Moderators: penbeast0, PaulieWal, Clyde Frazier, Doctor MJ, trex_8063
ThaRegul8r wrote:I'm not going to post the same things PTB Fan did, but something different.Bill Walton is a party pooper.
A record crowd of 19,889, the most ever to watch pro basketball in Chicago, turned out at the Stadium to watch Walton and the powerful Portland Trail Blazers battle Artis Gilmore and the surging Chicago Bulls last night. And with three minutes to go, the home folks were happy as their club clung to a 75-74 lead.
But Walton hit a free throw to tie the score, then banked in a pair of baskets before scoring the game’s final point on a free throw. He also grabbed four rebounds in those final three minutes.
Walton led all players with 29 points and 18 rebounds. He limited Gilmore to just two free throws in the second half and a total of 10 points.
“Walton is the best center I’ve ever coached,” the Blazers Jack Ramsay said flatly.
The victory lifted Portland’s record to 23-10, best in the National Basketball Association. Chicago had won nine of its previous 11.
Walton credited assistant coach Jack McKinney with “turning the game around for us. He talked to us at halftime and told us to force the guards outside and keep the forwards in the middle to neutralize any outside shooting. We got tough on defense and shut them off.”
The Bulls squandered a 56-47 lead as Portland went on a 17-2 tear in the third quarter. Chicago fought back to take the lead in the fourth quarter before Walton spoiled the party.Question and Answer
Q. Is Bill Walton of Portland developing into the dominant player of the NBA, as Bill Russell once was with the Celtics? Also, what does Russell say about Walton?
A. Walton, until he was sidelined by Achilles tendon trouble recently, had come to be recognized as an intimidator on defense, a great one at getting a fast break started, as well as considerably effective offensively. Russell himself says, “that fella reminds me of someone I used to coach,” referring to 1969 when Russell was player-coach with Boston.
After eliminating the Denver Nuggets in six games in the Western Conference Semifinals, Portland coach Jack Ramsay said, “The players seem to want Los Angeles, because they’d like to prove they can beat the Lakers” (The Pittsburgh Press, May 3, 1977).
1977 Western Conference FinalsINGLEWOOD, Calif. (UPI) — If the Los Angeles Lakers are going to beat the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA playoffs, they’re going to have to have a strong offensive series, Laker coach Jerry West says.
“You simply must stop their running,” West said of Bill Walton and the Trail Blazers. “That is the key to the series for us. They have tremendous quickness. Without a doubt, they’re the quickest team in the league.
“In order for us to do that, we must execute our offense better than we did against Golden State. If you miss your shots, Portland can run. If you don’t miss, they can’t run. It’s just about that simple.
“You can’t contain Walton’s outlet pass because he’s such a great player. That’s simply impossible. The thing we have to do is score. That way, they can’t run as much.”
However, that proved to be easier said than done in Game 1, which Portland took 121-109.The first round of the UCLA alumni Invitational went to Bill Walton, class of 74, with a lot of help from his classy Portland teammates of ’77.
It was supposed to be a showdown between the two former star centers of UCLA’s glory years. Walton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, once known as Lew Alcindor, class of ’69.
But what Friday night’s National Basketball Association semifinal playoff between Walton’s Trail Blazers and Abdul-Jabbar’s Los Angeles Lakers turned out to be was a runaway, namely Walton handing the ball to a variety of teammates who ran through the Lakers’ defense and rolled up a 121-109 victory.
That shattered the Lakers’ near invincibility at home this year (they were 41-5 going into the game) and shifted the home court advantage to the Trail Blazers. The teams meet again today before heading to Portland for the third and fourth games in the best of seven series.
…
Walton had 22 points to Abdul-Jabbar’s 30 and Maurice Lucas, Portland’s top scorer, had 28 points to Earl Tatum’s 32. But the Lakers had nothing to match the high scoring Portland balance—Lionel Hollins’ 25 points and Johnny Davis’ 20. More importantly, the Lakers had nothing to stop the Trail Blazers’ back door plays. Time after time the guards or forwards passed to Walton, charged to the hoop, took the return pass and put in the easy layups with the Lakers looking on helplessly and hopelessly out of position.
“They have tremendous quickness,” said Lakers Coach Jerry West. “They were a lot quicker than we were … I don’t know how many baskets they scored from four or five feet, but it was quite a few.”
Said Portland Coach Jack Ramsey: “We ran the way we wanted. Walton did a good job on Kareem with a little help … We stressed ball and player movement, and, as a result, got some key baskets.”
Game 2The Los Angeles Lakers are in trouble.
The Lakers […] are down 2-0 in their best-of-seven National Basketball Association semifinal series. […] [T]he Lakers had set an NBA record by winning 37 of 41 regular season games at home. So, they have lost two straight playoff games to the Portland Trail Blazers, both at Los Angeles.
After the Philadelphia 76ers had beaten the Rockets in Philadelphia, 106-97, in the first half of a nationally televised doubleheader, it was time for the Lakers and the Trail Blazers to show their stuff.
What it showed was that the Lakers cannot always rely on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to bail them out.
Not This Time
This time, with time running out, the 12 foot jump shot that Abdul-Jabbar released with all five Trail Blazers surrounding him did not go in — as it had so often all game and all year — and the Lakers lost in Los Angeles, 99-97.
While Bill Walton, the Blazers’ rapidly maturing center, and Jack Ramsay, his coach, hugged at midcourt, Abdul-Jabbar and the team he has taken so far, walked off — down by two points on the scoreboard, down two games to none in their playoff series, down psychologically and, possibly, down for the count.
The next two games of the series will be played in Portland Tuesday and Friday, giving the Trail Blazers, who are also extremely strong at home, a chance to sweep the series without returning to Los Angeles.
Guards Run Wild
While Abdul-Jabbar was scoring 40 points and pulling down 17 rebounds against Walton, the Lakers were being beaten at the guard position by Portland’s Lionel Hollins and Herm Gilliam.
Hollins scored 31 points and Gilliam, who came off the bench, added 24. Hollins had 22 in the first half as Portland took a 54-51 lead. Gilliam had 14 in the final quarter, including the basket that gave the Trail Blazers the lead for good, at 98-97, with 1:03 left.
Hollins and Gilliam, along with rookie starter Johnny Davis, who had 20 points Friday, were simply too fast for the Laker guards, Don Chaney and rookie Earl Tatum from Marquette.
Hollins’ 8 steals and the Lakers’ 17 other turnovers were the main differences in a game that Coach Jerry West said that his team should have won “because we outplayed them physically in every way.”
