterday's triumph. "You get 20-point leads where you might give up 12 or 16. But to have a 24-point swing in a game like this is incredible. It's a testimony to the Celtics, the fact that they never give up."

So what does it say about Riley's team, which responded to the challenge like, well, champs? "We never really panic anymore," explained Magic Johnson (22 points, 14 assists). That's from our years of being together. The key was to get a fast start in the fourth period. Once we did that, the whole momentum just changed. We got two big steals after our first basket, and that's what turned it around."

That's no lie. Mychal Thompson (12 points, team-high 11 rebounds) evaded a steal attempt and stuck in a short banker on the first LA possession of Period 4. Dirk Minniefield (3 turnovers, 1 assist) missed connections with Brad Lohaus, and Byron Scott (a first-half killer with 20 points) scored in transition. The next Boston possession was key, and it ended in disaster when Michael Cooper deflected a Larry Bird pass to Danny Ainge (Bird insisted he was fouled). Magic converted the turnover to give the Lakers a lead (82-80) they would never relinquish.

It was a bloodless coup. Without firing a shot, the Celtics handed over the parliamentary keys to the opposition.

The aforementioned momentum shift was irrevocable. The Lakers had regained their desire and ability to play stifling defense, and they were once again the free-and-easy offensive team they had been during the first half. But Boston kept battling, and with 6:17 left a Kevin McHale turnaround pulled the Celtics within 5 at 96-91. Here Scott, en route to a career-high 38 points, drilled an open three-pointer resulting from exemplary ball movement (99-91), and when Minniefield couldn't convert a drive over the long arm of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Scott converted two free throws in the subsequent transition. That made it 101-91 with 5:30 left, and the rest was for the stat man.

From a Boston viewpoint, the first half was strictly for the junk man. The Celtics led early (8-4), but that little advantage disappeared in the face of a 12-0 LA run that established the tone for the remainder of the half. Boston simply couldn't combat the superb LA team defense, which was particularly effective against Bird, whose every shot in the paint, or near it, was contested by more than one gold jersey.

"They were always there if I got the ball and spun in the middle," lauded Bird.

"The first half," agreed Riley, "was as well as we've played all year defensively. There was a hand in every face."

But what was this third-quarter thing all about? How was it that McHale outscored the Lakers in their own gym (14-12), while Bird was outrebounding them (7-6)? How was it that LA scored a season-low 12 points, at home, while shooting 24 percent (5 for 21)? How was it that the Celtics ended a sensational period's work by outscoring the champs, 16-3, in the final 3:38 while the frosty Bird (8 for 22) was enjoying the show from the bench? How was it that the Celtics accomplished all this without Robert Parish, who departed complaining of lower back pain after playing an ineffective eight minutes?

"We became very terminal," contended Riley, ever the wordsmith. "We had no motion at all."

Added general manager Jerry West, "That's what good teams do when they're on a roll. They get you standing around."

It certainly was a 12 minutes to remember, and it crested when an Ainge three-point bomb cut the lead to 1 (76-75), an illegal defense technical foul shot tied it for the first time since 8-8 and a lefty tap-in by the relentless (24 points, 11-for-14) McHale put the Celtics ahead.

But there were still 12 long minutes to play, and the Lakers excel at one-upmanship, even if the opponent is Boston.

"We had to beat them twice," said a relieved Riley. "It's hard enough to beat them once."


Lakers Win Battle of Good v. Great

December 16, 1989



Section: SPORTS

LA'S FOURTH GEAR STALLS CELTICS LAKERS ASSERT SUPERIORITY

Jackie MacMullan, Globe Staff


Some rivalries never die, and the Celtics vs. the Lakers may well be one of them.

Let's just say the "Beat LA" chant is terminally ill.

The Garden crowd was reduced to a whisper last night by the Lakers, who blew open the game in the fourth quarter, then cruised off the parquet with a 119-110 win.

Leading the charge was Magic Johnson, who scored 16 points, handed out 21 assists and made 6 steals, and James Worthy, the fluid forward who torched Boston for 28 points. In spite of their gaudy numbers, those two were only part of the story.

