 The Celtics won the first two games at the Boston Garden, where they had gone 40–1 during the regular season.The Rockets had been almost as good at home during the regular season, and they defeated the Celtics 106–104 in game three.Game 4 was a tense battle at the Summit, which the Celtics won 106–103, with Bill Walton coming off the bench for a tired Robert Parish to score a crucial basket.