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This is a true story. Almost one year ago, on July 4, 2007, on a rainy, dreary holiday in Wareham, Massachusetts (Cape Cod region), one of my best friends from Rhode Island had come to spend the day with me. While shopping in a local Wal-Mart I stopped by the hat section trying to find a Boston Celtics hat as I tried for months, and months, searching for a baseball cap. This day would be my lucky day and my friend asked a question along the lines of “why are you buying a Celtics hat”? Now, to be completely fair, ever since I’ve known him, which dates back to the fall of 1991, he hasn’t been much of a basketball fan. But my response was simple and something along the lines of: “I know Boston is a Red Sox town, but, if and when the Celtics resume winning this town will be painted green once again each winter and spring.” My friend certainly didn’t deny the statement. Just days before that trip to Wal-Mart the Celtics had traded for Ray Allen on draft night. Weeks later, the Celtics traded Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, draft picks, and cash in exchange for Kevin Garnett. Now the “Boston Three-Party”, later dubbed as such by ESPN, was complete. Sprinkle in the signings of Eddie House, PJ Brown, James Posey, and Sam Cassell, current players like Rajon Rondo and Leon Powe, and the ingredients were in place for something special. Certainly entering the season there was uncertainty in two areas. The first one was head coach Doc Rivers. After all, the Celtics had the worst record in the NBA’s Eastern Conference in 2006-2007. But from the get-go he preached defense, and all the season long the defense paved the way the entire season (Football fans, does this sound similar?) The other was chemistry. Would adding all these players into the mix during the off-season, effectively work? Well, the first game may have a solid indicator as the Celtics rolled Washington in the TD Banknorth Garden, 103-83. It was only the beginning of the turnaround. Which ‘turnaround’ is an appropriate word as during the season the Celtics went from worst to first, meaning they earned the best record in the NBA and thus, home court advantage throughout the playoffs. This was critical as the first two rounds of the playoffs, against the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers, went a full seven games, losing all the road games. Turnaround also applies for the Eastern Conference Finals series again the Detroit Pistons, as they finally won on the road, ousting the Pistons in six games. Finally, turnaround was also a key word, as in game 4 of the NBA Finals, when the Celtics found themselves down by 24 points, only to comeback and win the game to take a commanding 3 games to 1 lead. The turnaround is complete and we now celebrate as the greatest franchise in NBA history, for a league best 17th time and the first since 1986, is crowned world champions! Banner number 17 came at the expense of their rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers in a series that went 6 games, with the Celtics winning 4 games to 2 with an absolute dismantling of the Lakers in Game 6: 131 – 92. This was the 9th time in 11 meetings that the Celtics have ousted the Lakers in the NBA Finals, another dominating statistic. Somewhere, Red Auerbach has lit his victory cigar with a smile on his face. The Series MVP, fittingly, went to Paul Pierce as he averaged 22 points in the NBA Finals. Now, Paul’s name can go amongst some of the Celtic’s best such as Bill Russell and Larry Bird. But contributions came from all over the team: Allen and Garnett’s huge performances throughout the Finals, the bench clearly outplaying the Lakers’ bench, Doc River’s outcoaching Phil Jackson – especially when the Celtics won the majority of 3rd quarters in this series. When the Red Sox won their 2 World Series titles, it came in St. Louis and Denver. When the Patriots won their 3 Super Bowl titles, it came at a neutral site in New Orleans, Houston, and Jacksonville. But tonight, the victory was home in Boston. So, let the celebration begin in the home locker room! Let the fans dance on Causeway Street! After all, its been 22 years in the making. For the 17th time, the Celtics are on top of the world! |
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