The other half included a string of perimeter jumpers from A.C. Green (8 for 12, 25 points), who normally makes his living in and around the paint, and even more outside shooting from Byron Scott (9 for 15, 21 points). In all, LA shot 54.3 percent from the floor and simply outmatched the Celtics with smarts, ball movement and quickness. The Lakers did all that without a center in their starting lineup, since Mychal Thompson was sidelined with an inflamed Achilles' tendon.

"I didn't know what to expect coming in," said Larry Bird. "But this is the first time I can honestly say they are better."

"I don't know of anyone playing better than that," said Robert Parish.

These rare admissions of Laker supremacy were with good reason. There's an overused cliche in sports, and it's called the killer instinct. It separates good teams from great teams, which these days is the same as separating Boston from LA.

What the Lakers did to the Celtics on their own floor was rip their heart out. They did it quietly and swiftly in the opening minute of the final quarter.

What happened in those first 60 seconds? The Lakers dropped a neutron bomb on the Celtics, blowing them to pieces with a back-door lob from Magic Johnson to Orlando Woolridge for a 3-point play, a trifecta from Scott with the shot clock winding down and a Vlade Divac steal, which quickly (and we stress the quickly here) turned into a fast break bucket from Worthy.

A stunned Jimmy Rodgers called time, his team suddenly down, 93-82. The way LA was playing on the defensive end, it was nearly impossible to expect the slower, more deliberate Celtics to make up the difference in the final 11 minutes.

As for the Lakers' offense, it was close to flawless when they needed it most. The visitors scored on their first five possessions of the final quarter, culminated by a Divac bucket underneath that extended that opening run to a 10-0 streak and a 97-82 cushion with 10:04 to play. Down the stretch, Magic took the ball to the hole, drew a pile of defenders, then kicked it back to a teammate on the wing for an open jumper.

In that final frame, the Lakers shot 57.1 percent from the floor. The Celtics? They checked out at 37.5 percent.

"That's how it's been going for us," said Green. "Earvin draws double-teams and we spot up. If we can hit those shots, it makes it tough to stop us."

It is particularly hard to stop a team when you turn the ball over 17 times, as Boston did. It becomes more complicated when your top gun, Bird, shoots 9 for 27 from the floor. Add a 32-13 disparity on trips to the line that favored LA, and it's clear why this game turned out the way it did.

The bad vibes were evident at halftime, when the Lakers ran off with a 60-55 edge even though the Celtics shot 62.8 percent from the floor. At that juncture, no Boston player could keep up with Worthy (16 at the break) long enough to stick a hand in his face. The goggled forward ignited an 8-0 spurt in the waning minutes of the second quarter to provide LA with its 5-point spread.

"The Lakers played tremendous," said Rodgers. "Defensively, we did everything we wanted. We got them to take the outside shot, and it seemed like they hit all of them."

That, of course, wasn't by accident. Magic moves the ball better than anyone else the league. The Lakers make better decisions than anyone else the league. They also back up their offense with active, bothersome, hands-up defense.

In short, they do everything the Celtics have been trying to do for the past two months.

"The Lakers swing the ball and get it to who they want to," said Jim Paxson. "If you take something away, they react. From a basketball perspective, that's how you want it to work.

"When we call a play, we don't switch sides often enough to make it work. We rush shots we don't have."

Good teams and great teams. There was one of each on the floor last night, and for the boys in green trim, it was a little hard to swallow.



February 19, 1990



Section: SPORTS

A RUNNING STORY: LA PREVAILS AGAIN

Jackie MacMullan, Globe Staff
INGLEWOOD, Calif.

The game plan was being followed to a textbook T. Turnovers? A manageable seven at intermission, a nice complement to a half in which the Celtics shot 63 percent from the floor.

Did someone mention shooting? In the first eight minutes of the third quarter, Boston hit 90 percent of its jumpers.

And lost the lead.

The game, too.

And so it goes in the Fabulous Forum, where the Celtics acquitted themselves admirably yesterday, yet still fell, 116-110, to the league's best team, the Los Angeles Lakers.

The infuriating reality is this: Boston can shoot the lights out (61.5 percent for the game) and play near perfect basketball for 40 minutes, but the Lakers will take those eight minutes when your concentration wavers and stuff them down your throat.

Consider the aforementioned stretch of the third quarter, which began with the Boys in Green on top, 58-52.

