European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 11, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday june 11, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 21 sports fallen celts Laud lakers for having better team from press dispatches Boston when you lose you re a failure an today we played like a Bunch of Guys who failed said Larry Bird the Boston celtics Leader after the Losangeles lakers took away the Aba Crown from the defending champions sunday afternoon. Maybe we just needed to be Woken up a bit an this will do it. I m going to work on a few things this summer and i la come Back a better basketball player said the league s regular season map. Not an uncharitable word about the los Angeles lakers could be found in the celtics locker room. There was no whistle no play no action under the boards that a celtic claimed was unfair. For the next year sunday s winners will be introduced As the Aba Champion los Angeles the celtics said that is the Way it should be. They have a better team and they proved it Over six games said Forward Kevin Mchale. Give them credit. They beat it s More than fair to say the better team won said Boston coach . Jones. They did not do anything wrong in sunday s game said guard Dennis Johnson. They won an they deserved to the rejuvenated Kareem Abdul Jabbar the unanimous Choice for series map was hailed by Bird. It was discouraging. He s taller than everyone and his shots Are unstoppable. He played better than i Veseen him play in a Long Long time Bird said. I just Hope he retires after next in games 5 and 6, Jones used just two players of the Bench but the celtics said the strategy was sound. You be got to go with your Best with what got you Here Bird said. Fatigue was t a Factor. . Made the right move to leave us in. Robert Paris Dennis and i talked about it after the the coaching Maneu vers made by the lakers Pat Riley impressed Bird. He s an excellent coach. His strategy was very Good. They made More adjustments than we did. It was unbelievable the Way he coached and the hour that he put in. From game to game i had to keep changing what i was doing said Bird who was plagued during the year by Bone chips in his shooting Elbow. He would not Rule out the possibility of a operation but Only said it Felt great throughout this the Boston celtics Forward missed 4 of his first 5shots, though his shooting touch told him he was on target. I thought i was going to have a great game shots Felt Good. I could t believe they weren t going in i was open All Day Long said Bird. He finished with 12 of 29 from the floor. If you re going to take 29 shots you better hit a least half of them said Bird. We missed so Many shots in the Early going that we could t get our Confidence up like we needed Bird s inaccuracy was exceeded by the poor shooting of guards Danny Ainge at 3 of 15 and Johnson with 3of 16. As a team Boston shot under 39 percent for the game and could not rally in the fourth Quarter when it shot just 7 of 23. If you shoot 38 percent you Don t deserve to win said Bird who thinks the defending Champion celtics might have looked ahead to game 7 without Takin care of game 6. We thought we could get by this one and we might not have concentrated on it enough. The crowd was there today but we weren the said referring to the 14,890 Boston Garden sellout crowd that provided Anear constant Roar of support for the celtics. Apparently the lakers fended off the Boston parti sans and players alike. Bird overheard Mitch Kupchak respond to a com ment from off the court and later relayed As Kup a photo Kareem Abdul Jabbar shows who s no. 1scored 29 Points in clincher Chak told someone hey we re playing for a championship and they won it. They were ready they wanted to the lakers desire also impressed Johnson. There is no question but that they wanted it More than we did said they took away every thing we tried to do offensively. We wore missing in Side and missing lakers7 championship Victory put riley1 s nightmares to bed by Roy s. Johnson Boston not Pat Riley did not get much sleep saturday night. He had too Many distractions the haunting memories and images that everyone who had been a part of the los Angeles Lak ers organization in the last 26 years had to endure. But instead of counting sheep the 40-year-old coach pondered More pleasant thoughts. I thought of parades and open convertibles he said. And about Riding Down Hill Street in l.a., about Savouring something All summer Long and forget Ting about the wounds of last the Savouring began sunday afternoon at one of the most unlikely Sites Boston Garden when the lakers Defeated the defending Champion celtics 111-100, to win their third world championship Infix seasons and their first against the franchise that has been heralded As the game s Best. The Triumph was the fourth in six games and exorcised the ghosts that had tormented the Laker franchise since1959, when a celtic team coached by red Auerbach won its second championship against the lakers who the played in Minneapolis. That the achievement occurred in the archaic Garden beneath the 15 championship banners swaying from the Raf ters made the Champagne flow More smoothly. If we were going to break this Domi nation and get All the skeletons out of the closet it s so much sweeter to do there Riley said wearing an expression of Relief As Well As Joy. This was for Jerry West Wilt Chamberlain Rod Hundley Frank Selby and everybody else who had a hard time living with the celtics dynasty. We got rid of All the deception. The dynasty is and so was the Hurt that these lakers had refused to admit that they endure since losing to the celtics last season in a dramatic seventh game that ended series they thought they should have won. For Riley and his players this was redemption. Last year Riley said i sat in this locker room and could see the pain etched on our players faces. That pain and that suffering made us if there was one player upon who that pain and suffering had its most dramatic effect it was Earvin magic Johnson the Brilliant play maker. John son came into the league six years ago with a smile As Bright As his game. He helped the lakers reach the championship round five times but in that time he was criticized almost As much As he had been hailed. Last season the weigh of the defeat was placed upon him after two of his plays led to losses in games 2 and 4. During a critical juncture in the final period sunday it looked As if there would be More disappointment for him to Ponder. After the celtics sliced a 92 82 to six Points with four consecutive free throws Johnson launched a14-foot jump shot that missed by two feet. But Dennis Johnson of the celtics also missed a shot. Then magic Johnson made two free throws to expand the to eight Points. When Larry Bird of the celtics who struggled throughout this series re bounded a missed shot by Robert Parish and scored to Cut the margin to 97-90, magic Johnson followed with a Darin drive though the Lane laying the Ball neatly on the rim where it Hung for afew precarious seconds before falling in. I put my magic touch on it he said with glee. With three minutes five seconds to play the 6-foot-9-Inch guard slice through the Lane again scoring easily for a 103-92 . He then wanted to throw his fist into the air but he Holdback his impulse perhaps mindful of where he was and the amount of Tim remaining. But his heart Sang. Right then he said i knew it was Gonna be for his second consecutive game Johnson was in double figures in three key categories 14 Points 14 assists and 10 rebounds. The lakers also won with determination. They hit 13 of 16 free throws in the final period and executed their half court offence to perfection. They scored with each of their final 10 possessions. And when it was Over As 230 Security guards circled the floor Johnson was one of the first lakers off the floor. Everybody said we could t beat them Here Johnson said. But we out worked them. We beat them to the Loose balls everything we should have done last season. But this one was t just Forus. It was for All the other teams. We played it for everybody All the Lake teams of the past. This is what you live a photo James worthy rebounds. 28 Points sunday for to win in spite of the the smile that had been missing throughout most of the playoffs was Back now covering his face like a mask. Who knows he said of the championship banners maybe Well Start Hangin some in l.a.?"
