bruce@godot.UUCP (06/11/84)
The Lakers won game 6 at the Forum today with a flourish which started
in the late 3rd quarter and brought them back from an 11-point deficit.
Excellent game.
Kareem played a very good game, as did Magic, but the big offensive
spark in the comeback was Byron Scott. The Lakers played Wilks on Bird
in the final half, and it was very effective. Larry was hot, but got
only 11 shots off the entire game (8 of 11, 28 points). Bird's passing
was in good form for the first time in the series; he did give up a lot
of shots that way, but Wilkes played him very well. The Lakers hit the
boards very well.
James Worthy put on quite a show...of brutality. He hit Maxwell with a
cheap shot which was 10 times worse than the infamous McHale foul in
game 4. Max went up for a dunk to cap a beautiful Celtic fast break,
when Worthy shoved him hard in the back, sending him flying into the
support, barely missing getting his head smashed on the backboard.
Unlike Kevin's foul, Worthy had absolutely no play on Max. It could not
possibly be consrtrued as anything but a deliberate cheap shot.
After game 4, Pat Riley called the Celtics a "bunch of thugs" whose only
chance of beating the Lakers was to beat them up. He suggested the
Lakers might need switchblades in game 5. He said that, unlike the
Celtics, "the Lakers play the game the way it was meant to be played."
He said that he would expect any player who did what McHale did to be
ejected. He said that he would bench any player of his who did such a
thing, but no player of his ever would ("there's no room for that kind
of play on this team").
Bullshit, Pat. That's Hollywood.
Not only was Worthy not benched, but he tried to pick a couple of fights
later in the game. Ainge went for a Worthy upfake in the lane, and more
or less ended up landing on Worthy while blocking his shot. It was
definitely a contact foul, but if you don't expect guys to leap into you
occasionally when you fake in the lane, you're naive. Anyway, James
grabbed Danny by the shirt and flung him around, and after they were
separated, James threw a punch and slap at McHale.
Well, it won't be quite as hot outside on Tuesday in Boston; high is
predicted in the 80s. It'll still be the tropical Garden, though. See
you there.
--
--Bruce Nemnich, Thinking Machines Corporation, Waltham, MA
{decvax!cca,ihnp4!mit-eddie,allegra!ias}!godot!bruce, BJN@MIT-MC.ARPA