The Mystique Goes On

Early in the week, with the series tied at 2-2, the Celts helped Jones celebrate his 55th birthday with a locker room party that included ribs and a cake. A couple of hours later, the coach received word from San Francisco that his mother had died. It cast a pall over the team as Detroit arrived for Game 5.

Laimbeer, meanwhile, had registered at his hotel under the name of Steve Glassman (an old friend of his) to avoid any hostile phone calls arising from his infamous Game 3 altercation with Bird. When he was introduced at the Garden last Tuesday, Laimbeer held his hands to his ears, mocking the crescendo of boos. That was Laimbeer before Game 5.

This was Laimbeer late in the first half: on his knees, stunned, blood trickling from his mouth. A split second after he had touched Parish with a glancing elbow—tame by NBA standards and positively mosquitolike by Laimbeer's—he was felled from behind by a senseless three-punch barrage by Parish. Though referee Jess Kersey was standing just a few feet from the play, he called no violation other than an unrelated personal foul away from the main event. Kersey said later, "I didn't see any punches."

If Parish was trying to intimidate the Pistons, it didn't work. The game stayed close throughout the second half until Thomas, with Jerry Sichting in his face, hit a jumper to give Detroit a 107-106 lead with 17 seconds left. At the other end, Rodman knocked away Bird's baseline drive. A scramble ensued, and the ball went out of bounds off Sichting. Detroit's possession. One-point lead. Five seconds left.

Awaken, poltergeists.

Detroit coach Chuck Daly was waving frantically and screaming for a timeout. Thomas didn't see him and prepared to throw the ball inbounds from sidecourt. Bird, who had ended the previous play skidding along the baseline on his butt, picked himself up and ran to the foul line to guard Joe Dumars. Thomas lobbed a soft pass to Laimbeer, who was standing just a few feet away. It never got there. The next few seconds will stand among the most dramatic in Celtic history. They'll be shown endlessly, frame by frame, Zapruder-like, a mini-epic in every split second. And every time we'll see Bird:

•Have the presence of mind to get into defensive position rather than hang his head after the blocked shot. The Pistons celebrated. Bird calculated.

•Anticipate Thomas's pass. Bird left Dumars and rushed to Laimbeer, intending only to foul him but, instead, snatching a pass that, as Bird said later, "seemed to hang up there forever."

•Somehow keep his balance, stay inbounds and turn toward the basket.

•Make the instinctive calculation that there was time for a better shot than a frantic, low-percentage jumper.