Celtics Down Pacers

Larry Bird scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while playing just 30 minutes last night as the Boston Celtics rolled to their eighth consecutive victory in a 125-106 National Basketball Association decision over the Indiana Pacers.

Bird also has nine assists and six steals before retiring to the bench with Boston in front. 96-68, with 3:19 left in the third period.

The Celtics, winning for the 14th time in the last 15 starts and the 18th in the last 20, broke away from an 8-8 tie and put on a textbook performance in defeating Indiana for the fifth time this season and the 13th in a row in Boston Garden since April 2, 1978.

With Bird scoring 12 points Boston opened a 30-25 first period lead and then widened the advantage to 70.56 with a 40 point second quarter. In the decisive period, Gerald Henderson score 10 points and Bird and Kevin McHale nine each.

The Pacers' Herb William scored at the outset of the second half, but the Celtics went on a teat to build a 30-point lead, 94-64.

Robert Parish and McHale scored 17 points and Henderson and Danny Ainge 14 apiece for the Celtics, who played without injured veterans Dennis Johnson and Scott Wedman.

Gerry Sichting and Jim Thomas led Indiana scorers with 12 points each.