Playground Shots
But in the fourth quarter, the Lakers could not keep Gilliam under control as he brought Portland back from a seven point deficit with an assortment of playground shots. He threw in high arching fadeaway jump shots from 20 feet, and alley-oop hook, and finally a hanging, driving layup that gave Portland the lead for good, 98-87.
Los Angeles, which had led most of the game, had several chances to win after Gilliam’s layup. One of those chances was a missed 15 footer by Tatum, who had 32 points Friday, but was 4 for 15 Sunday, finishing with 10 points.
After Hollins had made one of two free throws for a two point lead, the Lakers got the ball back for a last shot and a chance to tie. The inbounds pass went to Abdul-Jabbar, but Walton kept him far from the basket and his shot with five seconds left missed, with the rebound going out of bounds as time expired.
Not Optimistic
West, the former Lakers’ star, mused about his team’s chances. “When I was a player, we lost the first two games against Golden State at home once and then won the next four in a row. But that team had a lot more talent than this one does.”
Game 3Walton Blazes Trail To Power
Portland, Ore. (AP) — Bill Walton, the player most responsible for the arrival of the Portland Trail Blazers as a National Basketball Association power, has pushed his team to the brink of a four-game playoff sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers.
With nine minutes left in the third game of their best-of-seven semifinal series last night, the Blazers trailed by four points and were in desperate need of some offensive help. So Walton went on a rampage.
He sank seven straight baskets in the next six minutes, the Blazers had a nine-point lead and held on for a 102-97 victory.
Friday night at Portland, the Blazers, in the playoffs for the first time in history, try and complete the sweep and advance to the championship round.
“I just got hot,” Walton said after the game. “The nature of the team is whoever gets hot is supposed to take it to the hoop.”
Lakers’ Coach Jerry West said Walton’s scoring outburst came when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was forced to help out on defense.
“Bill Walton is the second-best center in the league, but he is not Kareem,” West said. “There were three or four baskets where Kareem stepped out to block a shot and Walton just rolled in for the rebound.”
“I thought Bill took the challenge tonight and made some tremendous offensive plays,” said Portland Coach Jack Ramsay.
“Bill said at halftime he’d have to go to the basket more,” Ramsay said. “He just took it. When he gets that look in his face, he’s there.”
Cazzie Russell’s 10-foot jumper with 9½ minutes remaining gave the Lakers an 81-77 lead. Then Walton scored, cutting the gap to two points.
The Lakers responded with a four-on-one fast break, but Portland’s Bob Gross blocked rookie Tom Abernethy’s layup attempt. Then Walton stuffed a rebound and the score was tied 81-81 with just under eight minutes to go.
Gross’ rebound basket gave Portland the lead, then Walton hit two more shots, making it 87-81.
Abdul-Jabbar stuffed a shot, cutting the margin to four points, but Walton responded with another rebound basket, a left-handed hook and a 10-foot right-handed hook, giving Portland a 93-84 lead with 3:50 remaining.
Twice Los Angeles cut the lead to three points, but free throws lifted the Blazers out of trouble.
But Abdul-Jabbar, who has averaged 36.7 points per game in the playoffs, took just four shots in the first half and 12 during the entire game.
“They’re collapsing three guys sometimes,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “I’ve got to pass to make them get off.”
“He wasn’t looking to shoot,” Walton said of his rival center. “It appeared he was waiting to draw the double-team and then was looking for the pass.”
The Lakers are [in] trouble, but West said his team has outplayed the Blazers the last two games, only to come out on the losing end.
“Friday night we’ll just go out and play like we did tonight,” West said. “Tough.”
Game 4Portland sweeps Lakers, 105-101
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland TrailBlazers, after six frustrating years, finally have arrived in the National Basketball Association.
The Blazers beat Los Angeles 105-101 Friday night to sweep the Lakers in four games to win the Western Conference title and race into the NBA finals against either Philadelphia or Houston.
Los Angeles Laker coach Jerry West doesn’t think it was a fluke, either.
“Portland is a great team,” said West. “It has as fine personnel as there is in basketball. There is great depth in the backcourt. It is a team that is going to be good for a long time.”
That’s because of youth. Portland averages but three years of pro experience in the lineup.
Bill Walton is a third-year man, but this is the first year in three that he’s stayed healthy most of the season.”
“I don’t think anyone ever has played Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in a series better than Bill Walton did,” said Portland coach Jack Ramsay. “Bill played with great dedication against Kareem, and we couldn’t have won without that.In the years to come it surely will be remembered as the Mountain Man Jam or the V (for Vegetarian) Bomb or the Sky-Is-Falling-Redbeard-Autographed-Screamer. Something like that. But before the explosive dunk shot that Bill Walton put in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's face—the one he threw right down there in the famous goggles—before that moment becomes blown out of proportion, let us consider what it was not.
It was not a signal that a new president of the UCLA Alumni Pivotmen's Association had been chosen. It was not a sign of quick and absolute victory in this new mano a mano duel. Possibly it wasn't even the decisive play in the Portland Trail Blazers' stunning 4-love defeat of the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Western Conference championship. What the shot did was proclaim to the world that Bill Walton has finally arrived on the same plateau as Abdul-Jabbar; that his classically balanced passing and rebounding, his quick shots and outlet bullets, his savage defense and intelligent command of all phases of the game are more than enough to match his adversary's greater offensive powers. The play showed that pro basketball has a brand-new Russell-Chamberlain rivalry to savor.
The manner in which wave upon wave of Trail Blazers galloped past the Lakers—as if, L.A. Coach Jerry West observed, "a shoemaker had nailed us to the floor"—made any extended comparisons of play in the middle invalid. But Walton's singular brilliance in the series obviously dictated that the Lakers, who somehow won 53 games during the regular season, were not about to play that one on five game of theirs all the way to the NBA championship.
Both centers went to great, silent lengths to avoid talking about each other. Walton did say, "It's no big deal.... I'm excited. As Kareem gets older, he gets smarter. Physically he's in his prime. I think he's playing the best of his life."
And Abdul-Jabbar said, "Walton believes in his talent. He tests his skill rather than using muscle to hang on me. It's a challenge to play against a guy this good, on a level above what I go through most nights. It's not so much even winning. It's expressing yourself."
After the Blazers had shocked the Lakers by winning the first two games of the series at the occasionally Fabulous Forum in L.A., the situation in Portland was this: 9:10 left in Game Three, Los Angeles ahead 81-77. Frustrated because his 70 points in the two L.A. defeats had been to no avail, Abdul-Jabbar had turned passer and defender. As a result, Walton had been held to eight points. But in the next 5:18, his eyes glazed and raging as if somebody had spiked his kumquat juice with kerosene, the Mountain Man scored seven baskets. He banked, he tipped. He soared, he stuffed. He hooked right, he hooked left. After this reign of terror had subsided, Portland had the lead, 93-84, and eventually the game, 102-97.