With 9:02 on the clock, Magic Johnson knocked down his first 3-pointer of the day. That seemed harmless enough, especially since Reggie Lewis (24 points on 10-of-13 shooting) countered with a slashing jumper.

No problem, right? James Worthy (25 points), who terrorized the Celtics all afternoon, knocked a drive in underneath and when Lewis hit the deck scrambling for a loose ball, he and Magic were called for a jump, which the Lakers controlled.

That turned into a Mychal Thompson bucket, which Larry Bird (20 points) answered shortly thereafter. Still no need to panic.

But the next time down, Worthy pulled up short on his jumper, Robert Parish lost a handle on the rebound,

and it was LA's ball. Byron Scott made good on the second chance, and the Lakers were within 2 (70-68).

Now the Boston bench began shifting uncomfortably. Bird walked the next time down and Scott hit a single free throw. Parish swished a rainbow, Worthy scored on a drive, Dennis Johnson nailed a perimeter jumper, and Magic pulled up for another 3-pointer.

Tie game, 74-74.

Momentarily stunned, Boston regained its composure and struck on a Lewis lob to Kevin McHale. But here came Magic again, with another pull-up 3.

When Scott stole DJ's entry pass to Parish, LA was off and running, with Scott finishing off the 3-point play, the 21-10 run and the Lakers' 80-76 advantage.

At that moment, Boston was 9 for 10 from the floor, yet somehow had lost 11 points.

"We got beat on the hustle plays," said Parish, who scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. "That's what beat us. Jump balls, second and third attempts . . . they thrive on that."

"I think the 3s took a lot out of them," said Magic, whose MVP line included 30 points and 13 assists. "That kind of run really deflates you. You play as well as you can and you still lose the lead."

Boston did forge ahead again by the end of the third (94-92) on a Kevin Gamble 3-point bomb with one tick on the clock, but it was disheartening nonetheless to shoot 79 percent in a quarter and cling to a one-basket advantage.

That lead was still in place with 9:18 left -- when another brief spell of mistakes did the Celtics in.

An Orlando Woolridge slam off a Boston turnover knotted the score at 98 and kicked off a run that staked the Lakers to a 106-100 edge with 5:34 left.

Included in that stretch was Woolridge stripping McHale of the ball (that turned into a killer Scott trey from the corner), an ill-advised McHale 3-point attempt, a Parish turnover in the post and a forced, off-balance jumper by DJ with the shot clock running down. Those were Boston's worst two minutes of the day, and they came in crunch time.

"Give them some credit," said McHale, "but we didn't move the ball well. We weren't aggressive. We fell apart."

The Celtics were outdone on the offensive glass, 13-6. Thompson, Worthy and rookie Vlade Divac accounted for the majority of those second chances.

In fact, the Yugoslavian center was the embodiment of the hustle plays Parish referred to. He scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds, but was also a defensive presence, forcing Parish and McHale to alter shots.

So it didn't matter that LA shot 47.3 percent from the floor, or that Worthy's shoulder was so sore he iced it at every timeout. The Lakers live for opportunities, and the Celtics gave them just enough to clinch it.




February 16, 1991



Section: SPORTS



CELTICS' DAZZLE FRAZZLES LAKERS
INGLEWOOD, Calif.

Something special is happening out here. The Celtics are three time zones away and doing some eerie things while most of New England sleeps.

Last night they went into the Forum and won for the first time in five years. They got a season-high 29 points from Robert Parish, 26 from Reggie Lewis and solid defense from everyone in a 98-85 stunner before Jack Nicholson, Dyan Cannon and 17,503 others.

To give you an idea of how convincing this one was, the Lakers led for all of 22 seconds -- at 6-4 -- in the building where they had won 14 straight. Not only that, but the Lakers managed a meager 13 points on 4-for-19 shooting in the fourth quarter.

Chris Ford's reenergized juggernaut has now won six straight, including all three on this trip. Last night was only their second regular-season victory over the Lakers in their last 10 meetings and more than atoned for a 104-87 defeat to Magic Johnson & Co. on Super Bowl Sunday.

"Give them credit. They played a great game," Magic said. "The whole night, I never really thought we got into a rhythm."

