By Kevin Henkin

Quite a ride, wasn’t it? When I took over as editor of the FCP last July, the Ray Allen trade had already been made but Kevin Garnett was still in Minnesota, James Posey was still in limbo and most of us remained confused as to the direction of the franchise. Obviously, in the eleven months that followed, much in the way of monumental happenings took place, culminating of course with the World Championship that was formally celebrated yesterday. In some ways, it still hasn’t all settled in, that it’s over and they won it all. I still need time to process, and to catch up on some sleep. While I do that, however, I wanted you all to know how much I and my fellow writers here appreciate your readership. I know there are plenty of Celtics-themed blogs and other forms of media coverage to provide you with your Celtics news and analysis so the fact that you’ve chosen to stop here makes us feel pretty proud.

If you have any feedback, either positive or constructive, please feel free to e-mail me at kevin@bostonsportsmedia.com, or leave a comment on one of the articles. We’re always looking to improve so your feedback is a valuable source for suggestions. In the meantime, enjoy a summer of basketball bliss. Lastly, for now, I leave you with this picture of Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown, only wearing Lisa Loeb’s funky glasses. It was left on the cutting room floor during the Cleveland series, for obvious reasons. However, now that we’re in summer sandals relaxation mode, I figured it would be a good time to share. Yes, it’s an immature photoshop but it still makes me laugh every time I see it. Take care.

By Kevin Henkin

With a systematic dismantling and destruction of the Lakers in Game 6, the Boston Celtics clinched their 17th NBA title. The final score was 131-92 but the game was essentially over after a dominating second quarter in which Boston outscored Los Angeles 34-15.

Silencing his critics, Kevin Garnett came up huge, especially during the first half, and was instrumental in Boston’s early run to an insurmountable lead. His final line was 26 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. He was aggressive early and often on offense and helped set the standard of in-your-face basketball that his team demonstrated wire to wire.

Ray Allen was similarly magnificent, scoring 26 points that were fueled by his 7-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc. It was the capstone performance of an exceptionally played Finals series by Allen, who set the record with 22 treys.

Rajon Rondo also submitted a watershed effort, finishing with 21 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists and 6 steals. If Garnett had a partner in aggression during this game, it was Rondo, who finally seemed able to put his ankle woes behind him and regain the quickness that is so integral to his game. Throughout the evening, Rondo wreaked havoc in the passing lanes and prevented the Lakers from ever finding a flow to their offense.

James Posey and P.J. Brown were the other major factors for Boston. Posey predictably lived up to his nickname of “Big Game James”, scoring 11 points on 4-for-4 shootings (including 3-3 from deep waters) and playing a stifling defense on Kobe Bryant that effectively neutralized “the greatest player on earth”.

Bryant finished with 22 but shot only 7-for-22 and scored only 11 more points after the 5:30 mark of the first quarter. In other words, he wasn’t a factor, which could never be said about Michael Jordan in June. Pau Gasol scored 11 points in 32 minutes, which wasn’t nearly good enough for a team that desperately needed their number two scoring option to step up.

Regardless, the end result of this game had little to do with the failings of Gasol, Bryant or anyone else in the purple and gold. It was all about what drove this Celtics team to victory all season long: defense and teamwork. Time and again, help defense sealed the gaps and forced the opposing offense into difficult shots. On the other end, the Celtics ran a clinic on passing out of double teams and finding the open man with the best shot. Forget the triangle. Give me a rotation of players who can make the right pass to the right man on a consistent basis.

Some other thoughts:

I respect Phil Jackson. I even like some things about him. That said, it adds a little oomph to Banner 17 knowing that the Celtics’ victory prevented Jackson from surpassing Red Auerbach to take the lead with 10 coaching rings.