In the middle of all of this came the play which approximately 78 billion Oregonians and their grandchildren will swear they witnessed long after Walton's red beard is down to his toes. Maurice Lucas started it by missing a jump shot, which he rebounded and threw out to Walton in the foul circle. Walton paused, roared down the lane and flung himself into the air. Abdul-Jabbar went up to meet him somewhere north of reality, where few mortals dare to tread.
Boom! A mountain symphony. Incredibly, all of us survived.
After the smoke had cleared, there was Walton waving his fist at Lucas and flashing that peculiar manic grin. There was Abdul-Jabbar looking around at the scoreboard, the referee, the bench. Anywhere for some help. And everywhere but at Walton.
"I wish I had been on the bench, not in the game," said Portland's Herm Gilliam of the moment. "I wanted to jump up, do spin-arounds, do handstands. Bill got that look that says he's handling the case. That look is scary."
In all fairness to Abdul-Jabbar, he had spent the better part of three games—and would spend yet one more—exhausting himself by bounding up and down and all over the court attempting to deflect the rafter heaves of Lucas as well as those of greyhounds Lionel Hollins and Johnny Davis, who had slithered through or simply zipped around the pitiful Laker backcourt defenders. When Abdul-Jabbar ran down, Portland would counter his weakened offensive efforts by placing Walton in front of him, Lucas behind him and two or three or 15 other Blazers swarming around him on all sides.
On his own, Walton forced Abdul-Jabbar to set up three or four feet farther out than he likes. He also overplayed the dreaded sky hook from the left so well that Kareem made only about a half dozen hooks in the lane—his bread and butter—during the whole series.
"I don't think anybody has ever played Kareem as well as Bill Walton," Portland Coach Jack Ramsay said. "Within a team defense," he quickly added. "With a little help from his friends," he meant.
It is not demeaning the Portland sweep—if you are scoring, the scores were 121-109, 99-97, 102-97, 105-101—to mention that the situation might have been different had Los Angeles come equipped with a healthy Kermit Washington, the powerful forward who missed the entire playoffs, and Lucius Allen. In the series Lucas destroyed Laker Don Ford in points (92-41) and rebounds (47-11) while the Blazer backcourt took advantage of Allen's immobility (because of a dislocated toe he played sparingly in only the last two games) to run wind sprints past the Laker guards.
As his team's marvelous season dwindled down to its tragic climax, West became touchy any time the Abdul-Jabbar/Walton comparison was brought up. "Excluding the big guys, would you want our 11 or their 11?" West demanded. "I have to feel sorry for Kareem. It's a terrible burden we put on him."
Which is to say that Abdul-Jabbar received nowhere near the support Walton enjoyed. Jazzy Cazzie Russell shot a bluesy 24 for 62, or 39%. After scoring 32 points in the opener, swingman Earl Tatum died with 23 in the next three games, including a new record for Pacific Coast airballs. And defensive "stopper" Don Chaney seemed to stop himself, frequently by looking bewildered, as if he wished somebody would please tell him which way Hollins and Davis went and when they were coming back.
The quicksilver Davis, a rookie filling in for the injured Dave Twardzik, combined with Hollins for 45 points in Game One and 39 in Game Four. In Game Two the veteran Gilliam (known to his mates as Trickster) hurled in some unlikely grenades, among which was one outrageous, off-balance, high-kicking bank shot that barely made it over Abdul-Jabbar's fingertips to win the game. "Give 'em some tricks, Trickster," his teammates kept yelling.
Though Abdul-Jabbar outshone Walton statistically—121-77 in points, 64-59 in rebounds, 15-9 in blocked shots as well as 61% to 50% shooting—Walton seemed to control every key rebound, throw every smart pass and convert every big play his team needed. His 23 assists befitted a center who is already a legend as a passer.
In Game One Walton outscored his rival 9-2 in the first quarter and outplayed him in the first half when Portland rushed to a 61-43 lead that buried the Lakers.
In Game Two, Abdul-Jabbar scored 40 points to Walton's 14, but each had 17 rebounds and Walton had the biggest of those after he had forced Abdul-Jabbar's tying-basket attempt in the final five seconds to be a fallaway moonball jumper rather than a sky hook.
In Game Three, Walton's five minutes of unrestrained havoc may soon be made into a major motion picture starring Bruce Jenner. The next day Abdul-Jabbar said, "I know Bill is enjoying this. It's not Amsterdam Avenue back on the playgrounds, but if he jams a couple I got to get the baskets back, so I dunk. I like the way the Blazers play. They should be national champs."
In Game Four last Friday night some brutal pounding inside resulted in Walton forcing Abdul-Jabbar to the bench with his fourth and fifth fouls late in the third quarter. Los Angeles was ahead by three points when Kareem had to sit down. By the time he returned, Portland was ahead by six. The series was over.
Though Abdul-Jabbar rallied the Lakers to within two points while batting away everything the Blazers challenged him with inside, Portland won the final game the way it had won the others—by doing the important little things that quick people get away with against slow people.
At the end Walton was not quick enough to get to Abdul-Jabbar as the Laker center rushed from the floor through the howling mob. The two combatants had sought each other out and firmly grasped hands following each game. Now, Walton encountered West instead.
It was Lucas who said, "Jabbar would never give up. He's the most respected player in the league because he never bows his head. Such great inner strength! You may beat his team but you never beat him."
As he embraced West and jabbed the air in the direction of the departing Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton understood that better than anybody in Portland.
Afterwards, John Wooden commented on both of his former centers. Of Kareem, he said:“Kareem tends to get down at times,” he said. “And when he’s down he doesn’t play as well. This year, he played much better than last year. I think that’s a credit to Jerry (Laker Coach Jerry West). For some reason, Kareem was more motivated this season.”
Of Walton, he said:Physically, he doesn’t have any real weaknesses. He comes closer to making the most of his abilities than Kareem, although Kareem has more physical talent.
1977 NBA Finals
Prior to the NBA Finals, Philadelphia coach Gene Shue said:“Walton is a major problem,” said Shue. “He’s one of those dominating centers and he has no apparent weaknesses.
“He’s just an exceptional basketball player. He’s very unselfish. He’s an excellent rebounder and passer and plays great offense when he has to.”
Jack Ramsey’s Blazers also have other good talent in their starting five, said Shue.
“In addition to their talent, they have great quickness,” assessed Shue. “That’s what we have to contend with. They win their games on defense. They’re very aggressive. They win their games by pressing.
“There just isn’t any team in the league like this team,” he said of Portland. “They gear their offense to their defense. They play fast break basketball.
