bruce@godot.UUCP (Bruce Nemnich) (05/14/84)
The Celtics beat the Knicks 121-104 in Boston Sunday, winning the series 4-3. Larry Bird was awesome once again, with 39 points (28 in the first half), 12 rebounds, 10 assists, and 3 steals. He missed several more assists when teamates blew easy shots after his feeds. He hit from everywhere from 3-point land to the boards. No one can convince me he isn't the best player in the game (though you're welcome to try! :-)). This was a strange series. It was completely different in Boston than in New York. In Boston, the Celts won four blowouts (by an ave of 18 points) and in New York, the Knicks won three close games (all were two-point games at some time in the final minutes). The winners of every game lead start to finish. There was a fight in game 5: Ainge brutally fouled Walker to prevent him from shooting, and Walker came back swinging. Both benches cleared and ended up in a heap at mid-court. Bernard King is a pleasure to watch, too. You know where he is going to shoot. Three guys can be all over him. McHale (6'11" & a good blocker) can be in his face. He can't possibly see the basket. He can still hit. He scored over 40 in two of the three Knick wins, but was contained (relatively, at least) during the Celtic wins. When they did stop him, they did it more by denying him the ball than denying him the shot. Maxwell had the task of guarding him most of the series and did a good job. Now, on to the Bucks. Finally, someone not in the East! (The Celts have had problems beating their own division all year). Last year, the underdog Bucks swept the Celts in the quarterfinals; there may be a bit of a revenge factor. Boston won the season series 5-1 this year. The schedule is probably Tue & Thu at the Garden and Sat & Mon in Milwaukee, though last I heard it was not official. -- --Bruce Nemnich, Thinking Machines Corporation, Waltham, MA