Celtics (102-100) and Lakers (153-109) Will Play It Again : As Expected, Bird Has His Hand in Win

The Boston Celtics were clinging to a tenuous lead, 102-100, with 33 seconds remaining, when Larry Bird missed for the 11th time in 17 shots.

Somehow, Celtic guard Danny Ainge (6-5, 185) got around Philadelphia center Moses Malone (6-10, 255) and outfought him for the offensive rebound, which went out of bounds off Malone’s foot.

As the Celtics called a timeout, the scoreboard flashed this question: “When Do You Say L.A.?”

The Celtics almost said it 33 seconds too early Wednesday night.

With 11 seconds remaining, Bird drove to the basket against Julius Erving, put up a right-handed scoop shot that he almost never misses and blew it, his 12th miss in 18 shots.

Erving brought down the rebound, dribbled downcourt and passed the ball to guard Andrew Toney in the corner.

Andrew Toney one-on-one against Larry Bird.

Before anyone among the 14,890 fans at Boston Garden could consider the possibilities, Bird slapped at the ball, which popped into the air and into his grasp with three seconds remaining.

Snatching victory from the jaws of an overtime, Bird stole the ball.

Or as Celtics broadcaster Johnny Most, no doubt reliving the John Havlicek steal against the 76ers in the 1969 playoffs, said: “BIRD STOLE THE BALL.”

Then the Celtics could say L.A.

With their 102-100 victory in hand, the Celtics won the best-of-seven series for the Eastern Conference championship, four games to one, and now will attempt to become the first team since the 1968-69 Celtics to win back-to-back championships.

Although their game Wednesday night was completed before the Lakers-Nuggets game began at the Forum, the Celtics were anticipating playing two or three games of the championship series in Los Angeles.

“Now it’s on to bigger and better things,” Celtics forward Cedric Maxwell said. “I’ve got my maps to the stars’ homes in Hollywood and my Mercedes books with me.”

The 76ers were left to pick up the pieces.

They will relive the final 10 seconds of this loss for a particularly long time.

“If we had an opportunity for a fast break, we were going to take it,” 76ers Coach Billy Cunningham said. “If we didn’t have the break, we were going to take a timeout.

“Doc advanced the ball to Andrew. I was yelling for a timeout. Doc was yelling for a timeout. Before Andrew could say anything, Bird slapped the ball away.”

Toney said he heard Cunningham call for a timeout but couldn’t say whether that distracted him.

Bird said he thought it did.

“You could tell he wanted to take me because I’m slower than he is,” Bird said. “But the bench was calling for a timeout. When he looked away, I stuck my hand in there, and the ball popped out.

“I heard them calling for a timeout. I was trying to steal the ball before they got a chance to call it.”

Asked if that was a routine play for him, Bird said, “I call it good old-fashioned luck.”

Erving had another name for it.

“It’ll be credited as a steal,” he said.

He didn’t specify whether it was a steal by Bird or by the officials.

But he obviously was upset because officials John Vanak and Hugh Evans failed to acknowledge the call for a timeout.

He also said Bird chopped Toney’s arm, which caused him to lose his grip on the ball.

“Nah,” Bird said. “I didn’t foul him. I thought I got fouled on the other end. I thought Doc fouled me.”

He said it without rancor. All of the Celtics’ hostility had been left on the court.

The 76ers never seemed to rise to the occasion of this classic rivalry until Game 4 in Philadelphia, after they had lost the first two games at Boston Garden and the third game at the Spectrum.

In Game 4 Sunday, the 76ers played with the intensity expected of them from the outset.

In Game 5, the Celtics matched it.

Bird, who had made only 4 of 15 shots from the field Sunday, was in a particularly foul mood early, and made certain the 76ers heard about it.

Tired of the conversation, 76ers rookie Charles Barkley blocked a Bird shot in the second quarter, leveling the Celtics forward.

Standing over Bird, Barkley said, “Play basketball, and quit talking.”

Bird’s response is unprintable.

The 76ers did most of their talking to the officials, which cost them two first-half technical fouls.

Barkley was charged with one of them, much to the delight of the crowd.

It was another frustrating night offensively for Bird, who continues to say injuries to his right elbow and the index finger aren’t bothering him as he continues to shoot poorly.

But after a slow start, when the Celtics fell behind by nine, his teammates proved they don’t need him to dominate in order to win.

Guard Dennis Johnson had 23 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds. Center Robert Parish had 20 points and 11 rebounds. Forward Kevin McHale had 17 points and 14 rebounds. Guard Danny Ainge scored only 12 points, but he made several crucial defensive plays at the end.

Parish and McHale also played well defensively, holding each Malone and Barkley to 13 points. Malone had 15 rebounds, but Barkley, who had 20 rebounds Sunday, had only three in this game.

Erving put his shooting slump (5 for 31 in Games 3 and 4) behind him, hitting 6 of 12 shots and scoring 16 points.

But the man who kept the 76ers in this game was guard Maurice Cheeks, who made 10 of 15 shots from the field and scored 26 points. He also had 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

The 76ers were down by eight points in the third quarter but rallied to tie two minutes into the fourth.

With 4:31 remaining, the game was still tied.

But the Celtics limited the 76ers to one field goal in the next three minutes. During that time, Parish made one steal and Ainge made two as the Celtics took a five-point lead with 1:41 remaining.

Just as the issue seemed decided, Barkley made his third three-point shot of the game.

Each team scored one more basket before Ainge made his biggest play of the night, going head-to-shoulder with Malone for a crucial offensive rebound.

“Without Danny’s effort, we’d have been in overtime, or they would have been up,” Boston Coach K.C. Jones said. “The momentum would have switched to them, and we’d have been up a creek.”

It still looked like the Celtics might need a paddle after Bird’s miss.

“I had visions of going to Philadelphia for Game 6,” Jones said. “It was like a nightmare.”

But he should know by now he can rest easy as long as Bird is on his team. Even on a night when he wasn’t scoring, he found a way to steal a victory.