Yes, it’s been said a million times already but it needs to be said again. It was less than a year ago that the ping pong balls fell horribly wrong and drove the Celtics down to the number five slot in the draft. After that, Celtics Nation had every reason to despair. Hope was a fallacy and only the truly optimistic and/or naïve believed that the core of youth would ever evolve into anything but a middle-of-the-road playoff team. Then it all happened. Ainge pulled the trigger on the Ray Allen deal, which on its own merits was a bit confusing because it left the team in limbo with a too young youth movement mixed together with a couple of aging swingmen. Then the Garnett deal happened, which, well, changed everything. The culture. The outlook. Expectations. The collective commitment to defense. Throw in the additions of James Posey and Tom Thibodeau and the ability to win based on defense was cemented.

Early on, there were some questions with some answers that could only be answered over the course of a full season: Could the Big Three (Can we call them that now, Oh Guardians of the Gate? Are we within our rights now? Are you sure we have your permission?) jell together and set their egos aside? Could the aging superstars handle the rigors of a long season? Could Rajon Rondo, a kid that could’ve potentially still been in his senior season at Kentucky, handle the pressure of running the offense for the big dogs? Were the supporting cast of players good enough? Was the ambitious concept of team defense as the primary focus going to work? Could Doc Rivers lead this team to the promised land? In summation: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and yes, in that order.

This all reminds me of a poster of the Philadelphia 76ers following their title in 1983. It featured Doctor J and Moses Malone and it said “Paid in Full” in big block letters at the bottom. It signified the fulfillment of the promise of a great team after a long drought of misery for a proud franchise on behalf of a devout fan base. That’s how I feel about this Celtics team. Paid in Full. Damned straight. After all, it’s been a long 22 years. Not necessarily the stuff of stupid curse books but it’s still a long period of time to watch a team fall short, sometimes woefully and embarrassingly short, of glory. I still recall being stunned in watching the Celtics get run off the floor in losing the Finals clincher to the Lakers in 1987. There were excuses then, of course, McHale had the broken foot. Walton was hurt. Blah blah blah. Regardless, in our wildest imaginations, none of us ever could have conceived that it would be the end of an era, that it was take another two decades plus for the team to return to the Finals, let alone foresee the string of tragedies, mishaps and seemingly endless stretches of futility that would befall the team in the years that followed. It feels good to leave all that baggage and bad karma behind for good. It’s cathartic.

As much as anyone else, this moment belongs to Danny Ainge for engineering this whole thing. A year ago, I was writing articles looking back fondly on the 2002 playoff run, as if those were the days of Camelot. It was, however, an expression of frustration over watching a bunch of kids who didn’t quite grasp the game running around in Celtics jerseys and speculating about how good they’d be in a few years. Some of the die-hards understood Ainge’s long-term game plan which, in a nutshell, was to collect enough marketable chips to eventually cash them and convert them into a core of veterans in their prime. It certainly made sense on paper but we all wondered whether he’d actually be able to pull it off, especially considering the challenges of fitting it all into CBA guidelines and fighting the uphill battle of wooing players to Boston (hello, Kevin Garnett, who at first took a pass on us if you recall). But Ainge did pull it off. He therefore deserves every molecule of that tiny glass trophy the league awarded him a couple months ago for Executive of the Year.

Finally, kudos to Wyc and the boys. They claimed they’d overspend if and when the team became close to contention. And when the time did come, they did indeed spend, willingly paying mounds of luxury tax penalties for guys like Garnett, Posey and even P.J. Brown. Way to back it up with action and balls, fellas. A city and a fan base owes you all a debt of gratitute

Congratulations to the Celtics and to all that have chosen to follow them in their quest for title 17. To all those who watched each and every one of the games during the 18 game losing streak, desperately searching in vain for a glimmer of hope. To those who rediscovered their passion for basketball this year with a team that demanded their attention. To the new generation of fans who now have their own stories of glory to tell. Paid in full, baby. Paid in full.

By Kevin Henkin

Lakers 105, Celtics 98. What a damned shame of a heart-breaking loss. And a damned shame of a wasted headline opportunity (”Who’s Your Daddy? Celtics Slam Lakers for Series Clincher on Father’s Day”). At least maybe now that the league has reached its desired minimum goal of a six game series, it will allow its officiating crews to call more balanced games going forward.

