Bird’s 48th Point Beats Trail Blazers as the Buzzer Sounds

The Portland Trail Blazers, along with nearly 15,000 fans in the Boston Garden, knew exactly where the ball was going. When you have Larry Bird, there’s never a question.

Bird capped a 48-point scoring spree with a jump shot from the corner as the final buzzer sounded Sunday, lifting the Boston Celtics to a 128-127 victory over the Trail Blazers.

“That’s a tough way to lose a game, but Bird made a fantastic play,” Portland Coach Jack Ramsay said. “You’ve got to give Bird credit. Obviously, the shot was not impossible for him.

“He’s the best player in the league, one of the best of all time,” Ramsay said. “There’s nothing he doesn’t do extremely well.”

Boston guard Danny Ainge said, “The angle from behind the glass made it an incredible shot.”

Bird’s shot, made while straddling the three-point line and from just inside the baseline, earned Boston Coach K.C. Jones a trip to the All-Star game Feb. 10 in Indiana as Eastern Conference coach for the second year in a row.

With the best record as of Sunday, Jones earned the berth over Philadelphia’s Billy Cunningham, whose 76ers are 35-8.

“I could have used the three days off, but Larry messed it up by hitting that shot,” Jones said jokingly. “But, if he can hit a shot from behind the backboard, the least I can do is go to Indiana.”

Bird’s shot from the corner on an in-bounds pass from Dennis Johnson with two seconds left improved Boston’s record to 36-8. Clyde Drexler had put Portland in front with an 18-footer with three seconds left.

“That shot says everything about Larry,” Boston veteran M.L. Carr said. “The game meant a lot to K.C. and the organization and everyone was saying it was over. But Larry would not be denied.”

Portland, which trailed by seven points with less than four minutes remaining, rallied on a three-point shot by Steve Colter and a pair of baskets by Jerome Kersey sandwiched around a basket by Bird.

Drexler scored on a turnaround 15-footer and a free throw for a 125-124 Portland lead.

Bird drove for a layup with seven seconds remaining before Drexler scored with three seconds left.

Robert Parish added 30 points for the Celtics, who improved their home record to 20-2. Jim Paxson scored 25 for Portland.

The Celtics scored their 31st victory without a loss in games in which they carried the lead into the fourth period.

Milwaukee 106, San Antonio 93--Terry Cummings scored 30 points, including seven in a 26-8 surge at the end of the first half, to propel the Bucks past the Spurs at San Antonio for their eighth straight victory.

Trailing, 49-48, the Bucks took the lead for good on a Cummings layup with 5:06 left in the second period. Milwaukee extended its lead to as many as 22 early in the fourth period.

A late Spurs’ rally keyed by Mike Mitchell and Johnny Moore was cut short when Cummings led a six-point Milwaukee run with three minutes remaining.

Mitchell scored 35 points.

Detroit 115, Washington 105--Bill Laimbeer scored 27 points and John Long added 21 as the Pistons kept pace with Milwaukee by beating the Bullets at Pontiac, Mich.

Despite an eight-game winning streak of their own, the Pistons have been unable to cut into the Bucks’ three-game lead in the Central Division.