Celtics Top 76ers a Third Time, 105-94

Early in the fourth quarter Saturday, after a timeout, Coach Billy Cunningham sent his Philadelphia 76ers back onto the court. Julius Erving didn’t go with them, instead taking a chair at the middle of the bench. As play resumed, Cunningham leaned over and patted Erving on the knee.

It was a poignant moment. But several minutes later, after another missed shot by Erving, he again was benched, and this time there was only frustration.

Some 76er fans, certainly a minority among the 17,921 at the Spectrum, began to boo.

Were the boos aimed at Erving? If so, it was the first time he has ever been booed in the Spectrum. But no one was saying it wasn’t possible in a city where Santa Claus once was booed.

Or were the boos directed at Cunningham, for giving up on a living legend, a player who has come through so often in the past for the 76ers?

Only one thing was for sure. In the 76ers’ darkest hour, there wasn’t a Doctor in the house.

On an afternoon when Erving made only 1 of 10 shots and scored 5 points, the 76ers lost to Boston, 105-94, and fell behind, 3-0, in their best-of-seven series for the NBA’s Eastern Conference championship.

In the 14 times that teams from Boston and Philadelphia have met in the playoffs, never has there been a sweep. But the Celtics could accomplish one today in Game 4 at the Spectrum.

Who would have thought that possible after the 76ers, looking like the beasts of the East, swept Milwaukee in the previous series, while the Celtics struggled with first, Cleveland and then, Detroit.

Even after the Celtics won the first two games last week in Boston, their coach, K.C. Jones, said they were “playing scared” Saturday because they were in an arena where they hadn’t won in three regular-season games, where they had won only 5 times in 26 games since the Larry Bird era began in 1979.

It was Bird who made sure the Celtics broke the spell, scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter, his quarter, to finish with 26. He had plenty of offensive help as five of his teammates also scored in double figures.

But just as they did in the first two games, the Celtics won this one with their defense, holding the 76ers under 100 points for the third straight time. And for the third straight time, the 76ers shot less than 50% from the field, 44.3% in this one.

Leading by five after three quarters, the Celtics pulled away by limiting the 76ers to six fourth-quarter field goals, only one in the final 4:21.

Earlier, they allowed the 76ers only one field goal in a five-minute stretch while erasing a 10-point first-quarter deficit.

“Defense is the most important part of the game as far as any team’s success goes,” Jones said. “If they’re missing shots, and you’re playing good defense against them, you’re going to look very good.

“Defense was the thing that saved us against Cleveland and Detroit and that is now winning this series for us.”

Cunningham agreed to an extent, saying, “We know they’re an excellent defensive team, helping out inside. They’re an excellent defensive team inside the paint.”

But Cunningham also said the 76ers are doing little to further their own cause by forcing the ball inside time after time, while passing up open outside shots. Until they’re convinced the 76ers can shoot from outside, the Celtics will continue to double- and triple-team center Moses Malone.

After hitting only 3 of 17 shots in Game 2 Tuesday night and almost having his job as a starter yanked out from under him, guard Andrew Toney made 9 of 14 shots Saturday and scored 26 points.

But he remained hesitant to shoot from outside, scoring most of his points by driving to the basket, as did rookie forward Charles Barkley, who had 23 points. Malone had 18.

The other four 76ers who played combined for 27 points.

It was a particularly discouraging game for Erving, who was almost as bad in Game 1, when he made 5 of 18 shots, before coming back in the next game to lead the 76ers with 22 points.

Obviously, he was upset afterward. Still, someone had to ask, “Are you upset?”

“Yeah,” Erving said. “We lost, and I played like crap.”

But he wasn’t ready to accept all the blame.

When asked for an explanation of the 76ers’ problems, Erving said, “I’m not entirely sure. Maybe you ought to ask the coach.”

Erving was angry at Cunningham for benching him so often, especially in the fourth quarter. Erving played 29 minutes, 13 less than sub Barkley.

“I never felt like I got into a rhythm,” he said. “I never played with any confidence. I felt like if I missed a shot, I’d be taken out.”

But the 76ers had a lot of other problems, some of them caused by Toney’s unwillingness to allow the point guard, Maurice Cheeks, to run the offense. Cheeks had one assist in 36 minutes.

Toney is one of the NBA’s best one-on-one players, but not even he can go one-on-five against the Celtics.

“There were certain situations where we were trying to do too much individually to get us going, instead of playing as a team,” Cunningham said.

He made that point often, and loudly, during the game.

“I don’t think that all their players are together,” Boston forward Kevin McHale said. “I don’t see Billy all the time, but all that yelling surprised me. He yells like Bill Fitch, our old coach. It took me back.

“Or maybe, that’s just the way they converse around here.”

But to dwell on the negatives for the 76ers is to overlook the positives for the Celtics. Bird’s fourth-quarter heroics are expected, but the Celtics were pleasantly surprised by the clutch performance of guard Danny Ainge, who made 7 of 11 shots, all from the parking lot, and scored 17 points.

“Every time we lose, it seems like (reporters say) it’s because of the Celtics’ guards,” Ainge said. “D.J. (Dennis Johnson) and I joke about it a lot.

“That’s the downside of playing with great players like Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale. The up side is that D.J. and I can play bad, and we can still win because of those guys.”

So what do the 76ers do now?

Will Toney regain confidence in his outside shooting?

Can Malone dominate inside the way he did two years ago?

Does Dr. J still make house calls?

Asked if this is the end of an era, Erving said: “I don’t want to delve into that now. That sounds like an off-season thought.”

For the 76ers, the off-season may be only hours away.