Celtics, 76ers Open Today Minus at Least One Conflict

BOSTON —  The first game of the NBA Eastern Conference final between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers will be played at Boston Garden today (Channel 2, 10 a.m. PDT).

Game 2 will be at Boston Tuesday night at 5:30 PDT, with Game 3 next Saturday at the Spectrum in Philadelphia at 12:30 p.m. PDT. A Phil Collins rock concert, which would have conflicted with Game 3, has been postponed until the following night.

Since CBS insists on a game Saturday at 12:30, the 76ers might have been forced to play their first home game of the best-of-seven series at a neutral site, perhaps as far away as the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., according to Spectrum officials.

Game 4 will be at 10 a.m. PDT next Sunday. The earlier start provides enough time for the conversion of the Spectrum in time to accommodate the rock concert that evening.

Saturday, the Celtics arrived home about 13 hours after beating the Detroit Pistons, 123-113, Friday night in Detroit to win their conference semifinal series. The Celtics went straight from the airport to a casual 20-minute workout.

The 76ers completed a four-game sweep of the Milwaukee Bucks last Sunday.

Boston is nursing an assortment of injuries. Larry Bird and Robert Parish have elbow problems, and guard Dennis Johnson has been suffering back spasms. Meanwhile, Philadelphia’s Bobby Jones has a bruised knee. But all are expected to play today.

Boston and Philadelphia split their regular-season series, each winning three games at home.

Approaching this series, feelings are running high. Even the usually mild-mannered Julius Erving is vociferous. “I don’t like anything about them,” he said.

Said Boston’s Cedric Maxwell: “This series is going to be one thing--thugs vs. thugs.”

Boston’s 63-19 regular-season record was the NBA’s best. The injury-plagued 76ers finished 58-24. But Boston has had difficulty with both of its playoff opponents. The Celtics eliminated Cleveland, 3-1, but didn’t win any game by more than three points. They got past Detroit, 4-2, as Bird set playoff career-highs of 42 and 43 points.