Regardless, this was truly a game of inches and on this evening, those inches happened to belong to the Lakers when it mattered most. The real shame of it all was the wasted monster effort by Paul Pierce, who scored 38 points (including 16 hard-earned free throws). Pierce strapped his team across his back and nearly dragged them to glory before allowing a tragic poke from behind steal by Kobe Bryant, who converted the subsequent breakaway dunk. The play, which happened with 40 seconds left in the fourth, put the Lakers back ahead by 4.

Of note, on the following possession, Boston set up a play for Ray Allen, who drove hard and nearly converted on the drive in heavy traffic. Kevin Garnett had a clean look at a put-back but missed wide, a play that epitomized his evening in that he worked hard to be in the right place at the right time but just wasn’t able to convert. Not enough, anyway. His team needed more from him on offense and he just wasn’t there to provide it. Exhibit B: His two missed free throws at the 2:31 mark that would have brought Boston back to a tie.

Allow me to expand on Garnett’s game a bit further here, because it was a complicated performance to assess. His official line for the game was 13 points on 6-11 shooting as well as 14 rebounds and 4 turnovers. Although the 14 boards accurately reflect Garnett’s terrific work on the glass, the statistics otherwise tell only a fraction of the story. On defense, he was an outright menace and was the direct cause of numerous disruptions to the Lakers’ offense. He was also especially effective on the offensive glass where he collected 7 of his 14 rebounds. Expanding on his role in the offense, he was an integral part of the pick and roll that continued to work so well in freeing up space for his teammates. BUT….on the dark side, he remained mostly absent in the offense in terms of contributing directly. Down the stretch, again, he looked far more comfortable passing out to his shooters on the perimeter than in taking on the inferior Laker bigs and creating his own shot against them. It was frankly disappointing and marred an otherwise solid performance.

With Rajon Rondo’s game, on the other hand, there wasn’t much of a silver lining to be found. He finished with 3 points on 1-7 shooting along with 3 assists and 2 turnovers. Whatever percentage of capacity he deems himself to be, it simply isn’t high enough to help his team at this point. Look no further than Rondo’s last moments spent on the court in the third quarter before Doc Rivers mercifully replaced him:

5:42 Rondo misses open jumper
5:25 Gets tied up with Derek Fisher on a loose ball. Loses tip to Fisher on the jump ball.
5:17 Arrives late on defense as Fisher spots up an open mid-range jumper and crashes into Fisher, who sinks the shot and the free throw.
5:11 Turns the ball over to Vladomir Radmanovic on a terrible pass.
5:00 In transition, Randmanovic sinks the open three.

Let’s review. At the midpoint of the third quarter, Boston trailed by one at 65-64 and had the ball, poised to take the lead. Less than a minute later, the Celtics trailed by 7 and were back on their heels against yet another Lakers run.

Out of a timeout, Rivers replaced Rondo with Eddie House but his stint was cut short by a bleeding problem after a collision with Derek Fisher. To his credit, Sam Cassell came in and came up big, at one point scoring 7 straight for Boston (he finished with 9 on 4-8 shooting).

All of the above said, the game might not have even been so close had the Celtics played a respectable first quarter. Instead, they again allowed the Lakers to run wild out of the gates, outscoring the Celtics 39-22 in the first 12 minutes. Read that again. 39-22? Early Hole, meet Boston, Boston meet Early Hole…Oh, I see you two have already met. Thus, the Celtics were forced to clamp down hard and expend extra energy just to get back into the game, which they did by shutting down the Lakers to just 16 points in the second quarter vs. Boston’s 30. At the half, LA’s lead was 3 and again, everyone repeat after me…the Celtics had to feel fortunate to be down by only 3 after such uneven play. Of note, Kobe Bryant palyed a big role in that early Lakers lead by scoring 15 of his points in the first, looking ever the part of the hyped dominator. Over the final three quarters, though, he shot 3-13 and scored only 10 more.

