NBA Playoffs : Celtics Clinch Series as Johnson Leads Win

Dennis Johnson, pulling off a triple-double, rallied the Boston Celtics in the fourth quarter Friday night at New York for a 102-94 victory over the Knicks that put the Celtics, as expected, into the second round of the playoffs.

In winning the best-of-five series, 3-1, the Celtics became the first visiting team to win a playoff game in the Eastern Conference this year. The home teams had won 15 in a row.

The Celtics had to overcome a brilliant performance by the NBA’s rookie of the year, Mark Jackson. The new Knick star, who seemed bewildered and out of sync in the first three games, scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half and had New York ahead, 83-77, with 6:25 left.

Johnson, who finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists, then teamed with Larry Bird to turn the game around. Johnson had nine points and Bird six in a 25-11 run that wiped out New York hopes of going back to Boston for a fifth game Sunday.

Bird had 10 of his 28 points in the last quarter.

The Celtics built several 10-point leads, the last time at 66-56 in the third quarter. At that point, Jackson got hot, scoring 12 points in a 27-11 rally that built the Knicks’ short-lived six-point lead.

Boston Coach K.C. Jones echoed his team’s feelings when he said, “How do you spell relief? This was certainly a test and a half. It was a knockdown-dragout fight to the end.”

Milwaukee 105, Atlanta 99--Dominique Wilkins scored 31 points at Milwaukee, but the Hawks weren’t good enough to reverse the home-court trend.

With Terry Cummings scoring 30 points and Jack Sikma 23, the Bucks, who lost the first two games of the series at Atlanta, won their second in a row to force a fifth game Sunday at Atlanta.

It was a tight battle from start to finish, with first one team and then the other holding the upper hand. It was not until Sidney Moncrief tossed in a rare three-point basket with 7:03 left to put the Bucks back on top, 84-83, that they grabbed the lead for good.