AP: The Basketball Hendersons

BOSTON ? For the son, it is a homecoming of sorts, a chance to play the team he grew up watching.

For the father, it is a different kind of homecoming, a chance to watch his son play in the same city, if not on the actual floor, where he had his most famous basketball moment.

For both Jerome "Gerald" McKinley Hendersons, the Duke forward and the former NBA player, Thursday night's East Regional semifinal against Villanova is meaningful in both circumstance and location.

Gerald Henderson the younger used to attend Villanova games as a child, and he lived only 15 minutes from the campus. His older sister Jade went there, and his final college choices came down to Villanova and Duke.

Even though he attended private school with Villanova coach Jay Wright's children, he bought into Mike Krzyzewski's "vision" for his development and headed south.

Henderson the elder's 13-year NBA career is often boiled down to one moment that helped the Boston Celtics win their first epic battle with the Los Angeles Lakers: A steal with 18 seconds left in Game 2 of the 1984 finals sent that game to overtime and turned that series around.

When James Worthy's pass to Byron Scott ended up in Henderson's hands, the Lakers' two-point lead going with it, Larry Bird ended up with his only head-to-head title win over Magic Johnson. Bird would later say if it hadn't been for that play, the Celtics would have been swept.

"I guess what I'll be remembered for in my career is that steal," Henderson Sr. told nba.com. "People mention it to me all the time. But in that same game in overtime, I like the play where I set up Scott Wedman for the winning jumper. That goes unnoticed, but I appreciate that play more than the steal. Those were the two points that won the game."

The building where all of that took place, the legendary Boston Garden, is gone, but only a few feet away stands its successor, TD Banknorth Garden, where Henderson's successor will play the most significant game of his college career Thursday night.

The banners commemorating the title his father helped win have been stowed away by the iron fist of the NCAA, but the trains still rumble underneath on their way in and out of North Station, the soundtrack of Gardens old and new.

"He's got a lot of friends back there (in Boston)," Henderson Jr. said this week. "A lot of people that are close to me. He always talks about those were his best years as a pro, not just on the basketball court but in terms of just living and him having a good time as a basketball player.

"Those were his best times. It should be fun for him."

The Celtics traded Henderson away after that season, but he was part of a team that restored the Celtics to an elite level after a three-year absence from the NBA Finals.

The younger Henderson says people will ask him about it after the play pops up on ESPN Classic ? in the Villanova locker room, a mere mention of the steal produced a knowing buzz among a handful of players ? but his father doesn't talk about it much.

He does know it was one of the best moments of his father's career. Thursday night's game has the potential to be similar for the son.

The fact that this is the first time the Blue Devils have advanced this far in the NCAA Tournament during Henderson's time in Durham has been the gaping hole in his resume. Now, Duke's stars ? Henderson's junior classmate Jon Scheyer and sophomore Kyle Singler ? have filled the gap.

Now, they are working with a blank slate. What they do Thursday night will not only set the tone for next season, whether Henderson is back or not, but perhaps for years after that.

They have corrected the two-year abrogation of Duke's traditional standards. The only question now is, where will they set the bar?

Twenty-five years ago, Henderson Sr. helped the Celtics get back to where they have always expected to be. Now, Henderson Jr. has the chance to do the same for Duke.