BOSTON -- Scott Wedman shattered many a garage door window on the way toward breaking an NBA championship game record.
Since entering the league as the No. 6 pick in the 1974 NBA Draft, the 6-foot-7 Celtics' forward has always been one of the league's purest shooters.
But it took Monday's phenomenal performance in Game 1 of the league championship series -- 11-of-11 from the floor, including 4 from 3-point range -- for people to remember.
Wedman became the only player in championship history to not miss with a minimum of 8 field goals. James Worthy and Bill Bradley had the previous high with 11-of-12 shooting.
Of course, his Celtics teammates don't expect him to hit every shot throughout the series.
'We might let him miss one,' M.L. Carr said.
Wedman, like millions of kids in America today, got his start by spending countles hours shooting in his driveway in Littleton, Colo.
'We used to have a garage door that had windows in it and our basket was over it,' he recalled. 'Every once and a while my dad would come home and there'd be a broken window. I'd tell him I was shooting and was a little short (of the basket).
'He never said a word as long as I was out there playing. If I was screwing around or if I threw a rock through it, then he'd be mad. But not if I was practicing.'
Wedman, an 11-year NBA veteran who will be 33 in two months, usually comes off the bench to replace Larry Bird at small forward. This season, he averaged 6.4 points in 14 minutes per game and set another record by making 11 straight 3-point shots.
A health-food advocate, Wedman began playing in a 'midget league' in third grade. He says he developed his outside touch while attending summer camp in 1969.
'Toward the end of practice one day, when everybody else went home, my coach took me aside and worked with me,' he said. 'He taught me to shoot in one motion, to shoot on the way up, and things just fell into place.'
Wedman never emulated one particular player, though he admired the flowing jumpers of Larry Jones of the ABA's Denver Rockets and later Calvin Murphy of the Houston Rockets.
'I'd just be out there fantasizing about me making the last-second shots,' he said. 'Every kid does that.'
Wedman presents a problem for the Los Angeles Lakers, who will try to even the best-of-seven title series with a victory in Game 2 Thursday night. The Lakers prefer to double team Boston big men Robert Parish and Kevin McHale, thus leaving Wedman and guard Danny Ainge open on the perimeter.
'We did a great job on Larry Bird, I thought we contained him (in Game 1),' Lakers coach Pat Riley said. 'But Wedman and Ainge, they killed us.'
Adds Los Angeles guard Magic Johnson: 'If Wedman shoots 11-for-11 again, there's no way we can win this series or the game Thursday.'
Wedman was a starter with Kansas City for seven seasons and his best year came in 1979-80 when he averaged 19 points, shot 51 percent and was named to the all-defensive second team. He used that season as a springboard to signing a lucrative free-agent contract with Cleveland.
Now completing his second full season off the bench, Wedman is still adapting to his reserve role. He'd like to start but will not seek more minutes if that will hurt the club.
'I'm sure if I keep hitting every shot the rest of the series I might push Larry (Bird) for some time,' he said with a grin. 'But if playing time is your goal, it just gets in the way of winning, so I'm not going to worry about it.'
Instead, he'll leave the worrying to the Lakers' defense.