To add to the strange mix, the Celtics again were without Kevin McHale (ankle), who had to restrain himself in the locker room while the surprising triumph unfolded. They are 2-0 without McHale, who quite likely won't play tomorrow in Denver.

Larry Bird had an atrocious shooting game (4 for 16) and had only one basket in the final 33 minutes. But, typically, it was a big one. He drained a trey which gave Boston a 92-81 lead and all but ended any Laker hopes. Bird managed a triple-double, getting 11s across the board in 40 minutes.

"I was tired out there, so I tried to distribute the ball as best I could," Bird said. "We just went to the hot man and kept going to him."

The hot men? Start with the Chief. Parish delivered a first quarter right out of the Chamberlain handbook. He was 9 for 10 from the field after missing his first shot, scoring a staggering 21 points. Predictably, he tailed off, but he was an inside force all night (10 rebounds and 2 blocks).

Lewis took over after a scoreless first quarter, punctuating his output with two Forum-clearing jumpers in the fourth quarter.

It was Parish, however, who set the tone, and the Celtics rarely wavered from it all game. He had the first 5 points of an early 9-0 run which erased the only Laker lead of the game.

Los Angeles, meanwhile, was resigned to looking a lot like the old Celtics. Magic (21 points, 16 assists) would dump it in to James Worthy (23 points) and the rest of the Lakers would settle into their lawn chairs and watch.

The Celtics' faced two semi-serious Laker thrusts after bolting to a 35-27 one-period lead. They went cold early in the second and LA actually tied it, 39-39, on a jump hook by an injured and ineffective Sam Perkins (7 points in 24 minutes).

But Boston regrouped and Kevin Gamble (14) and Lewis took over. They scored the final 19 of Boston's 23 second-quarter points. At the half, the Boston lead was 11.

Everyone from Malibu to Thousand Oaks could have predicted a Lakers surge in the third. They hit their first five shots and pulled to 62-57. Ford called time and Boston responded with a Lewis-led 7-1 run. The lead was back to 11.

The Lakers' last real challenge came late in the third. An A.C. Green put-back made it 75-72.

But Ed Pinckney then came up with two big plays. He rebounded one of many Bird bricks, which led to a Lewis banker. At the other end, he swallowed a Perkins drive and that led to another Lewis hoop. Gamble then finished off the mini-run -- all this happened in the final 49 seconds -- with a steal and two free throws. The lead was 81-72 after three.

Los Angeles never got closer than 6 in the fourth. It made only one basket in the final 7:32. Gamble launched a game-deciding 11-2 run with a lefty drive and the spurt included Bird's big trey and Lewis' two hoops, which gave the beautiful people the excuse they needed to leave early.



February 16, 1991



Section: SPORTS

HE STILL HAS MAGIC TOUCH

Jackie MacMullan, Globe Staff


He remembers being shocked by the criticism leveled at Larry Bird his first few months back from heel surgery. Magic Johnson was both angry and dumbfounded.

How much can people expect? Don't they understand we are human?

The answer, he knows firsthand, is no. The curse of the

superstar is the day when he loses a step, lets down his guard for the moment.

"The price of fame is tremendous," said Johnson. "The trick is to remain constant, to do it again and again and again. But you must also remember that as fast as you can get up there, you can go the other way just as quickly."

For most of his storied NBA career, Johnson -- like Bird -- avoided the sting of criticism. Both were champions, MVPs, elite players on elite teams.

But then Los Angeles began the 1990-91 season with a 2-5 mark, and all bets were off. The Lakers were under fire, and the snipers were aiming for Magic Johnson from all sides.

"They looked at the record," he said, "and it was a reflection of me. Everything the Lakers do is a reflection of me."

Perhaps that is why, then, the Lakers have been able to post the best record in the NBA since their inauspicious start. Perhaps that also explains the 16-game winning streak, which was finally snapped Tuesday night in the final seconds by Phoenix. It was LA's second-longest winning stretch in 19 years, and its point guard was the architect.

Magic Johnson may be shooting only 47.5 percent, but he is not ready to let down his guard. Nor, he adds hastily, is his team. First-year coach Mike Dunleavy has a plan, and the Lakers are learning to implement it.

"We have a great basketball team," Johnson said. "Everything is clicking now, both offensively and defensively.

