Riley Recalls the Bummer of ’83 : Laker Coach Has Painful Memories of Final Series Sweep by 76ers

If the Lakers are more inclined to give sympathy to the devil than the beaten-down Boston Celtics, there’s a reason.

In 1983, the Lakers were every bit as crippled--if not more so--than the Celtics are now, when they took on the Philadelphia 76ers in the National Basketball Assn. finals.

“Not as much was written about our injuries as theirs,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said Friday before boarding a flight to Boston, where the Lakers will take a 2-0 lead into Sunday’s Game 3 of the best-of-seven series.

Item: Laker forward James Worthy, in the last week of the regular season in ‘83, broke his left shinbone and missed the playoffs.

Item: Laker guard Norm Nixon separated his left shoulder in the first game of the finals.

Item: Laker forward Bob McAdoo tore a hamstring in the sixth and deciding game of the Western Conference championship series against San Antonio and was severely handicapped by it in the finals.

The result?

“We got swept right out of the place,” Riley said.

At least the Lakers were competitive, however--unlike the Celtics, who have been beaten by an average of 15 1/2 points in the first two games of the series.

In all four games of the Philadelphia series, the Lakers were leading at halftime.

“If we could have had Mac (McAdoo) healthy, we might have had a shot,” Riley said.

“Every game was decided in the fourth period. They’d hit us with a four- or five-minute defensive press, and that was it.”

Despite gallant efforts by McAdoo and Nixon to play, Riley said the Lakers were no match for the 76ers.

Are the Celtics in the same position today?

“I don’t know,” Riley said. “The two guys that are really hurting for them you can’t replace. That’s the key.”

Those two guys are center Robert Parish and forward Kevin McHale, the linchpins of the Celtics’ inside game. Their immobility, especially on defense, has rendered the Celtics helpless to contest the Laker running game.

The Lakers, however, don’t want to hear of it. If the Celtics are hurt, they seem to feel, then they ought to stay home.

“Those guys can’t play the game injured,” Laker backup center Mychal Thompson said. “If they were injured, they’d be sitting out in street clothes.

“This is not baseball, where you casually run under a pop fly. The Celtics are healthy.”

The 76er team that swept the Lakers in ’83 lost just once in 13 games in the playoffs, the best record in NBA history. After a first-round bye, they swept the New York Knicks in four games, took four out of five from the Milwaukee Bucks, then swept the Lakers.

“That year was sort of bizarre, from the standpoint that it was Doc’s (Julius Erving’s) year, and there was the coming of Moses (Malone) to the East,” Riley said. “Moses made it the bully conference of the planet when he went in there.

“It was Doc’s year, and he wasn’t going to let anything get in the way (of his first NBA championship). And we were losing guys like flies off the wall.”

With 13 wins in 14 playoff games, the Lakers are in position to surpass Philadelphia’s record by closing out the Celtics in the next two games.

“I’m having a hard time right now--I’m not really enjoying what I’m watching,” said Riley, allowing how he doesn’t have that luxury.

“But when I watched it on film last night, I said, ‘Wow!’ ”

Riley is trying hard not to say anything more until the playoffs--and the Celtics--are history. Sometimes, he slips, however.

“Are you going to win the next two?” a fan said to Riley while he was conducting interviews in the LAX boarding area.

“Yes, we will,” said Riley, who quickly added: “You’re not a writer-type, are you?”

And what of the Celtics? Well, as they were leaving the Forum floor, Boston assistant coach Jimmie Rodgers said to an usher: “See you in a week or so.”

Said a voice behind Rodgers: “What are you coming back for, the rodeo?”