ON ROAD AGAIN : This Season, It's No Place for Celtics; Therein May Lie Lakers' Best Hope

By MARK HEISLER

June 14, 1987 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

Whatever happened to the Boston Celtics? The same thing that happened to the Lakers. They’ve crossed back over the Continental Divide.

Thus, the Lakers no longer have to hear questions about a certain mystique. All they have to do is revive the balance of their starting five and begin anew.

Thus, the Celtics are once again obliged to confront the flip side of their heroes-on-parquet persona: Walk out the door of North Station and what do you have? The Road Worriers.

It can’t be. Not this famous band of knights errant, long feared not only on their own ground but in foreign lands where people know how to pronounce toughies like “garden.”

A 20-21 road record?

How about 5-16 since Feb. 21, with one victory over a .500 team?

How about allowing an average of 128 points in their last eight road playoff games?

How about Larry Bird joking last week that some Celtics seem to need more stroking and should bring their wives to the West Coast?

One Celtic did, too. Bill Walton brought Susan.

“We don’t need to pat him on his back,” Bird said Saturday, laughing. “He isn’t going to play anyway.”

This isn’t all comic relief. How about Bird saying that if the trend continues, the Celtics should make changes?

“We have guys that play good at home and don’t play so well on the road,” he said last week. “In the past, they played really well both places. They gave us the consistency we needed to win and now it’s a big difference.

“Guys just don’t want to play on the road any more. We’ve had a lot of injuries through the year and we haven’t been together as a team. So hopefully, that’s what it is.

“Because next year, when everyone comes back, if we have the same problem, it’s probably time to make changes.

“Because you’ve got to have guys who want to play every night, not just at home in front of their families.”

This, of course, raised another question. Just who was he talking about?

Bird suggested checking the home-road statistics. He said to check more than the scoring averages.

He knew whereof he spoke, too. Because the Celtic with the biggest drop in average on the road is Bird, himself (30.5 to 25.8). His drop in shooting percentage (.570 to .483) is second highest among the starters to Dennis Johnson (.497 to .397), whom Bird swears by.

The other starters, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish and Danny Ainge, all had higher scoring averages and shooting percentages on the road. Since Bird is hardly considered the problem, and since Johnson is a demonstrated clutch performer, if perhaps a tired one, you might want to look further for an answer.

Pat Riley suggests that the Celtic lack of depth tells more on the road. The same Celtic starters, with more relief, were 27-14 on the road a season ago and started 18-12 this season.

The sag came late in the schedule, too. It may have started in the Forum on Feb. 15, when the Celtics lost a 17-point lead and a 106-103 game. The next night they lost by 20 at Utah.

They rallied to win the last three games on their trip, sending them home with a semi-triumphant 6-2 tour of the West. Then they blew a big lead and lost at Atlanta. Then they blew a big lead and lost at Detroit.

Then they lost seven of the next eight on the road, including contests with half the lottery pool: at New Jersey, New York and Cleveland.

They had to regroup for a last victory at Indianapolis, followed by two wins at home, including the one over the Hawks that saved the best record in the East.

“I’ve also said I’m very proud of this team because we’ve overcome a lot,” Bird said. “I just think we need to be healthy.

“You play some of these teams at home, you go in knowing you’re going to kick their butts. But you go on the road, you come in and they’ve got a packed house for the first time. They’ve got guys playing extremely well at home. And all of a sudden, it’s a close game going down to the wire.

“We’ve run into that a lot this year. Especially when teams sense that you’re not 100% and they’ve got a chance to beat you. Because some of these teams around the league, if they can beat the Celtics or the Lakers on their home court, it makes their season.”

If the Lakers beat the Celtics in the Forum today, it is going to truly make their season. Anyone expecting a repeat of Games 1-2 might want to think it over. The Celtics played a lot better last week in Boston than they’ve played anywhere in three weeks.

On the other hand, the Celtics’ predicament is a lot worse.

“The Celtics and the Lakers are the best there is,” Pat Riley says. “It’s ‘Come onto my turf,’ and ‘You come on my turf.’ The rules are a little different each place.”

He hopes.

The Celtics hope not. Their place is closed for the summer.

CELTICS HOME AND AWAY IN PLAYOFFS

VS. CHICAGO BULLS HOME Celtics 108, Bulls 104

Celtics 105, Bulls 96

AWAY Celtics 105, Bulls 94

VS. MILWAUKEE BUCKS HOME Celtics 111, Bucks 98

Celtics 126, Bucks 124

Bucks 129, Celtics 124

Celtics 119, Bucks 113

AWAY Bucks 126, Celtics 121 (OT)

Celtics 138, Bucks 137 (2 OT)