Detroit Free Press

BOSTON -- It was hell. As usual.

BOSTON -- It was hell, as usual. And the Pistons were the guests of honor.It was fans yelling "CHOKE!" and Mark ...

When it's time to win, you forget about the talk. You forget about trade rumors. You forget about arguments and ...

There is only one person on the Boston Celtics that worries me and that is Larry Bird. You can throw out as many Dee Browns and Brian Shaws as you want. Tall guys? Bring on the tall guys, Kevin McHale, Joe Kleine, Ed Pinckney. Even the old man, Robert Parish -- who recently celebrated his 92nd birthday -- even him, I can handle. I need an ax. But I can handle him.

BOSTON -- Wait a minute. Time out. I thought the rule was, the sixth man has to come in off the bench. He can't ...

BOSTON -- The last time I had breakfast with Bill Laimbeer he stole my grapes. Just reached across the table and grabbed them. Didn't even say thanks -- although he did close his mouth when he chewed. "These are good," he said, swallowing.Then he stuck me for the check.So it's risky business eating with Laimbeer. But I am doing it again, four years later. I am sitting here as he orders eggs Benedict, two bagels, cream cheese, large orange juice, coffee -- and I am doing it because I want to know one thing: I want to know whether he is ready to quit.

BOSTON -- The sneaker sat in the paint, all by itself, as if it had fallen from a shelf. The man who had been wearing it, Isiah Thomas, was on his back now, a few feet away, grabbing the foot with the sock on it, writhing in pain. Even here, 800 miles away, you could hear the groans from Detroit: "Oh, nooo. Now what?"