Coming out of the half, Boston submitted a disappointing third quarter. If there had been one constant throughout this series to count on, it had been Boston’s domination of the third. Alas, that trend came to an end in Game 5 as the Lakers increased their lead by another 6. In that third frame, Boston became over-reliant on the three but just didn’t hit many of them.

Thus, they entered the final frame down 9 and were down by as much as 14 at the 9:17 mark before storming back to tie it all 90-90 on the backs of Posey, Pierce and Cassell. After that, though, the wheels came off. A chintzy call that sent Derek Fisher to the free throw lin here, the aggresive Kobe Bryant steal there and LA was onto victory. Although the Celtics came within reach of the win, it was all simply too much to overcome.

Two games to go. Boston needs only one. Cue the Jumbotron…

The inches we need are everywhere around us. They’re in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that inch. On this team, we tear ourselves and everyone around us to pieces for that inch….

Until Game 6 back in Beantown…

By Kevin Henkin

Wow. Let me write that again, just for the sheer pleasure of it, and because of what it represents. Wow. In short, it was a historic (and frankly embarrassing from an LA perspective) comeback by the Boston Celtics, one that puts them in prime position to win their first NBA title in 22 years. Sweet. Where to begin? The score, I suppose. Boston 97, Lakers 91. Oh, and a 3-1 series lead for the Celtics.

After submitting one of the most hideous first quarters ever witnessed in the NBA Finals, the Celtics stormed back over the last three quarters until the Lakers finally relented. Seriously, there is no way to overstate how badly the Celtics played in the first quarter. Even Lamar Odom looked spectacular, to the point where he was preening and sticking out his tongue out in reaction to his own good fortune, as short-lived as it would prove to be. Specifically, Odom finished the first half with a surreal 15 points (13 in the first quarter alone) on 7-7 shooting. He was a big factor in building the early Lakers lead, appearing in the lane seemingly out of nowhere to make thunderous dunks and even draining a few 18 foot jumpers. Then, however, his fairy tale carriage morphed right back into a pumpkin again. His second half: 4 points on 1-4 shooting, which provided strong evidence that order had indeed been restored in the universe.

Los Angeles had led by as many as 24 points earlier in the game and by 20 as late as halfway through the third quarter before Boston stormed back furiously. In the final 18 minutes, the Celtics outscored the Lakers to the tune of 47-21. It was the suffocating Boston defense that fed the offense and it was the small ball squad for Boston who led the way in the scoring comeback.

Just to put things in perspective of how bad things went earlier in the game, a couple of first half stats to digest:

Lakers shooting percentage 50%, Celtics 35%
Lakers rebounds 26, Celtics 16

It seems silly to say it now but at the time the Celtics seemed fortunate to only be down by 18 at the half (it would have been 15 if not for that golden horseshoe running desperation three made by Jordan Farmar, which seemed just so indicative of how the evening had been going up until that point).

It must be noted that while the chips were down, it was James Posey and Ray Allen that represented the poise needed to sustain the comeback effort. For the game, Posey contributed an enormous 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting (including 4-8 from beyond the arc) and 4-4 from the line. His biggest shot, of course, was a heart-piercing three with 1:13 left in the fourth that brought Boston’s lead to 5 on the heels of an aggressive layup by Kobe Bryant. Beyond his offense, however, James Posey provided so much of the requisite backbone. He seemed utterly fearless out there and that kind of mental toughness is contagious among veteran players. When Posey was on the floor, you could see teammates gain strength from his presence. It’s not hyperbole. His impact was that visible. He’s like the second coming of Eric Williams, only with a much better stroke.

