NBA CHAMPIONSHIP : LAKERS VS CELTICS : A Moment in Time; A Missed Shot for All Time : Larry Bird’s Last-Second Attempt to Win It Was Off Target--Only by a Little

The video tape player inside Larry Bird’s head clicked on.

Roll tape.

The Celtics trailed the Lakers, 107-106, after Magic Johnson made a running hook in the lane with two seconds left in Game 4 of the National Basketball Assn. finals Tuesday night at the Boston Garden.

Celtic Coach K.C. Jones called time out to set up for the last shot.

The Boston Celtics gathered around K.C. as he diagrammed a play. Everyone knew that Bird, whose three-pointer with 12 seconds left had given the Celtics a 106-104 lead, would take the final shot.

He always does.

And he almost always makes it.

Bird took a pass from Dennis Johnson and launched a shot from the left baseline.

It was on line for the basket.

The crowd froze and time seemed to stand still.

The ball hit the rim and bounced away as the buzzer sounded.

The Lakers celebrated.

The Celtics walked silently off the court.

End tape.

Did Bird think he was going to make the shot?

“I got a good shot off,” he said. That’s all I could hope for,” Bird said before practice Wednesday. “I’m upset that I missed, but I’m not upset that I took it. It was on line.

“Last night, Magic made a great shot and I missed. Magic played a great game. That’s why he’s the MVP. The biggest game of the year was riding on one shot with two seconds left. I didn’t hesitate to take it. That’s why I come out early and take shots before games.

“We’ve been through so much that I can’t say that this was our biggest loss. It was a tough game last night and it will be hard to forget about it. But there’s no use looking back to last night.”

Still, it’s tough for the Celtics not to look back.

Boston led by 16 points in the third quarter and looked as if they would bury the Lakers and tie the series, 2-2.

You had to like Boston’s chances. Bird didn’t make a basket in the first half, going 0 for 3, yet the Celtics dominated the Lakers.

Boston had an eight-point lead when Bird made a spinning fall-away shot with 3 1/2 minutes left.

But the Celtics threw the ball away three straight times on turnovers by Dennis Johnson, Robert Parish and Bird, who missed on a bounce pass intended for Kevin McHale with 1:19 left.

“Last night, we had every opportunity to win the game. But we beat ourselves,” Bird said. “We felt we had them because they were playing our style of basketball. But so many things happened in that game that the momentum kept building and building for the Lakers.”

Magic had a worm’s eye view of Bird’s shot.

“I was under the basket,” Magic said. “I had seen it coming over and then straighten out and I thought it was going in. Then I said to myself, ‘Oh my goodness, we’ve got it.’ ”

Said Laker forward Mychal Thompson: “The ball seemed to hang in the air forever. I was surprised that he missed it. I thought it was going in. The leprechaun on the rim must have been asleep.”

Jones said that Bird ran the final play well.

“On that last play I got exactly what I wanted,” Jones said. “It got to Bird and he went for it.”

The Lakers need one more win to wrap up the 1987 NBA title. Game 5 will be played tonight at the Garden.

Are the defending champion Celtics the former champions?

“I like our chances--next year,” Bird said. “Our chances of winning it this year aren’t very good. I don’t think we can win it. I just wish we had Bill Walton.

“I’m sure the Lakers feel we can’t beat them three times the way we’ve been playing. I can only speak from the past. When I’m up 3-1, I know it’s over. But we’re a proud bunch of guys.”

And none of the Celtics are more proud than Bird, the NBA’s three-time MVP. But Bird has taken a back seat to Magic Johnson this season and championship series.

“It always seems like Magic gets the upper hand,” Bird said. “It’s been that way since we were in college. His game is the best in the league now. There are very few guys that I’d pay to watch play basketball, but Magic is one of them. He’s one of my favorite players. He plays to win. You’ve got to respect a guy for that.”