“This has given us a problem over the year, that style,” he said.Center
Caldwell Jones and Darryl Dawkins vs. Bill Walton — With Walton healthy, Portland had the best winning percentage in the NBA in the regular season and won 10 of 13 playoff games. Offensively he looks to pass rather than shoot and is as good as any center in the game at firing outlet passes to set up the fast break and finding cutters driving the lane for layups. He can also score when needed.
Jones is not much of a scoring threat which will permit Walton to slough off and clog the middle. Jones is in the lineup to play defense and block shots. When the Sixers want some punch, baby bull Dawkins comes in — 6-feet-11½, 265 pounds of raw power, probably the most physical player in the game. But Dawkins has yet to learn how to harness his awesome strength to best advantage. He can come off the bench one night and turn a game around, or he can commit untimely fouls and costly turnovers.
Against either opponent Walton’s versatility and basketball sense gives Portland a clear edge.
Philadelphia won the first two games, but then Portland came back to win the next two to tie the series.PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — After dropping the first two games in their National Basketball Association championship series against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Portland Trail Blazers were in desperate need of a psychological life.
Maurice Lucas provided one even before the tipoff in Sunday’s third game. Lucas, a 6-foot-9 forward, had brawled with Philadelphia’s 6-foot-11 Darryl Dawkins, in last Thursday’s 107-89 victory by the 76ers.
Lucas wiped out those bitter memories by conspicuously shaking hands with the 20-year-old Dawkins when Portland’s starting lineup was introduced prior to the contest.
Two hours later, Lucas had scored 25 points in leading the Blazers to a 129-107 rout that diminished to 2-1 the Philadelphia edge in the best-of-seven series.
Game Four will be played here Tuesday night at 9 p.m., EDT.
“It wasn’t planned, it was just something that happened,” the soft-voiced Lucas said of the game-opening handshake.
“People are trying to make Dawkins out to be this big gorilla. But he’s a very nice person.”
The Blazers bolted to an 18-point lead late in the first quarter. Then Julius Erving and Doug Collins took control and the 76ers sliced the margin to 56-53 with 1:23 left in the first half.
But Lucas hit two quick baskets and Lionel Hollins sank two free throws to give the Western Conference champions a 60-53 halftime edge.
Philadelphia stayed close through the third quarter. Then Bill Walton came up with a couple of classic Waltonian plays that doomed the 76ers’ hopes for a four-game sweep.
Portland’s Bob Gross lofted the ball towards the basket and Walton battled Dawkins somewhere above the rim. Walton’s right hand finally tipped the ball through the hoop as his 6-foot-11 frame crashed to the floor.
An instant later, guard Dave Twardzik stole the ball in backcourt and lofted a pass towards the hoop. Walton climbed back on his feet and stuffed the ball through the hoop with both hands, giving the Blazers a 95-87 lead with 9½ minutes to go.
The 76ers never got any closer as the Blazers, principally Gross and reserve Lloyd Neal, turned the game into a rout.”
“The first basket was a set play,” Walton said. “We improvised on the second one. When I got up, all of a sudden Twardzik had the ball and I moved back to the basket.”
“He comes up with big plays like that,” said Portland Coach Jack Ramsay, recalling Walton’s now-famous slam dunk over Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the semifinals.
Gross couldn’t believe the Portland team captain’s first basket.
“I don’t know how he did it. It was a super play,” Gross said.
Walton hit 9 of 15 from the field, scored 20 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, handed out 9 assists, and blocked 4 shots. Gross added 19 points. Rookie guard Johnny Davis scored 18 and Lionel Hollins, despite a 4-for-17 shooting day, added 15 points.
As usual, Erving sizzled. He scored 28 points, including 10 of 11 free throws. Collins was 9-for-13 from the field and scored 21 points.
Portland won Game 4 130-98, their 32-point margin of victory the largest for a Game 4 in NBA history, and “tied for third on the list of most lopsided NBA championship round games. Only the Boston Celtics beat anybody worse, 129-95 over St. Louis in 1961 and 129-96 over Los Angeles in 1965. The other 32-point margin also belonged to the Celtics, 142-110 over the Lakers in 1965” (The Bulletin, May 31, 1977) “Walton played slightly more than half the game, scored 12 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and dished out seven assists” (The Bulletin, May 31, 1977).THE SWEEP
Portland Ablaze And Heading Home
There was talk of a sweep before the NBA finals began.
There was talk of a sweep after Philadelphia won the first two games in Portland.
And there’s talk of a sweep today. And it’s Portland doing the talking. And the sweeping.
The Trail Blazers are one game away from the NBA championship just six years after expansion brought them into the big time.
They’ll try to wrap it up Sunday (CBS, 3 p.m.,) on their home floor, where they have been virtually unbeatable this year, winning their last 17 in a row and 44 of 50 through the regular season and playoffs. And they’ll have the added support of the vocal legions who have made Blazermania a phenomenon in the Pacific Northwest.
“We expect a war on Sunday,” said the ever-cautious Jack Ramsay. “We will have to play our best. If we do that, we’ll win. Anything less won’t be enough.”
The Blazers produced something less than their best last night but nonetheless moved within one victory of the NBA crown, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 110-104 to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven playoff finals.
It was a strange game that ran in spurts and produced an unlikely hero — Bobby Gross, Portland’s unassuming 6-foor-6 forward who came into the series as “the other guy,” the unknown whose job it would be to try and stop the brilliant Julius Erving of Philadelphia.
Gross helped the Blazers take the lead at the start, contributing eight points, two assists and a steal as Portland jumped out to a 16-9 advantage while Philadelphia was missing 11 of its first 14 shots.
“Bobby Gross gave us that instant offense,” praised teammate Maurice Lucas, who contributed 20 points and 13 rebounds. “He just broke loose and created a spree.”
“We took it to them and got our game going again,” said Gross, who hit on 10 of his 13 shots from the floor against Erving. “We made some steals and we started running. When we do that, we’re tough to beat.”
As for his surprising offensive production, Gross, a second-year man from Long Beach State, said, “I was really surprised when he (Erving) backed off on me so much and gave me room. If I have the open shot, I’ll take it. I can hit it.”
Gross and Lucas were just two of the more noticeable heroes on the Blazers, who once against used their balance and team game to offset a magnificent solo effort by Erving, who had 37 points.
“Our over-all defense won the game,” said Ramsay. “That gave us our fast break. And our guards played especially well.”
Hollins had 14 points and Johnny Davis 11 points and eight assists, while Dave Twardzik came off the bench to tally 16.