And Ray Allen? Let’s just say that Cleveland series is all but forgotten. Allen scored 19 in addition to 9 rebounds and 3 steals. He also did another commendable defensive job on Kobe Bryant, playing a big part in holding Mr. Universe to 3 points in the first half before giving way to Paul Pierce on the defensive assignment. But the biggest contribution by Allen was his drive past Sasha Vujacic, who had poked and scratched at Allen on prior possessions like an alley cat in heat, only to collapse at the most crucial moment in the game. After his teammates cleared the entire lane with an area wide enough to land a 747, Allen gave a few obligatory jukes and fakes to Vujacic at the top of the key and then froze his hair-netted opponent with a crossover from heaven and converted a layup with such ease that the officials almost felt obliged to call an offensive foul on him. The play put Boston up by 5 with 16.4 seconds remaining. Doom. Worthy of note: Ray Allen played all 48 minutes.

In another storyline, Rondo played much of the first half (17 minutes total) but eventually gave way to Eddie House, who scored 11 points and provided some high energy. As mentioned by Jeff Van Gundy roughly 8,000 times during the broadcast, House’s threatening J spaced the floor on offense and allowed teammates to roam more freely than when constricted by the Lakers’ 5-on-4 defense with Kobe as the freelancer. Give credit to Doc Rivers for going with and sticking with both House and small-ball throughout the second half. It was gutsy and it worked.

Alas, this is a game to savor. The headline on Yahoo at 12:53 a.m. is: “Historic Collapse by Lakers”. Sublime. The fact that it happened in LA makes it all the sweeter. The additional fact that the game was decided on a play at Game 3 chest-thumper Sasha Vujacic’s expense seems almost to good to be true.

Can you smell it? The cigar smoke from above? Must bother the shit out of Phil Jackson, which makes me smile even wider. Get those Duck Boats fired up, boys. One victory to go.

By Kevin Henkin

“Giving yourself permission to lose guarantees a loss” - Pat Riley

Honestly, I’m not quoting Pat Riley to provide a cute tie-in to the prior incarnation of the Celtics-Lakers rivalry. I cite the above-noted words because I find them to be the best summation of the Celtics’ collective effort in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, which they lost 87-81.

Heading into the game, there were a litany of excuses to lose floating about. The Lakers are back at home. Kobe is due. The league wants the officials to extend the series. The Lakers need the win more badly than the Celtics. And once the game was underway, even more excuses floated to the surface. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett are both awful. Our starting point guard is injured. Our bench is mostly invisible. P.J. Brown is playing like he’s nursing a 17 beer hangover. The officials are indeed calling a more favorable game for the Lakers. Some little greasy guy named Sasha Vujacic is killing us. Yes, the excuses appeared to be sufficient for all Celtics not named Ray Allen or James Posey to give themselves permission to lose. And lose they did, as the esteemed Mr. Riley would say was the inevitable result.

The shame of it all was that this was a game that could have been had and thus a series that could have been all but over. Other than Vujacic’s unlikely breakout game and Kobe Bryant’s slightly-better-than-average performance (36 points on 12-for-20 shooting) , the Lakers just didn’t play all that well. Pau Gasol was lousy (9 points, 3-9 shooting, 3-8 from the line) but he looked positively Russell-esque next to Lamar Odom (4 points, 2-9 shooting, 5 turnovers), whose basketball IQ has officially progressed into the negative.

To summarize the game, the Celtics were thoroughly outplayed in the first half and were plagued persistently by poor shot selection. Here are some numbers to paint the picture: In the first two quarters, the Celtics shot 32.6% from the field, turned the ball over 8 times and shot only 7 free throws to the 22 awarded to the Lakers. And yet somehow, amazingly, they found themselves only down by 6, 43-37. More than anyone else, it was Lady Luck who deserved the biggest high five from the Celtics heading into the locker room.