"In preseason, we had no identity. People were still making us out to be a running team, and when we weren't doing that, they said, 'Oh-oh, what's wrong with the Lakers?'

"Nothing was wrong other than adjusting to a new coach and a new style. That takes time."

Johnson had questions in the early going about Dunleavy's style; questions that were made public, and subsequently caused a furor. Yet Magic now advertises himself as a Dunleavy backer.

"We know what he wants now," Johnson said. "He's got us believing that we can't just run, run, run. Detroit has proven there are other ways.

"Mike is a player's coach. He's a guy who has been through it, and he understands what players go through.

"But that's not to say he isn't tough. We hear from him when things don't go right."

To fully appreciate the difference in the Lakers' style, you must first realize they are relinquishing only 99.3 points a game. LA and Detroit are the only teams in the league holding clubs under 100 points. In comparison, the last season they won the title, 1987-88, the Lakers gave up an average of 107.0 points a game (11th in the league), while averaging 112.8 points a game (fifth in the league).

These days LA looks vaguely familiar to the team Dunleavy came from -- Milwaukee. Like the Bucks, the Lakers are stressing defense and a controlled, ball-movement offense.

"But the difference between us and Milwaukee is we have players who can post up," said Magic. "Sam Perkins can do it, and James Worthy makes a living of it, and I have good success with it. Vlade Divac is growing more comfortable with it, too."

The names Divac and Shaw and Gamble and Perkins do not belong to original members of the LA-Boston rivalry, a battle that has lost some of its luster in recent years.

Both the game and those who played it have undergone significant changes since Bird and Magic bounded onto the scene. In the old days, people adjusted to them. Now they must be willing to make the adjustments.

"As an old man, you know you have to change," said Johnson. "You have to keep yourself going, but you can only do that for so long.

"Me? I need new things. The way we are playing now is new for me. That's what's keeping me going.

"Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is retired now. Michael Cooper is gone. I would be retired, too, if there wasn't something here to keep me interested."

The goal is no different than in any other season -- to win the NBA championship. LA is nearly three seasons removed from that now; Boston is five. Detroit and Portland have stuck their noses in, and proven there is more to the NBA than the Celtics and the Lakers.

And yet the rivalry lives on, as long as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird can breathe and run and throw look-away passes.

"Sam told me after we beat the Celtics he had never won a game in Boston Garden before," Magic said. "That was a really big thing for him. To see him enjoy that, it brought out a lot of joy in me. There are some things you never get tired of."

For Magic, beating Boston is one of those things.




November 8, 1991

Section: SPORTS

FINALS CHAPTERS CLIMAXED LEGENDARY RIVALRY

Peter May, Globe Staff


Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were the epicenter of the earthquake that shook the NBA in the 1980s.

Magic's Lakers and Bird's Celtics met three times in the NBA Finals, in 1984, '85 and '87. Magic's teams won the last two, but it was the first encounter, in 1984, that may have been the on-court shot of adrenaline the league needed to make the jump to "big time."

The series shattered previous TV ratings and, because of Bird and Johnson, rekindled the LA-Boston rivalry, which dominated the league for much of the decade.

Last year Magic had pined for one more Boston-LA matchup, a Glory Days revisited, if you will. Both teams were playing well and the Lakers made it. The Celtics did not. If it happens again, Magic won't be a part of it. The Lakers guard retired yesterday.

Two Celtics guards who battled Magic in those memorable playoff series reflected on the player and the individual. Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge both went head-to-head with Johnson and both felt the better for it. Ainge said he still got a kick out of playing against Magic.

"It's the ultimate challenge for me. I love playing against him. I've said it before, but I think he's the best player of all time," Ainge said. "Maybe Michael Jordan will be, but Magic has been doing it for 12 years."

Dennis Johnson said, "I've probably guarded Magic more than anyone in the league. And when you played against a guy like him, you came away with a lot more than just basketball. The happiness. The adulation. And he never said a negative word about anyone."

Magic already had two rings, and Bird one, when the Celtics and Lakers met in the 1984 NBA Finals. It was a hugely anticipated matchup in that it had been five years in the making.