And then there was Bill Walton, once again the dominating presence in the middle with 14 points and 24 rebounds, helping Portland to a 59-47 advantage off the boards. He’s averaging 18.2 rebounds for the five games this series. “Just having Bill there underneath keeps them away from the basket,” observed an appreciative Ramsey.
“When they’re in control, they’re in complete control,” added George McGinnis, who showed signs of busting out of his slump early in the third period, then was benched by Gene Shue after picking up his fourth personal foul. “They force errors, make you make the bad pass.”
Guards Doug Collins and Henry Bibby scored 23 and 16 points respectively, but Erving was the Sixers’ only effective player up front until Shue discovered Joe Bryant.
Erving, however, was not about to give up.
“We’ve got a bunch of crazy guys on this team,” said Dr. J.
“As unpredictable as we are, don’t count us out. Maybe we’ll come up with a surprise on Sunday. We shall see.”
“Bill (Walton) was fantastic,” said Portland coach Jack Ramsay. “He’s a great force inside. He kept Philadelphia out. The perimeter shots were under pressure” (Harlan Daily Enterprise, Jun 5, 1977).Walton brilliant again
Portland Blazers best
PORTLAND (AP) – The Portland Trail Blazers completed their stunning rise to the top of the pro basketball world Sunday by defeating the Philadelphia 76ers 109-107 behind another brilliant all-around performance by center Bill Walton.
It was the culmination of a remarkable season for the Blazers, born of expansion, nurtured through six losing years marked by bickering and frustration and never before in the playoffs.
Portland, under the masterful direction of Coach Jack Ramsay, used teamwork, poise, a pressure defense and a disciplined attack to overcome the multi-talented 76ers four games to two in the best-of-seven National Basketball Association championship series.
Walton, who scored and rebounded in double figures in every game of the series, had 20 points, 23 rebounds, 7 assists and 8 blocked shots in Sunday’s finale. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the championship series.
Bob Gross added 24 points and Lionel Hollins 20 for the Blazers to offset another remarkable effort by Philadelphia’s Julius Erving, the game’s high scorer with 40 points.The real Bill Walton
NEW YORK — Early in Bill Walton’s second season with the Portland Trail Blazers, he was asked to assess his career that had been hounded by injuries.
“When I’m healthy,” he said, “I play real good, I think.” “Then,” the 6 foot 11-inch center was asked, “nobody has see the real Bill Walton yet.”
“I don’t think so.”
But everybody has seen the real Bill Walton now.
Healthy virtually throughout his third season and his first playoffs, the real Bill Walton has stood up and the other Trail Blazers have stood up with him as the National Basketball Association champions. No more nasty remarks about his vegetarian diet, please; his teammate, Maurice Lucas, also is a vegetarian.
For the traditionalists, at least Bill Walton sheared his long red beard and his ponytail to more conservative lengths. And he wasn’t talking about Patty Hearst any more. He didn’t have time. He was too busy waving his arms and directing the offense or rebounding on defense during the Trail Blazers’ conquest of the Philadelphia 76ers in six games. Bill Walton was everything he used to be at the University of California, Los Angeles, when John Wooden was his coach. Eddie Donovan, the New York Knicks’ general manager, has a theory as to why.
“I think Jack Ramsey reached Walton,” says Eddie Donovan. “Of all the coaches in our league, Jack Ramsey is the closest to being the John Wooden type — scholarly, available. I think Walton responded to that.”
Bill Walton surely did respond to Jack Ramsey, but so did his teammates. Jack Ramsey, somewhat inconspicuous as a coach with both the 76ers and the Buffalo Braves before being hired by the Trail Blazers a year ago, was talking about his team Monday over the telephone from the club offices in Portland.
“They’re talented,” the coach said, “and they’re willing to play together.”
Willing to play together — that, remember, is what the Knicks were not willing to do in the season that ended two months ago. But being willing to play together is what basketball is all about.
“The coach can say what he wants,” Jack Ramsey said, “but the players have to respond.”
Bill Walton led that response — as the captain, as the leader, as the center that an NBA championship team invariably needs. Over the last two decades five other centers have been primarily responsible for all but one title team — Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Willis Reed, Dave Cowens and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The only exception was the Golden State Warriors of two years ago with Clifford Ray, a useful but not dominant center.
And in Jack Ramsay’s opinion, Bill Walton is “more skilled in all facets of the game” than any of the dominant centers.
“Wilt was a great rebounder, a great shot blocker and he became a better shooter, but he had no range and he was a terrible foul shooter. Russell was the best defensively, a fierce competitor. Kareem is the best offensive player of the three. But to me Bill does all of those things well. Reed and Cowens were different types. Bill is a great, great player. I never had an outstanding center before.” But as the Buffalo coach, Jack Ramsay had Bob McAdoo, now the Knicks’ center.
“I didn’t consider Bob McAdoo as center. He’s a forward playing center. He’s not equipped to do what a center has to do what I want a center to do. Like the way Bill passes. That might be his strongest forte.”
Bill Walton also responded to the aura of the NBA championship series, basketball’s showcase event.
“This was better even than at UCLA,” the center said, “because this was against the best players in the world.”PORTLAND, Ore (UPI) — Philadelphia Coach Gene Shue gave a quick congratulations to Portland Coach Jack Ramsey, then went into seclusion to mask his disappointment at losing the NBA championship to the Portland Trail Blazers.
But, when he came out of that seclusion, he spoke like a gentleman and with candor.
“I went in to congratulate Jack,” he said. “You know, if Bill Walton had been healthy the whole season, there is no doubt that the Portland Trail Blazers would have the best regular season record in the NBA.”
Asked about the championship matchup of Portland’s “classic style team-oriented play” versus his “one-on-one” type of team, and Shue said his own philosophy of basketball “always has been in favor of the classic style, the team that passes, the team that hits the open man. I learned that in college, and as a pro player.
“But you know, in the pros, you take what you can get. You can’t say I’ll take this guy or that guy. The object of the game is to win. I feel very satisfied that we reached our objective of the championship finals.
“I have a group of very strong-willed individual players. But I also wish I had Bill Walton.”
“He doesn’t have any weaknesses,” said Philadelphia coach Gene Shue. “You can’t shut him off. He can score when he has to but he is above all else a team player. He makes the players around him so much better” (The Spokesman Review, Jun 6, 1977)
On Walton's '77:“Since he retired in 1969, only one NBA center has come even remotely close to achieving [Bill] Russell’s total command of a basketball game. That was Bill Walton, on the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers, and Walton’s ensuing injuries turned that bit of magic into a sad, fleeting memory.”“He had been, in one brief, scintillating season, perhaps the greatest center who ever played the game. Better, that year, than Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He could score, defend, pass, and run. If you had to pick a 12-man team to defend the planet, and could have any center, the one who played in Bill Walton’s body in the 1976-77 season would be a practically irrefutable choice.”
eminence wrote:I see Magic is getting a lot of love, and that brings me back to the point guard debate I always find myself at: '87 Magic vs '08 Paul. Going to post the numbers so everyone doesn't have to look them up.
