NBA Roundup : Bird Rallies Celtics to 105-103 Win

At halftime, super star Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics had only six points on 3-for-11 shooting, but the Philadelphia 76ers weren’t ignoring him.

“You always know he’s there,” Philadelphia Coach Matt Guokas said Sunday after Bird scored 22 points in the second half in rallying the Celtics to a 105-103 victory over the 76ers.

“Bird really got it going for them,” Guokas said. “He just didn’t make three-pointers. He makes plays for other people, he rebounds. You just know he’s going to be there down the stretch. Once he gets it flowing, he’s tough to stop.”

“Bird made the big plays, the tough shots,” Philadelphia veteran Julius Erving said. “He didn’t make the layups, but he hit the bombs.”

Bird’s bombs included a buzzer-beating shot from just inside midcourt at the end of the third period.

“I think you can see from today’s game that no matter when we play these guys or L.A. (Lakers) our guys are always primed,” Boston Coach K. C. Jones said.

“There isn’t anything worse than losing,” said Philadelphia’s Charles Barkley, who scored 26 points and grabbed 21 rebounds. “They’re a very good team, but they cannot beat us. We gave the game away again. We’ve played them four times this season and we should have won all four games. Instead, we’ve won only once.”

Veteran Bill Walton hit for 19 points in a reserve role in helping Bird rally the Celtics.

The Celtics, who trailed by as many as 13 points before Bird regained his touch, blew an eight-point lead in the fourth period before rallying down the stretch.

With their eighth consecutive victory and 12th in the last 13 starts, the Celtics raised their home record for the season to 20-1. The 76ers had a four-game winning streak ended while losing for only the third time in 20 games.

Bird also had 14 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals while going over the 20-point mark for the 16th consecutive game.

Dennis Johnson contributed 17 points, Scott Wedman 16 and Robert Parish 13 in helping offset Boston’s loss of high-scoring forward Kevin McHale, sidelined for a second game by a strained Achilles tendon.

With Wedman scoring 10 points while starting in place of McHale, the Celtics took a 29-27 lead after one period. Then, helped by a 12-3 edge in free throws, Boston held on for a 51-50 halftime edge.

Philadelphia went on a 20-4 spurt for a 74-61 lead with five minutes left in the third period. Then Boston went on a 21-4 run as Bird scored 11 points, including nine on three consecutive 3-point shots, and Walton made four baskets. That gave Boston an 82-78 lead after three quarters.

Boston widened the advantage to 88-80 in the fourth period, but the 76ers, led by Barkley, went on a 13-2 surge for a 93-90 lead.

With one minute left, Philadelphia led 99-98, but Bird scored on a layup and added a free throw.

Moses Malone cashed one of two free throws for the 76ers, and Walton retaliated with two for Boston.

Maurice Cheeks closed Boston’s lead to 103-102 with two free throws with 29 seconds left. However, Johnson nailed down the victory with two free throws with three seconds to play.

Cheeks had 22 points, Sedale Threatt 14, Erving 13 and Malone 11 for the 76ers.

Sacramento 121, Portland 116: The Kings, rallied behind a season-high 38 points from Eddie Johnson, defeated the Trail Blazers.

The Blazers, who won a Saturday contest with the Kings in Sacramento 129-125, were outgunned Sunday by Johnson and center LaSalle Thompson, who added 20 points for Sacramento and a game-high 15 rebounds.

Forward Kiki Vandeweghe led Portland with 29 points, including 11 for 11 from the foul line. Guard Jim Paxson added 21 for the Trail Blazers.

Portland started the game with a blistering 8 for 10 from the floor, compared to a sluggish 5 for 14 in the opening minutes by the Kings.

Johnson put Sacramento back in the game with three straight field goals, but the lead seesawed until the Kings took control in the final period.