NBA Playoff Roundup : Celtics Get Sweep and Some Much-Needed Rest

The Boston Celtics, with Kevin McHale sidelined with an ankle injury, were determined to complete a sweep of the Chicago Bulls and earn some rest.

“We wanted to win this awfully bad. We needed the rest,” Larry Bird said after scoring 32 points as the Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls, 105-94, Tuesday night at Chicago for a 3-0 sweep of their first-round NBA playoff series for the second year in a row.

Michael Jordon led Chicago with 30 points, including 19 in the first half, and Charles Oakley had 19 rebounds and 14 points.

“They have unbelievable experience. We just couldn’t cope with them, especially down the stretch,” Jordan said.

Boston will meet the winner of the Philadelphia-Milwaukee series in the next round.

Bird said the rest is “very crucial for us in the long run. Kevin (McHale) is out and we can’t do it (repeat as champions) without him. And Bill (Walton) just came back, and the more rest he gets, the better he is going to be.”

McHale, who averaged 20.5 points and 8 rebounds in the first two playoff games against Chicago, missed the game with an ankle injury.

“He couldn’t have played, and I don’t know how many days he needs before he can play again,” Boston Coach K.C. Jones said.

Walton missed most of the season with a right ankle injury.

Fred Roberts started in place of McHale and scored seven points.

The defending NBA champion Celtics, who beat Chicago for the 16th straight time, came back from from a nine-point deficit in the third quarter.

The Bulls shot only 23% (5 for 22) from the field in the fourth quarter and converted only 10 of 17 free throws.

“We weren’t moving down the stretch,” Jordan said. “We were just holding the ball.”

The Bulls outscored Boston, 10-2, in the opening four minutes of the second half to take a 62-53 advantage and led, 73-68, going into the final quarter. Dennis Johnson’s layup gave the Celtics an 82-81 lead with 5:49 to go in the game. It was Boston’s first lead of the second half and the Celtics didn’t trail again.

Bird scored the next seven Boston points as the Celtics went ahead, 89-83.

Johnson added 24 points and Robert Parish 17 for the Celtics.

Houston 117, Portland 107--Akeem Olajuwon scored 35 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked 8 shots as the Rockets beat the Trail Blazers at Houston.

The Rockets lead the best-of-five series 2-1 and could advance to the next round with a victory Thursday night at Houston.

Olajuwon scored 20 points and blocked seven shots in the first half as the Rockets grabbed a 70-45 lead at halftime. But the Trail Blazers cut the lead to 103-97 with 4:24 left in the game.

Olajuwon’s basket with 4:10 to go, only the second field goal for Houston in the fourth quarter, made it 105-97, and he followed with a free throw. Robert Reid hit a short jumper with 3:29 to go for a 108-99 lead.

Cedric Maxwell, playing in his 91st playoff game, came off the bench to rally the Rockets.

Maxwell, obtained from the Clippers, scored 15 points, including a key baseline jumper late in the game.

Rodney McCray added 18 points for Houston, Reid finished with 17 and Allen Leavell scored 14 and handed out 13 assists.

Clyde Drexler scored 26 points to lead the Blazers, while Steve Johnson had 23. Terry Porter had 21 and Kiki Vandeweghe 20.

Seattle 117, Dallas 107--Dale Ellis, a former reserve for Dallas, scored a career-high 43 points as the SuperSonics beat the Mavericks at Seattle to take a 2-1 lead in their series.

Ellis, whose previous career-high was 41 points, added 14 rebounds for the Sonics, who got 22 points from Tom Chambers and 16 from Xavier McDaniel.

Ellis has scored 75 points in the two victories by Seattle, which won 16 fewer games than the Mavericks in the regular season and lost five straight regular-season games to Dallas by an average of nearly 19 points.

After three seasons with the Mavericks, Ellis was traded to Seattle by Dallas after last season for Al Wood.

Derek Harper led the Mavericks with 30 points, Rolando Blackman 27 and Mark Aguirre 16. James Donaldson, Dallas’ 7-2 starting center who has been bothered by a sore right leg, didn’t score a point in 15 minutes and didn’t play in the second half.

Game 4 is scheduled for Thursday night at Seattle.