Although both players entered the league in 1979, months after their memorable meeting in the NCAA final in Salt Lake City, the Lakers and Celtics somehow managed to avoid each other come playoff time until 1984. Bird had taken Rookie of the Year honors. Johnson had finished that season with his memorable 42-point, 15-rebound, 7-assist performance while playing all five positions in the Game 6 closer against the Sixers in the Spectrum.

The Celtics won the '84 series in seven games, and Magic spent a disconsolate summer trying to shed his unfamiliar image as series goat. There were three events in that series that led to the demythologizing of Magic, something that was as short-lived as it was utterly absurd.

In Game 2, the Lakers were in position to win, but Gerald Henderson stole a James Worthy pass and tied the game. The Lakers still had time for one last possession, but Magic dribbled out the clock before LA could get off a shot. Boston went on to win in overtime.

His second gaffe came in Game 4. He had two free throws that would have put the game away but missed both. The Celtics again went on to win in overtime. In Game 7, as the Lakers were making a comeback, Magic had the ball stolen at a critical time.

Revenge came a year later, but it was a series remembered mostly for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's performance. The Lakers won in six, and for the first time, Magic was on a world champion without being the playoff MVP.

Johnson always was able to add weapons to his game. He became a 3-point threat. And because of his height, he developed an affinity for posting up smaller guards and learned the baby sky hook from Abdul-Jabbar.

That move came in handy in Game 4. The Lakers had crushed the ailing Celtics in the first two games and, save for Greg Kite, might have won Game 3. Boston built a double-digit lead into the third quarter in Game 4 and seemed destined to tie the series.

But Magic stepped forward. With the Celtics leading, 106-105, Johnson posted up and tossed in a baby hook from the lane. LA took a 3-1 lead and closed out the Celtics at home in Game 6.

Johnson also had one dramatic game-winner against Boston in the regular season. The two teams met early in the 1987-88 season, and both were struggling. The Celtics had lost three of four, and LA was on an Eastern swing, having lost to Cleveland.

Magic won the game for the Lakers at the buzzer with a banker off an inbounds pass. The Lakers then went on a 15-game winning binge and eventually won their second straight NBA title.

Ainge was on all three Boston teams, as was DJ. Ainge ran into Johnson again last year in the Western Conference finals.

"I felt we had a great team last year in Portland," Ainge said. "We won 63 games and we might have won a championship. But Magic Johnson beat us. Magic Johnson has been the roadblock to a few championship rings for me.





Game 4 in Los Angeles had been an epic - truly one of the great games in Celtics playoff history - and now the teams were arriving at Logan Airport late on a Thursday afternoon to find a very different Boston than the one they had left five days earlier

For Boston was in the grip of a heat wave

We're talking high 90s with accompanying East Coast humidity. Logan Airport was chaotic. There were cars and taxis everywhere. There were people sweating, babies crying, miserable, angry, and frustrated people all over. If you ever saw "The Year of Living Dangerously," you know what I'm talking about.

The traffic was such a mess that the state troopers would not allow the Laker bus to get near Terminal C. And that's when I saw Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson folding themselves into the same taxi, and never mind the idea of the presi dent and vice president flying on the same plane

"This," I remember thinking, "is not exactly what those two had in mind."
It was the eve of Game 5 in that unforgettable 1984 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, and it was a pretty good prelude for the game that took place the following night

It was to be a very important affair, Game 5, with the teams tied at two games apiece and feelings coming to a boil. The series could easily have been an LA sweep, but a lot had happened to change the tone of the series, most notably a vicious Kevin McHale takedown of Kurt Rambis in Game 4 that would have gotten him suspended for the duration today

The weather snippet on the far right corner of the game-day Globe said, "Hazy, humid, low 90s," but that turned out to be an understatement. By mid-afternoon it was a record-setting 96, so everyone knew it was going to be a very interesting evening of basketball because the original Boston Garden did not have that newfangled thing known as air conditioning

There were some hot nights in that old building over the years, but there was never one like the evening of June 8, 1984. The male fans wore shorts and short-sleeved shirts. The women wore, well, as little as possible. Halter tops proliferated. There was never a day or evening in the long history of that building when there was so much exposed skin

CBS announced a game-time temperature of 97 degrees

The Lakers did not like it, and Kareem disliked it most of all. He was 37, and fairly cranky to begin with, and playing a Finals game in 97-degree heat was not his idea of fun. He would shoot 7 for 25 and wind up sucking on oxygen (honest)

