Lakers Can’t Avoid Bird in This Round : Pro basketball: He helps give Celtics revenge for game he missed at Boston Garden, 98-85. Parish dominates Divac.

In the latest episode of When Larry Met Earvin, the Lakers get a little surprise.

Like a big green payback. The Celtics, playing their third road game in four nights, beat the Lakers Friday night, 98-85, avenging their loss to the Lakers in Boston Garden and sending a sellout Forum crowd of 17,505 fleeing for the exits early.

Improbable?

The Celtics were without Kevin McHale.

They had lost eight of their last nine regular-season games to the Lakers.

Robert Parish, 37, had 21 points in the first quarter and outscored his 23-year-old opposite number, Vlade Divac, 29-10. Broadcaster Chick Hearn signed off from the “Robert Parish-dominated basketball network.”

Larry Bird, playing back-to-back games for the first time since suffering a back injury, had a bad shooting night (four of 16) but a triple-double: 11 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

Was it special for Bird, who was sidelined when the Lakers beat the Celtics, 104-87, in Boston Garden?

“What the hell you think I’m doing here?” Bird asked.

“This is the one game I wanted to play on this trip. If I had to sit down all the other ones, I wanted to play here.

“It’s special beating Magic (Johnson) and the Lakers. I hadn’t done it for a while. We were hoping they’d overlook us a little bit so we could get one tonight.”

The Lakers have Portland coming in Sunday. They might not have looked past the Celtics, but they didn’t play as hard as the Celtics, either.

“Basically, the Celtics came out and really took it to us,” Laker Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “Physically, they were better than we were. They beat us on the boards and in transition. Those were the two areas we talked about, that we couldn’t give them.

“At the other end, we couldn’t throw it into the ocean.”

The Lakers trailed by 11 at the half, by nine after three quarters, then started the fourth quarter missing 13 of 16 shots. On the Celtics’ first possession of the fourth quarter, Kevin Gamble missed a long jumper, but Celtic substitute Ed Pinckney, seeing playing time only because McHale was sidelined, outhustled everyone to the rebound. A moment later, the 6-foot-10 Pinckney drove the lane and scored on a layup.

At this point, about 8,000 fans reached into their pockets for their car keys.

The Celtics started the night with a five-game winning streak coinciding almost exactly with Bird’s return. In his first three games, he averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds.

“Larry is a guy,” said Johnson before the game, “who knows that when you come back, you come back hard. You want to do that. Everybody’s eyes are on you. He’s always done that.”

So while Laker eyes followed Bird’s every move, Parish sent Vlade Divac to the bench in foul trouble and went on to roll up the rest of his 23 points in one quarter.

The Celtics’ lead was 35-27 after one quarter, 37-34 when Tony Smith came in to relieve Johnson and 50-39 by the time Johnson returned.

The third quarter was punch and counter-punch. The Lakers cut it to 62-57, the Celtics ran it back up to 69-58. The Lakers cut it to 75-72, the Celtics ran it back up to 81-72 at the end of the quarter, meaning the home team was in a fine mess.

There wasn’t any cavalry riding to any rescue Friday. The Celtics won going away and left jubilantly. The Lakers dressed somberly and slowly.

It’s a rivalry again, almost like old times.

Laker Notes

The Lakers’ 14-game home winning streak ended. They are 1-2 since the all-star break and 4 1/2 games behind the Portland Trail Blazers. . . . The Lakers’ Vlade Divac on the Celtics’ Robert Parish: “He is old, but he is player. Yeah, I was surprised. In second half, he makes shots while I have my hands up. He makes . . . unbelievable.” . . . Sam Perkins, trying to play on a sprained left foot that had him questionable until game time, made three of 10 shots. Byron Scott, who had been automatic on open shots for a month, was two for nine. Scott’s wife, Anita, more than a week overdue, gave birth Thursday to their third child and second son, Daron Anton. Said Scott before the game: “The last two games, it was kind of hard to concentrate. I know it’s important, it pays the bills but for three days, it was kind of hard to have your mind squarely on basketball.” . . . Celtic assistant Don Casey, fired as Clipper coach last season, on changing teams: “When you get in here, you see why they win. It’s like the Lakers.” . . . The Lakers will play Portland here Sunday night. After that, the Lakers will play 11 of 14 on the road.