Regular Season:
Per 100 numbers:
Magic- 31.1 pp100 @ +6.4 rTS%, 8.2 rp100, 15.9 ap100, 2.2 sp100, 0.6 bp100, 4.9 tov, 2.7 pf
Paul- 29.9 pp100 @ 3.6 rTS%, 5.7 rp100, 16.4 ap100, 3.9 sp100, 0.1 bp100, 3.6 tov, 3.3 pf
Other numbers:
Magic- 27.0 per, 0.263 ws/48, 8.1 bpm, 7.4 vorp, 124 orating, 106 drating
Paul- 28.3 per, 0.284 ws/48, 9.2 bpm, 8.5 vorp, 125 orating, 103 drating
Playoffs:
Per 100 numbers:
Magic - 28.1 pp100 @ +6.9 rTS%, 10.0 rp100, 15.7 ap100, 2.2 sp100, 0.5 bp100, 3.7 tov, 2.7 pf
Paul- 32.9 pp100 @ +2.5 rTS%, 6.7 rp100, 15.4 ap100, 3.2 sp100, 0.2 bp100, 2.5 tov, 4.9 pf
Other numbers:
Magic- 26.2 per, 0.265 ws/48, 9.7 bpm, 2.0 vorp, 129 orating, 107 drating
Paul- 30.7 per, 0.289 ws/48, 12.3 bpm, 1.8 vorp, 126 orating, 107 drating
In general they both have two main advantages and those reflect in the stats: Magic is the more efficient scorer and contributes more on the boards, while Paul takes better care of the ball and plays better defense. I can't decide at this point, seems like such a situation type decision to me.
eminence wrote:I see Magic is getting a lot of love, and that brings me back to the point guard debate I always find myself at: '87 Magic vs '08 Paul. Going to post the numbers so everyone doesn't have to look them up.
Regular Season:
Per 100 numbers:
Magic- 31.1 pp100 @ +6.4 rTS%, 8.2 rp100, 15.9 ap100, 2.2 sp100, 0.6 bp100, 4.9 tov, 2.7 pf
Paul- 29.9 pp100 @ 3.6 rTS%, 5.7 rp100, 16.4 ap100, 3.9 sp100, 0.1 bp100, 3.6 tov, 3.3 pf
Other numbers:
Magic- 27.0 per, 0.263 ws/48, 8.1 bpm, 7.4 vorp, 124 orating, 106 drating
Paul- 28.3 per, 0.284 ws/48, 9.2 bpm, 8.5 vorp, 125 orating, 103 drating
Playoffs:
Per 100 numbers:
Magic - 28.1 pp100 @ +6.9 rTS%, 10.0 rp100, 15.7 ap100, 2.2 sp100, 0.5 bp100, 3.7 tov, 2.7 pf
Paul- 32.9 pp100 @ +2.5 rTS%, 6.7 rp100, 15.4 ap100, 3.2 sp100, 0.2 bp100, 2.5 tov, 4.9 pf
Other numbers:
Magic- 26.2 per, 0.265 ws/48, 9.7 bpm, 2.0 vorp, 129 orating, 107 drating
Paul- 30.7 per, 0.289 ws/48, 12.3 bpm, 1.8 vorp, 126 orating, 107 drating
In general they both have two main advantages and those reflect in the stats: Magic is the more efficient scorer and contributes more on the boards, while Paul takes better care of the ball and plays better defense. I can't decide at this point, seems like such a situation type decision to me.
thizznation wrote:eminence wrote:I see Magic is getting a lot of love, and that brings me back to the point guard debate I always find myself at: '87 Magic vs '08 Paul. Going to post the numbers so everyone doesn't have to look them up.
Regular Season:
Per 100 numbers:
Magic- 31.1 pp100 @ +6.4 rTS%, 8.2 rp100, 15.9 ap100, 2.2 sp100, 0.6 bp100, 4.9 tov, 2.7 pf
Paul- 29.9 pp100 @ 3.6 rTS%, 5.7 rp100, 16.4 ap100, 3.9 sp100, 0.1 bp100, 3.6 tov, 3.3 pf
Other numbers:
Magic- 27.0 per, 0.263 ws/48, 8.1 bpm, 7.4 vorp, 124 orating, 106 drating
Paul- 28.3 per, 0.284 ws/48, 9.2 bpm, 8.5 vorp, 125 orating, 103 drating
Playoffs:
Per 100 numbers:
Magic - 28.1 pp100 @ +6.9 rTS%, 10.0 rp100, 15.7 ap100, 2.2 sp100, 0.5 bp100, 3.7 tov, 2.7 pf
Paul- 32.9 pp100 @ +2.5 rTS%, 6.7 rp100, 15.4 ap100, 3.2 sp100, 0.2 bp100, 2.5 tov, 4.9 pf
Other numbers:
Magic- 26.2 per, 0.265 ws/48, 9.7 bpm, 2.0 vorp, 129 orating, 107 drating
Paul- 30.7 per, 0.289 ws/48, 12.3 bpm, 1.8 vorp, 126 orating, 107 drating
In general they both have two main advantages and those reflect in the stats: Magic is the more efficient scorer and contributes more on the boards, while Paul takes better care of the ball and plays better defense. I can't decide at this point, seems like such a situation type decision to me.
How good of defense was Chris Paul giving you in 2008? According to RAPM metrics, Chris Paul wasn't having an impact on the defensive side of the ball.http://www.gotbuckets.com/statistics/rapm/2008-rapm/ . He's actually slightly in the negative. This follows a trend in my opinion that players don't come into the NBA as great defenders. It takes them a couple of seasons to make adjustments and bring up their consistency night in and night out over an 82 game season and really start to get it. Chris Paul was only 22 during his 08 season so this fits the profile I have noticed for younger players, even the stars.
ElGee wrote:Bird and Magic: I encountered a Larry Bird stat recently that floored me a bit. In 1988 (considered to be the end of Bird's prime, or slightly after his peak), the Celtics offensive rating with Kevin McHale in the lineup was...
117.1 (+9.4 to league).
Those would both be records for a full season (McHale played in 64 games). The highest team rating on record for a season is 115.6. (87 Lakers) The greatest distance from league average is +9.2 (04 Dal). The 87 Lakers were +7.3 FTR, and their team was a beacon of health all year.
