Playoff battles? Just ask Ainge
INDIANAPOLIS -- Danny Ainge knows what it's like when a player gets emotional in a playoff game. He still has the scar on his right hand.
"Right there," Ainge said, pointing to the 23-year-old crease on the palm side of his middle finger. "That's where Tree bit me. And the headline in the Herald the next day was `Tree Bites Man.' I thought that was pretty good."
Ainge was talking about playoff ejections because he is the Celtics' executive director of basketball operations and last night his team played without Antoine Walker in a pivotal playoff game against the Indiana Pacers. In a combustible moment near the end of Game 3 Thursday, a Pacer blowout, Walker tossed aside referee Tom Washington while he was trying to make a point to referee Bennett Salvatore. It all happened after Walker got into a jam with Pacers star Jermaine O'Neal.
"We are young and our team is not as disciplined as I'd like to see," said Ainge, before his team went out and routed the Pacers, 110-79, in Game 4 last night to even the series at 2-2. "I think we need to get better at that, no question. I worry that we don't deal with adversity the right way. We're not mature enough."
Certainly Walker, a 29-year-old veteran with nine years in the league, should know better. But sometimes emotions take over, especially in the playoffs.
Ainge had been in the league for only two years when he tackled Tree Rollins in a Celtics-Hawks playoff game at the old Boston Garden in April 1983. Rollins was a 7-footer, but Ainge -- looking like a cornerback bringing down a giant tight end -- hit Rollins low and took him to the floor. While the two rolled around the parquet, Rollins bit Ainge's finger, a wound that required a tetanus shot and several stitches. The most amazing part of the story is that it has been completely inverted in most retellings and the majority of American sports fans seem to believe it was Ainge who bit Rollins.
"I'd taken about 10 or 15 elbows to the jaw when Tree was setting screens," remembered Ainge. "He'd already knocked out Quinn Buckner. So I went for him. I had two options: take him down low or run out of the building. I took him down. Then he bit me.
"Another weird thing about it was that [Atlanta guard] Mike Glenn and I got ejected, but not Tree. It's a little like what happened with Antoine the other night. The first time he went at it with Jermaine, Antoine got the T but Jermaine didn't. The second time, they both did and that's how he got ejected.
"I don't agree with this ruling. I think Antoine's intent was neglected. But in the climate we live in, I'm not surprised. Antoine just wanted to go say his piece. He didn't feel like he lost his emotion. I don't think he feels this is justified and he's very disappointed."
The Celtics said they were disappointed that they were not informed of the league's action until after Friday's practice at Conseco Fieldhouse. Coach Doc Rivers joked, "We could have activated Paul Pressey or Danny Ainge. They could have been coming through that door. But to be honest, we were prepared for this."
Ainge was with the Celtics when they had to play a postseason game on the road in Cleveland without Larry Bird in 1985. Bird was MVP of the league that year but missed Game 3 against the Cavaliers because of a sore elbow. Cleveland beat the Green and fans chanted, "We want Bird," at the end of the game. At the next day's practice, Bird said, "I'm gonna throw both barrels at 'em. They want me, they're gonna get me." He torched the Cavs for 34 points and 14 rebounds as the Celtics clinched the series. Walker did not talk about the O'Neal episode after Thursday's game or after Friday's workout. He was not at the team shootaround early yesterday and was not allowed in the arena for Game 4. He was expected to fly home with the team late last night.
"We've been a team that's rolled with the punches all year long," said Rivers. "All I can do is work with the players in our lineup."
