8701250740
DETROIT FREE PRESS
870524
Sunday, May 24, 1987
METRO FINAL CHASER
1E
Chart;Photo PAULINE LUBENS
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 1987, Detroit Free Press
DETROIT PLUGGED IN AGAIN
Adrian Dantley came spinning out of yet another basket, a beautiful fast
break, and he got the foul, the crowd went wild, and he whirled toward the
Detroit bench on bended knee, made a fist, and ooooh, ooooh, was he actually
going to . . . smile? Well. Almost.
What do you want? Miracles? A smile from Master Scowl was the only thing
missing in this grab bag of gestures that was Detroit's 122-104 playoff win
at the Silverdome.
All hands on deck. Or in the air. Here was Isiah Thomas beaming and
slapping palms; here was Dennis Rodman loping downcourt waving a fist; here
was John Salley slamming down a high rebound, a-whooomph!; here was Larry
Bird throwing a ball into Bill Laimbeer's face; here was . . .
A ball in the face? Well. OK. Can we deal with "the big fight" right now?
This is all you need to know:
1. The Action Highlights: Bill and Larry go up in the fourth quarter. Bill
and Larry fall down. Bill grabs Larry. Larry swings at Bill. Larry throws ball
at Bill's head. Both get ejected.
2. The Verbal Highlights:
LAIMBEER: "I was just trying to break my fall when I grabbed him."
BIRD: "Yeah, and I was just trying to throw the ball back to the referee
and his face got in the way."
Ba-dum bump.
Enough on the fight. It was stupid, unnecessary and not particularly
graceful, what with all those bodies squirming around in a pile. It was,
however, fitting, because in the stands behind a basket sat Red Wings coach
Jacques Demers.
Naturally. He shows up at basketball and a hockey game breaks out.
But momentarily lost in the post-brawl mumbling was the rediscovery of the
stuff that brought Detroit to these playoffs to begin with. For two games in
Boston and five lay-off days before that, the hot-shooting, strong-defending
Pistons game was on vacation. Was it ever coming back?
Not to worry. On Saturday someone tripped over those two ends of cable
marked "Pistons Left" and "Pistons Right" and finally plugged them together.
Dantley got hot and Laimbeer got hot (before he got, you know, hot) and Rick
Mahorn got rebounds and Vinnie Johnson got that look and . . .
"You know what happened?" said Thomas, after the game, which Detroit led at
one stage by 23 points. "With the layoff we lost our edge, we lost our
sharpness, we lost our intensity. It took us those two games in Boston to
find that stuff and lock in on our opponent. We're locked in now. You won't
see any more games like those first two."
All hands on deck.
Here was the game that proved the rims in Boston Garden were smaller than
regulation, that they had a wind machine blowing in there, that something was
in the water, anything. Face it. Games 1 and 2 were unhealthy basketball from
Detroit, which was healthy, and healthy Celtics basketball from Boston, which
was not.
They were puzzling games, but they counted. And then the Silverdome swung
open its doors and here the Celtics seemed smaller, less legendary, there was
no green aura following them around.
"I had no doubt when we left Boston that we would come back here and win,"
Thomas said. Maybe they just needed to get out of New England. Whatever. This
game was gone by the first-half buzzer. Did Detroit really lead by 20? Did
they really score 73 points? In one half? Against the Celtics?
Yes. Here was Dantley, who scored 25 in the first half, taking Bird to the
hole, over and over. Here was Isiah, who finished with 23, taking it down the
lane past Jerry Sichting. Over and over. Here was Laimbeer grabbing offensive
rebounds and dropping them in. And Vinnie Johnson leaning and popping. And
Chuck Daly pulling his jacket and walking back to the bench, his semaphore
for satisfaction. Over and over.
"What did they do differently?" someone asked Kevin McHale afterward.
"They just flat-out kicked our rear ends today," he said.
OK. You want more on the fight. Laimbeer, at least, had the good sense to
give his description and leave it at that. Bird, after repeatedly saying "Just
look at the tape" (to which reporters said, "Hey. Send us a tape. We'll look
at it."), then launched into a mini-assault on Laimbeer's manhood.
"He thinks he's so tough, then come at me then. . . . Be a man, step up
and do it. . . . He wants the officials to protect him, he wants his teammates
to come out. Let everybody get out of the way and come on."
Yes. Well. Larry. Come here. Closer.
Shut up.
And no more on the fight. The Pistons will need all their concentration to
win again this afternoon and get back in this series. Robert Parish's early
exit Saturday ensured the Celtics were finished early, too. But he'll be
back. And Boston will not repeat Game 3's performance.
"Shoot," said Dantley, as he dressed afterward, "today's game doesn't mean
anything if we don't win it tomorrow and go back to Boston even up.
"I was sitting there on the bench (during the fight) and I said, 'Don't
pump him (Bird) up.' I mean, I'm the one that's got to guard him tomorrow."
Tomorrow is today. If Jacques Demers comes this afternoon, put on your
mask. But all right. For one game, at the very least, the Pistons gave the
country a good glimpse of the basketball that now characterizes their finest
moments. Fists, slaps, slams, and flying basketballs aside.
"Hey, Adrian. Was that a smile we almost saw after that lay- up?" someone
asked. "Was it? Come on. Admit it."
His eyes danced, but just for a moment. Then he put on his best baritone
voice and looked down.
"Aw, I was just tryin' to get the crowd pumped up. . . . " he said.
Ba-dum bump.
Off and runnin'
How the Pistons overpowered the Celtics on their way to a 20- point lead at
halftime Saturday:
PISTONS STAT CELTICS
73 Points 53
60.8 FG percent 54.1
78.6 FT percent 81.3
19 Rebounds 21
5 Turnovers 13
5 Steals 1
CUTLINE
Isiah Thomas plays keepaway with Boston's Jerry Sichting.
DPISTONS;BASKETBALL;Pistons