Of course, most people consider 86 Bird's peak -- not sure how much they differentiate on offense but defensively he was a better team defender still. Well, McHale missed 17 games that year as well and the Celtics were a 110 (+3.1) offense during that time...and a +9.6 SRS team. Scott Wedman replaced McHale in the starting lineup and they just slid Bird to PF. What did Bird do there?
Averaged 27-12-8 57.4% TS 3.1 TOV 7.8 FTA/g 2.1 stls and 0.8 blks in those games. Ho hum stuff.
Now, you can see where the 87 Lakers offense parks itself in the playoffs: http://www.backpicks.com/2011/12/19/the-best-playoff-offenses-since-1980/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Right near the top of the 3-pt era at +10.5. For comparison, the 86 Celtics were +8.2 and the 85 Celtics were +8.5.
In short, I believe these to be the best passers AND two best offensive players in NBA history.
Bird is perhaps the highest portable offensive player there is: he's a GOAT-level off-the-ball player, not in the Reggie Miller mold, but ITO of movement and position through the post and out onto the wing for spacing. He's a ridiculously good rebounder because of this. He's a GOAT-level outlet passer if you want to run. He's a GOAT-level trailer in semi-transition. He's a great post player. He's great off picks. His passing is freakish. He can clearly flourish at either forward position. At his peak, he's still giving you quality defense with positioning and defensive rebounding (it wanes as his body wears down IMO).
For Magic, you give him the keys to the car and get out of the way. Although early Magic's career demonstrates how powerful his GOAT-level passing can be even when Norm Nixon was still handling the ball more. Peak Magic -- unarguably 1987 -- developed his shot so well that he was a major treat to score from the outside and from the line. People have a misconception that Magic was a transition-only offensive threat ("Showtime"), but he was deadly in the halfcourt because of his use of screens and mismatches against smaller players. He is virtually un-guardable, calls his own number efficiently and like Bird, it seems as if he can drop into any system and help "run" the offense.
Mostly due to shot selection, I consider Magic's offensive peak to slightly higher than Bird's. The defensive difference (Magic is a minor liability) makes the peaks very hard for to distinguish. I'll be looking for arguments to help me decide one way or another (do people have these peaks clearly separated in their minds??)
thizznation wrote:How good of defense was Chris Paul giving you in 2008? According to RAPM metrics, Chris Paul wasn't having an impact on the defensive side of the ball.http://www.gotbuckets.com/statistics/rapm/2008-rapm/ . He's actually slightly in the negative. This follows a trend in my opinion that players don't come into the NBA as great defenders. It takes them a couple of seasons to make adjustments and bring up their consistency night in and night out over an 82 game season and really start to get it. Chris Paul was only 22 during his 08 season so this fits the profile I have noticed for younger players, even the stars.
Quotatious wrote:thizznation wrote:How good of defense was Chris Paul giving you in 2008? According to RAPM metrics, Chris Paul wasn't having an impact on the defensive side of the ball.http://www.gotbuckets.com/statistics/rapm/2008-rapm/ . He's actually slightly in the negative. This follows a trend in my opinion that players don't come into the NBA as great defenders. It takes them a couple of seasons to make adjustments and bring up their consistency night in and night out over an 82 game season and really start to get it. Chris Paul was only 22 during his 08 season so this fits the profile I have noticed for younger players, even the stars.
Yeah, it seems that Paul's defense in '08 wasn't very good. On/off court defensive split (I'm looking at 82games.com) implies that Paul's offensive impact was absolutely fantastic (Hornets were scoring 15.4 more points with him on the court), but his defense was a pretty significant negative (they were allowing 6.2 less points with him on the bench). I'm still skeptical about those numbers because he already had a good defensive reputation at that time (made All-Defense 2nd team), but I didn't watch him on a consistent basis that year, so I can't tell. It seems like his defense improved a lot in '09, compared to '08 (his team was 3.4 points better on defense with him on the floor, in '09, and he's a clear positive on D in '09 based on NPI RAPM, and a clear negative in '08).
I'd love to see what NO-KG-AI or NinjaSheppard would say about his defense in those years.
thizznation wrote:Quotatious wrote:thizznation wrote:How good of defense was Chris Paul giving you in 2008? According to RAPM metrics, Chris Paul wasn't having an impact on the defensive side of the ball.http://www.gotbuckets.com/statistics/rapm/2008-rapm/ . He's actually slightly in the negative. This follows a trend in my opinion that players don't come into the NBA as great defenders. It takes them a couple of seasons to make adjustments and bring up their consistency night in and night out over an 82 game season and really start to get it. Chris Paul was only 22 during his 08 season so this fits the profile I have noticed for younger players, even the stars.
Yeah, it seems that Paul's defense in '08 wasn't very good. On/off court defensive split (I'm looking at 82games.com) implies that Paul's offensive impact was absolutely fantastic (Hornets were scoring 15.4 more points with him on the court), but his defense was a pretty significant negative (they were allowing 6.2 less points with him on the bench). I'm still skeptical about those numbers because he already had a good defensive reputation at that time (made All-Defense 2nd team), but I didn't watch him on a consistent basis that year, so I can't tell. It seems like his defense improved a lot in '09, compared to '08 (his team was 3.4 points better on defense with him on the floor, in '09, and he's a clear positive on D in '09 based on NPI RAPM, and a clear negative in '08).
I'd love to see what NO-KG-AI or NinjaSheppard would say about his defense in those years.
Those are some interesting results. Going off that you could suppose that he may have been a talented defensive player but was having issues geling with his team's chemistry. I think similar arguments have been made regarding players' offensive abilities so it may be fair.
.
Even then he flirted with a reputation as the game's greatest player. Now 28 - the start of what many feel are a player's peak years - and coming off his best season, he has a legitimate claim to it.
What a season it was! Playing brilliantly from November to June, Johnson led Los Angeles to its fifth world championship, ran away with the N.B.A.'s Most Valuable Player Award, led the league in assists (his 977 were 129 more than the runner-up) and finished in the top 10 in scoring.
He was also named the best player in the championship series against the Boston Celtics, his hook shot with two seconds left winning the pivotal fourth game and his all-out play breaking open a close final contest. His totals for that last game were 16 points (12 in the third quarter when the Lakers rallied), 19 assists, 8 rebounds and 3 steals.
''Can the game be played any better than Magic played it in the third period. . .?'' asked Sports Illustrated.
This year the Lakers finally were Magic's team: Speed is power, power is speed. Slowly the cast had changed. Michael Cooper had emerged; A.C. Green and James Worthy had been added. Even Mychal Thompson, the most important pickup by either team this year, once was strong enough to play center yet was fast enough to play small forward at times. One had, at certain moments, a sense of watching a prototype of a different breed of athlete -- strong, fast, disciplined -- playing at a level of stunning intensity, with surprisingly few turnovers.
