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Balancing the scales 

                  For every action, there was a reaction

                  By Michael Holley, Globe Staff, 12/26/98 

                     hey were the Yin-Yang team of the NBA. When they
take the
                     time to page through their green-and-white
leprechauned
                  yearbooks, the 1998 Celtics will certainly be
reminded of life's
                  basic, two-pronged proverbs. Here are a few of them: 

                  If something new is rising to the sky, something old
is inevitably
                  falling to the earth; 

                  If someone is giving you a glorious goodbye this
morning, the
                  see-ya-later-buddy may not be far behind; 

                  And, most important, if you happen to be setting a
scoring record,
                  a 3-point shooting record, or have a coach on record
saying that
                  you are his best point guard, here's some advice:
either pack your
                  bags or prepare yourself for a loss. 

                  That was the story of the Celtics' season. All parts
were balanced.
                  Positive met negative and good mingled with bad.
When all the
                  elements were put together, the result was
eventually disquieting
                  silence, also known as the NBA's lockout. But if the
Celtics were
                  paying attention to the trend of their season, they
wouldn't have
                  been surprised by the dispute. 

                  There were no complaints with their January. That's
when Robert
                  Parish returned to the FleetCenter to have his
peculiar number, 00,
                  retired. He was flanked by Kevin McHale and Larry
Bird, bringing
                  back memories of one of the league's all-time great
frontcourts.
                  And never mind that the current Celtics lost that
game to Bird's
                  Pacers. Only nine days later, Antoine Walker was
named to the
                  Eastern Conference All-Star team. He had spent the
previous
                  weeks doubting that he had national support, seeming
to forget
                  that the nation found out who he was when he scored
49 points
                  against the Wizards Jan.7. 

                  But that is where the up/down trend began. Because
as intriguing
                  as Walker's performance was, the Celtics still lost.
That was the
                  perfect preface for February, a month when you
learned to say,
                  ''Yeah, but what's the catch?'' when someone told
you something
                  good about the Celtics. 

                  A rookie named Chauncey Billups can tell you about
that. For
                  months, the point guard had heard rumors that the
Celtics were
                  going to trade him. They finally did Feb. 18. The
worst thing about it
                  for Billups was that he had to fly with the team
from Sacramento to
                  Vancouver, British Columbia, even though he knew he
was no
                  longer a part of it. He was a Raptor, just like Dee
Brown, Roy
                  Rogers, and John Thomas. The Celtics helped
themselves by
                  acquiring veteran point man Kenny Anderson in the
deal, but all
                  coach Rick Pitino had to do was go home to find out
how
                  unpopular the trade was. 

                  ''My son said he is going to run away from home,''
Pitino said of
                  Richard Pitino, who had grown close to Billups. ''He
hasn't talked to
                  me in two days.''

                  Brown did not mind being traded. He had begun 1996
by asking to
                  be traded and, finally, Pitino set him free. But not
before he left his
                  name in the FleetCenter books, dropping a record
eight 3-pointers
                  on the Mavericks Feb. 4. 

                  Up and down. Coming and going. In and out. That
theme didn't
                  stop in April when Walker scored a
FleetCenter-record 43 points -
                  only to be told to ''throw them out the window''
because Pitino
                  thought his forward's defense was poor in a loss to
the Nets. And
                  then, in the same month that the Celtics broke
ground for a new
                  training facility in Waltham, passersby in the North
End saw the
                  empty Boston Garden falling to earth before their
eyes. 

                  In the building next to the demolished Garden, the
Celtics often
                  played to sellouts and excited fans with their
pressing style. But
                  they were too young and too small to make the
playoffs, finishing
                  with 36 wins. The good thing about those wins? They
allowed the
                  Celtics to have prime draft position. They took
Kansas's Paul
                  Pierce with the 10th pick, a selection that had
people psyched
                  about the 1998-99 season. Except, well, there would
be no
                  1998-99 season. At least not the '98 part of it. 

                  Unsure of how they can split $2 billion, the NBA
players and
                  owners shut down their league. Before the lockout
began, Pitino
                  had mentioned that a 5-foot-10-inch (maybe) guard
named Tyus
                  Edney was his best point man. Edney should have
known about the
                  trend and packed up then. On the day before the
lockout, Edney
                  was waived. 

                  During the summer and fall and winter, there was
finger-pointing
                  and posturing from all sides. Players blaming owners
and owners
                  blaming players. But the Celtics' offices on
Merrimac Street were
                  basically quiet. Not good. Which means, if you are
following the
                  trend, that we must be on the verge of something
good. 




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