I'm talkin' about the CELTICS baby!
Now THAT was a win. It's only fitting that the Celtics finally and decisively came together and played to their maximum potential when everything was on the line. With a championship dangling in front of them, the Celtics became not just a winning team, but an unstoppable force. In the end, there was nothing that was going to get between them and their goal of championship glory. They didn't just defeat the Lakers tonight, they steamrolled over them, en route to the bright light at the end of the tunnel.
I said before that Kevin Garnett needed to have a monster game tonight, and he did. He played like a beast and showed an unstoppable will to win. His one shot in which he hung in the air, took the hard foul, and then willed the ball into the basket with a one-handed push, was emblematic of just how bad The Big Ticket clearly wanted this one. His defense was tenacious, his post play epic, and his demeanor a nonstop ball of intensity. The sheer emotion of the big man KG when all was said and done pretty much said it all.
I've long thought that Ray Allen was flat-out one of the most effortlessly talented players in the NBA, but this series and this game in particular only confirmed it on the national stage. For me as a fan and as a wannabe three-point specialist, there's nothing more fun than watching a great shooter shoot the lights out. With his flawless stroke and stone-cold marksmanship, Ray Allen's performance tonight cemented him for me in the cannon of great shooters, the guys like Reggie Miller and Larry Bird, the guys whose shot really is a thing of beauty and a deadly weapon all at once. And it was particularly sweet to see him come out of his supposed slump and prove the critics wrong. OVer the hill? Not by a long shot. UCONN's favorite son carried the Celtics at times and deserves so much credit for being one of the league's most skilled scorers. Talk about a deserving champion, Ray Allen is it.
You know, I remember going to a number of Celtics games while I was a student at BU, during the relative dark ages when the season was considered successful if they got by with just a first-round playoff berth. I remember seeing Paul Pierce play and seeing, over time, a look of weariness on him, a burden that weighed him down, after years of carrying the load on one poorly-assembled team after another. In these playoffs, and in this series, Paul Pierce was reborn. He found his heart again. The talent was always there, but this is no longer simply Paul Pierce the perennial All-Star, this was Paul Pierce: the superstar. Hearing Paul Pierce show the kind of emotion he did in his interviews in this series, and then bringing that same kind of never-say-die attitude to the court, that is what championships are made of.
And you can't say enough about the supporting cast. From James Posey to Leon Powe, from Eddie House to PJ Brown. From Sam Cassell to Kendrick Perkins. Rajon Rondo played the game of his life tonight - this kid has a bright future ahead of him, he stepped up bigtime tonight. Give that man a Tommy Point!
Doc Rivers, well, I've had my doubts. I've always liked the guy, but I was never quite sure that he knew exactly what he was doing. Well Doc was another guy who stepped it up. He coached one hell of a Finals. His style may be scrappy and unpolished, but hey, I think I speak for most Celtics fans when I say that I'll be happy to see him back in Beantown next season.
And finally, to the Boston fans. Having lived in Boston mere footsteps from Fenway park throughout my college years, I feel like Boston more so than any city in the world bleeds character from every street corner and sidewalk. Once you've lived there and lived and breathed Beantown, you can't help but root for it. I've lived in New York, London, and LA, and nowhere else is there the kind of character that you find in Boston. There's no pretensions, no fakeness - it's a place that honors authenticity, honors scrappers, honors underdogs. It's why I can't help but love it when The Celtics go out there and do right by Beantown. I only wish I was there now to fully appreciate the feelings of joy and pride that are surely enveloping the city as I write this.
So congrats to the CELTICS. An amazing season, and an amazing series. It re-ignited the classic Celtics-Lakers rivalry, but in the end I feel safe in saying that the good guys won.
And by the way ... today at work it was only fitting that I stood only feet away from Sir Charles Barkley, my all-time favorite athlete, and the man who made me love basketball in the first place many years ago. For awhile there, I watched the same old teams play in the Finals, slowly losing interest and emotional investment. Well, in this series that old fire was back. Not to sound like a corporate pitchman, but thank you Celtics for making me remember why I love this game.
CELTICS, baby!
CELTICS, baby!
CELTICS, baby!
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