Laker Win Ends 48-Game Celtic Garden Party

The Lakers were graffiti artists painting on parquet Friday night, leaving their message scrawled in big, bold sneaker-prints across a long-unblemished Boston Garden floor.

“We’re back,” they tapped out in triumphant unison after beating the Boston Celtics, 117-110, and ending the Celtics’ 48-game winning streak at the Garden.

“I guess you lose one time in the playoffs and people think you’re not that good,” said Laker guard Magic Johnson, whose 31 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds made it seem inconceivable that his right knee was swollen both before and after the game. “And they say Kareem is over the hill. Let them keep thinking he’s over the hill, because somebody’s going to get beat.”

Thirty-nine seconds into the fourth quarter, that somebody didn’t look as if it would be the Celtics, who went ahead, 96-88, on Kevin McHale’s fallaway jumper over Kareem Abdul-Jabbar himself.

But the Celtics, who had shot a sizzling 64% through the first three quarters, scored just 14 points the rest of the way. And Larry Bird, who had burned the Lakers for 24 points while missing just two shots, took only one more shot all night.

“The way we were shooting down the stretch, we couldn’t even write two points with a pencil,” Boston center Robert Parish said.

By then, the Celtics may have been too pooped to stop and pop. All five Boston starters played at least 40 minutes, and the bench contributed just six points, all by Fred Roberts. And at the end of that bench, in street clothes, sat backup center Bill Walton, out with another mysterious ankle injury.

“I think that’s the biggest reason we won the game tonight,” Laker forward Kurt Rambis said. “They couldn’t keep people fresh and they were very tired at the end.”

There was no reason for Abdul-Jabbar not to be fresh. He sat out all but six minutes of the first half after picking up three quick fouls.

But with James Worthy scoring 17 points and Johnson 16 in the first half, the Celtics could not fully exploit Abdul-Jabbar’s absence and led by only six, 65-59, at halftime.

And in the end, they couldn’t offset Abdul-Jabbar’s presence, either. The Laker center, given the freedom to work one-on-one against Parish because the Lakers were hitting their outside shots, scored 14 points in the final quarter, including three straight baskets that expanded the Laker lead from 109-106 to 115-108 with 2:02 left.

“I thought they’d double-team me and make us beat them from outside,” Abdul-Jabbar said.

“Robert was trying to keep me out high and make it (the sky hook) a 12-footer, but I backed him in to midrange, where I can hit it with regularity.”

In Wednesday night’s 23-point loss to Milwaukee, the Lakers’ worst of the season, Abdul-Jabbar could hit almost nothing, making just 4 of 15 shots.

“But this is money time,” Magic Johnson said, “and Kareem thrives in a big game. That’s him.

“Tonight, he knew he had to be the man. I knew he’d take it over. These are the games he lives for.”

The same, of course, could be said for Bird, who invariably has the ball in his hands at money time, too. Not Friday night, however.

“They just weren’t getting the ball to me,” he said. “We were dropping it in to Kevin (McHale, who scored 22) and Chief (Parish, who had 23).

“I was coming off picks and if I wasn’t open, we just dropped it inside.”

With the Celtics down by seven, Boston Coach K.C. Jones called a timeout with 2:01 left. Obviously, a play was being designed for Bird. It became equally obvious, when Michael Cooper fought through a double screen, that Bird would be denied the ball.

Parish wound up missing, Worthy grabbed the rebound, and from there, the Lakers worked the clock to the victory.

“I knew they were looking for him,” Cooper said, “but I was determined not to let him touch the ball.

“And when he did get it, I pushed him out so far. If anybody was going to beat us, it was going to have to be somebody other than Kareem.”

The Celtics led by five points, 102-97, when Parish dumped a short left-handed hook with 8:24 to go.

But the Lakers, who had not led by more than two points at any time, scored the next seven. Magic drove the lane for a high runner, A.C. Green rebounded a Parish miss and Cooper threw up a 19-footer over Bird.

Celtic guard Danny Ainge, trying to beat the 24-second buzzer, missed badly, Abdul-Jabbar rebounded, and Byron Scott--who finished with just nine points--buried a shot from the left corner to make it 103-102, Lakers.

The Celtics, who shot just 37% in the final quarter, kept missing, and the Lakers went to Abdul-Jabbar, who scored five of the next six baskets.

“Kareem shot the hook shot like he was 25 tonight,” Boston Coach Jones said.

And the Boston streak was about to be struck at 48.

“One game, one streak,” Johnson said, when asked if he might remind Bird of who ended the Celtic string at the Garden.

“We have to wait and see who wins it overall. That’s what both Larry and I have our sights set on.

“But if neither one of us wins it, then I’ll jab him, because I’ll have the upper hand.”

From the balcony, a banner had reminded the Lakers of their absence from the National Basketball Assn. finals last spring.

We’ve been missing you (kinda) , the banner read.

The Lakers served notice Friday night that they intend to be back.

Laker Notes Although A.C. Green scored just seven points in 40 minutes, he pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds and may have worn down Boston’s Kevin McHale by his nonstop running. According to James Worthy, Green also was a key reason the Celtics were unable to double-team Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. “I think they had to keep in mind that A.C. can shoot 15-footers,” Worthy said. “Now they have to play a fourth man, and that opens up some gaps.” . . . The Lakers made a season-low six turnovers, three in each half . . . Celtic center Robert Parish, who had 20 rebounds Wednesday night against New Jersey, had just 8 against the Lakers, although he did have a season-high 5 blocked shots. Asked if he’d like to have had double-team help on Abdul-Jabbar, he said: “That would have been nice, but I didn’t have that luxury. They were shooting the ball well as a team.” . . . Boston Coach K.C. Jones wasn’t surprised that Magic Johnson played despite a bruised right kneecap. “we knew if he could walk he would play,” Jones said. . . . Darren Daye’s Celtic debut lasted exactly one minute, in which time the ex-UCLA star committed a traveling violation and fouled Kurt Rambis, who had driven by him for a basket.