If the Knicks of the late '60s could be described as four guards and one forward (Willis Reed), then this was often a team of four forwards led by a point guard who could, in a very recent era, have played power forward. What made the series so special was the sharp contrast in the styles of Los Angeles and Boston and the knowledge that these two teams, with cameo appearances by Philadelphia and Houston, have essentially dominated the championships since Bird and Johnson entered the league in 1979. That and, of course, the fact that both teams have gradually been shaped to the styles and contours of their superstars, one white and one black.
The Celtics, this year's defending champions, play half-court basketball, and they play it better than any team in the league. That they had even made it to the finals was remarkable, given the death of Len Bias, the infirmities of Bill Walton and the fact that Kevin McHale and Robert Parish were both playing with injuries. But Boston finally lacked the bench mandatory for a tough playoff final and the speed to stay with L.A. in a running game. The Celtic front line, after all, was composed of three exceptional basketball players, while the first seven players for the Lakers seemed to be both exceptional basketball players and exceptional athletes.
One had to look no further than the contrast between McHale and Worthy to understand the classic matchup displayed in this series. If the Lakers controlled the tempo, it would mean that Worthy -- possibly the fastest big man going to the basket in the league -- would be a dominant player; if the Celtics controlled the pace, it meant they would be able to get the ball to McHale, surprisingly nimble and deft, uncommonly skilled at using his body and arms for maximum leverage. Each was an extension of the best of his team. For Worthy to be Worthy, Magic had to be Magic; for McHale to get the ball where he wanted it, Larry Bird and the Celtic offense had to move in proper mesh. If one was having a good game, the other probably was not.
"The question didn't seem relevant. But Bird came along with all the skills, all the things a basketball player has to do. I think he's the greatest." Chimes in Milwaukee Bucks coach Don Nelson, "He's the best player ever to play the game." And there comes this weighty word from Westwood. "I've always considered Oscar Robertson to be the best player in the game," says John Wooden. "Now I'm not so sure that Larry Bird isn't." Even Laker general manager Jerry West, who refuses to compare players from different eras, says of Bird, "He is as nearly perfect as you can get in almost every phase of basketball.”
Bird's play over the recent weeks has revealed an athlete at the height of his powers. When Kevin McHale went down with a heel injury, Bird just gritted his teeth, stooped and hefted McHale's load to his shoulders. In the Celtics' eight games since the All-Star break, Bird has averaged 30.8 points, 13.1 rebounds and 7.8 assists.
Inasmuch as the Celtics, with a best-in-the-league record of 43-11, have hardly missed a beat without McHale, Bird has to be the leading contender for his third straight MVP award, an accomplishment achieved in the NBA by only Russell and Chamberlain. Bird can probably count on Jack Ramsay's vote. After Bird struck for 47 points (including the game winner in overtime), 14 rebounds and 11 assists at Portland on Feb. 14, the Trail Blazer coach, a man not given to overstatement, called him "the greatest clutch player of all time."
"As an all-around player, there's never been anyone better," said Pacer coach George Irvine, the victim of a 30-11-12 Bird line Sunday night (his sixth triple double of the season). "A unique phenomenon," says San Antonio veteran Artis Gilmore of Bird.
[And yet…]
Bird, who has never been accused of false modesty, clings to the position (publicly at least) that Magic Johnson is the game's best active player. "He makes his teammates better to a greater degree than I do. It's his character, not just his abilities," says Bird.
Bird's mood was different today. Not only did the Celtics sweep the Bucks in the Eastern Conference final and advance into the championship round a third straight year, but it was his 3-point shooting extravaganza that put them there.
He hit four of his five 3-point baskets in the final 4 minutes 6 seconds of the game and paved the way for the Celtics' 111-98 victory. Bird attempted six 3-point shots and made five of them, equaling his previous high, which he made earlier in the season against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Danny Ainge took five 3-point shots and made them all.
The Celtics, 11-1 in the playoffs, will await the outcome of the Western Conference final in which the Houston Rockets lead the Los Angeles Lakers, the defending champions, by a 3-1 margin.
Bird, who finished with 30 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals, got 17 of his points in the final quarter. Fourteen of those came after Coach K. C. Jones shifted him into the backcourt after Dennis Johnson had fouled out of the game with 4:57 remaining and Boston ahead, 95-92. For the rest of the game, the Celtics played with a front line of Bill Walton, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale with Ainge as the ball-handler.
After Bird had made his third basket from 3-point range and the partisan capacity crowd of 11,052 began to realize that the Bucks had no chance to win, it began to chant, ''Give the ball to Larry.''
The Celtics obliged and Bird hit his last 3-pointer from the 24-foot range at the buzzer.
''I think I was unconscious today, especially on the one that Bill Walton pitched back to me,'' said Bird of the second of his four attempts. ''The ball was a little to my left, and I was little off balance.’’
Slowly, inevitably, as they raised their teams to the highest professional level, as their teams became perennial challengers for the title, the connection between them, which had once been hyped and artificial, gradually became real. In a league in which expansion had ruined traditional rivalries, their rivalry and that of their teams remained genuine, and they reached the rare point where rivalry turns into respect and even affection. Bird led the campaign for Magic as MVP this year, and Magic talked during the playoffs about how playing against Bird raised his game, made him better, and how he thought that when Bird retired he, too, might retire, that the special challenge implicit in their careers and their mutual era would be over. It was the statement of an athlete thinking not so much of a given series as of the athletic history books.
But in his home dwelling...the hi-top faded warrior is revered. *Smack!* The sound of his palm blocking the basketball... the sound of thousands rising, roaring... the sound of "get that sugar honey iced tea outta here!"
BOSTON — After carrying his team to the championship of the NBA (National Birdball Assn.) Sunday afternoon, Boston Celtic forward Larry Bird humbly said, "I know I've got a lot of work to do this summer."
On what, Larry?
Your mustache? Your grammar? Your tan?
Surely not your basketball. Good God, Larry, give the other guys a break. Take a week off before starting your one-man training camp in your momma's backyard in French Lick, Ind.
After the Celtics crunched the Rockets, 114-97, to win the NBA Finals, four games to two, Larry Bird disappeared into the Celtics locker room. A minute later he reappeared at the locker-room door just long enough to spray the security guard with champagne.
That's Larry: Get everyone involved in the action.
Just like he did on the court, where he chalked up 29 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists and 12 Rocket broken hearts.
Say what you will about Kevin McHale and Dennis Johnson and Bill Walton and all the rest of the Celtics--this was Larry Bird's series.
And Sunday was his day.
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