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“I think everyone was expecting another Celtics-Lakers Finals,” he says.
“We had been gearing up for it from the beginning of the season, and nothing
had changed our minds once the playoffs started. But then Houston came out
of nowhere and upset Los Angeles. It wasn’t the matchup that we had
expected.”
Winning the first two games at home, the Celtics traveled to Houston for
three consecutive road games. A 106-104 loss cut the series lead to 2-1,
but Boston bounced back with a three point win (106-103) in Game 4, taking a
commanding 3-1 series lead. One more game remained to be played in Houston,
and it is in this game that Sichting will perhaps forever be best
remembered. With 2:20 remaining in the second quarter, and with Houston
holding a 34-33 lead, Sampson threw an elbow at Sichting, and then unloaded
a right hand on the gritty guard from Martinsville. Chaos ensued, as
players from both teams went at it. Bill Walton, D.J., and Greg Kite joined
in. The altercation fired up the crowd, juiced up the Rockets, and knocked
the Celtics out of synch. The resulting 15-point loss (111-96) was the
worst since a December road loss to Portland, and shifted the series back to
Boston, 3-2.
“We were fired up after that loss,” Johnson recalls. “We were hopping mad.
We were mad at ourselves for losing our composure, and for letting the
Rockets win that game. We felt that we were going to wrap it up right then
and there, but we lost and had to play one more game. We didn’t mind that
too much, though; Game 6 was back home in Boston. We were chomping at the
bit to play them again.”
Larry Bird’s zenith may have been reached in that next game. His 29 point,
11 rebound, 12 assist performance was one for the ages, a jaw-dropping
virtuoso affair that blew the hinges off a close game and led to a 114-97
Game 6 romp. Boston finally had its 16th championship, and Jerry Sichting,
after years of struggling to make his mark, was suddenly on top of the
basketball world.
“It was an unbelievable feeling,” Sichting says. “From a basketball
standpoint, I’d never been that excited in my life. I hadn’t been able to
win a championship in high school, and I hadn’t won one at Purdue. My
situation with the Pacers was different that in Boston because the team was
in a complete rebuilding mode. I was a free agent and they had brought in
Vern Fleming as the point guard of the future. Once I knew the Celtics were
interested, I had the choice of being the backup guard for Boston or
Indiana. So at that time it wasn't a hard decision. To be able to win a
championship, especially with a special group of guys like that, is
something that I’ll take with me for the rest of my life.”
Sichting would play one more full season for the Celtics, and then find
himself traded to Portland during the 1987-88 campaign. He would then
bounce from Portland to Milwaukee to the expansion Charlotte Hornets
franchise, where he would retire during the 1989-90 season at the age of
33. He had grown up idolizing the Pacers of the ABA and the Celtics of the
NBA, and he had played for both. And while his time in Boston was brief,
Sighting will forever be remembered for his ability to produce when called
upon, and for his place on one of the greatest teams of all time.
Celtic Nation is pleased to bring you this interview.
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