"I suggest you go to the local steam bath with all your clothes on," he said afterward. "First, try to do 100 push-ups. Then run back and forth for 48 minutes."
Referee Hugh Evans had to leave at halftime, a victim of dehydration. Robert Parish sat out a stretch of the second half with leg cramps. But there was one player who applied mind over matter better than everyone else, one player who not only overcame the circumstances to play a good game of basketball, but who so took to the conditions that he played one of the great games of his life

As my mother used to say, I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count

"I play in this stuff all the time back home, " sneered Larry Bird. "It's like this all summer."
He had just played 42 minutes in Kareem's sauna. He had scored 34 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, and shot 15 for 20. He even blocked a James Worthy shot. The Celtics had won, 121-103, to take charge of a series they would win in seven, and the man deserving the first, second, and third stars was No. 33

"The man who made the difference was Bird," acknowledged Lakers coach Pat Riley. "He was just awesome. He made everything work. He was the catalyst, and that's what happens when great players come to the front."
"I've never seen him as intense as he was tonight," said Kevin McHale. "Never."
The other great force that night was the crowd, which turned what could have been a negative into a complete positive by celebrating the absurd conditions. Rather than bemoaning the heat, those savvy people celebrated it, realizing that the Lakers were feeling sorry for themselves because they were used to the creature comforts of the palatial Forum

Here was the message: Watching a game in an old, cramped, steamy building and sitting on those hard seats, why, that's what we do here in New England. We don't need your cushioned seats and we don't need no stinkin' air conditioning. We leave that stuff to you West Coast wusses. And, by the way, your team is soft

"It was extremely hot; both teams were affected," said Riley. "But Boston showed up better than we did. I think the home crowd had something to do with that. It gave them some adrenaline."
Those great people just did what used to come so naturally. Wyc and Pags, get this: No over-the-top PA man. No ridiculously loud and unnecessary music. No Jumbotron to tell you when to cheer and how to react. No dancing girls. The fans created an atmosphere to remember all by themselves. People in those days actually knew how to cheer. They went to the game to see the game, not for a mini-concert, and not, Lord knows, to see themselves on a big screen

On the night of June 8, 1984, 25 years ago tomorrow, we had an unscripted evening of serendipitous athletic joy. The Clippers will win a championship before we'll ever have the remotest chance of anything like it ever happening again

 

May 4, 1982

Frank Ramsey, who during his nine-year playing career with the Boston Celtics became one of the NBA's most celebrated "sixth men," was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame here yesterday.

Ramsey become the fifth Celtic player (the others are Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman and Ed Macauley) in the Hall. In addition, four nonplaying Celtics are members, Walter Brown, Red Auerbach, Honey Russell and Doggie Julian.

Along with Ramsey, three other former NBA players were enshrined - Willis Reed of the New York Knicks, Slater Martin of the Minneapolis Lakers and St. Louis Hawks, and Hal Greer of the Syracuse Nationals and the Philadelphia 76ers.

Outside the player ranks, coach Clarence (Big House) Gaines of Winston- Salem State; Alva Duer, a valued contributor to amateur basketball, who is known as Mr. NAIA; and the late Everett Case, who coached 19 years at North Carolina State, also were inducted.

The John Bunn Award for outstanding contributions to basketball went to Danny Biasone, who as owner of the Syracuse Nats revolutionized the pro game in 1954 by persuading the other owners to institute the 24-second clock.

Making the presentation to Ramsey was his close friend and former University of Kentucky roommate, Cliff Hagan, once of the St. Louis Hawks and also a Hall of Famer. Ramsey captained the Kentucky team that won the 1954 NCAA championship under coach Adolph Rupp.

"It was Red (Auerbach) who did it, he's the one who was responsible for making me the sixth man," said Ramsey, 50, now in the farming and banking business in Madisonville, Ky. "It just developed that way. I wasn't good enough to start with players like Bill Sharman and Bob Cousy in the backcourt and Tommy Heinsohn up front.

"But I loved my role," Ramsey said. "When our guys got tired, I went in. By just sitting on the bench, I got a chance to see how the flow of the game was going and I knew what to do when Red sent me in."