To their credit, in their only sustained stretch of good play, the Celtics won the third quarter 25-17 and retook the lead by 2. It was during that quarter that Ray Allen scored 10 of his 25 points and Kevin Garnett dished 3 assists and scored 8 of his 13. It should be noted that 44 seconds into that quarter, Rajon Rondo twisted his ankle and was removed from the game for examination. Although quickly re-taped and cleared to play, Rondo remained on the bench until the 7:59 mark in the fourth. In his absence, Eddie House hit a couple of meaningful threes but shot 2-for-8 overall. Poor Eddie House. The man is rustier than a French rifle so it’s a bit unfair to tap him on the shoulder at this point and ask him to go win the game from behind the arc.

As a quick aside, while we’re on Doc Rivers, can we conclude that those “Wired” segments aren’t doing him any favors in terms of cementing his legacy as a cerebral coach? Here’s the word-for-word sample from his segment taken from a timeout in the second half: “You’ve been hanging in there all night, guys. Let’s pump that lead up. Let’s get stops and scores. Stops and scores…” Although I can’t be sure, I suspect that was followed up with, “So let’s go over the game plan again, guys. Let’s score some points on our end, then prevent them from scoring on the other end. Tom will tell you how to do that last part. Then do that over and over again until you hear the loud horn go off…” I digress.

In the fourth quarter, if you’re looking for an answer for how the game was lost, spin the wheel because there are simply too many reasons to list here. Repeated defensive lapses? Check. Poor ball handling and offensive execution? Check. Kobe playing semi-unstoppable with the refs on his side? Check. Vujacic left wide open to shoot threes at his leisure? Check. Speaking of this, do you remember when Kobe had time to set his feet, size up the rim, floss his teeth and check them in the mirror of his purse before sinking that wide open three? Yup, he was Paul Pierce’s assignment from a switch on that play. Pierce, however, was busy crowding the boards and not covering anyone else. Then, do you also recall that dagger three that Vujacic hit just under the two minute mark that put the Lakers back up by 5? Pierce’s man again. I’m just saying it’s worthy of mention. In retrospect, it remains astounding that the Celtics kept within striking distance until the very end, when they inexplicably seemed content to let the Lakers run out the clock up by 6 with 21 seconds remaining. Way to go end-to-end, guys.

In summation, this is officially a series again. Let’s hope this fact leads a few more Celtics players to conclude permission denied on the excuses to lose going forward.

By Matt Richardson

Some further reflections on Game 2 of the Finals…

Shades of Game 5 in the Eastern Conference Finals, anyone? With the Celtics up by twenty-something with 7 minutes left to go, I was already counting the “W” and looking at the 2-0 lead heading to LA. My mind wandered to thoughts about what would change when the series moved out west. I concluded that Kobe would find his stroke at home. That Boston’s bench (America, meet Leon Powe; Leon Powe, America) wouldn’t play as well. That the Kobettes would play with more confidence. That there would not be a +28 disparity in free throw attempts.

The problem was that the Celtics players apparently were sharing some of the same thoughts, hence the complete breakdown in the final seven minutes. In the aftermath of that ugly stretch, we’re going to hear a lot about how champions make runs like the Lakers did, not surrender such runs. And we’re going to hear about how the Celtics provided the Lakers with confidence, and perhaps mentally allowed them back into this series. Don’t believe any of it. That celebrated Lakers team that made the dramatic fourth quarter run was the same team that got tuned by the Celtics for the other forty minutes of the game. Did the Lakers’ intrinsic talent suddenly show up with 8 minutes to play? Or, more likely, did the Celtics get up by a gaudy 24, consider the game over, and basically stop playing hard? I believe the latter, and while that is not entirely good, it’s eminently more curable than the former scenario. And, as noted in this space yesterday, there are no moral victories in the playoffs. The Celtics are up 2-0 in a best of 4 series. Boston needs to win 2 of 5 remaining games, while the Lakers need to win 4 of those 5 remaining games. Call me crazy but I like those odds. Besides, if the Celtics go on to win the title, nobody is going to remember that they nearly coughed up a 24 point lead in 8 minutes. It will simply be remembered that they won Game 2.

Also, expanding on this notion that allowing the fourth quarter run gave the Lakers players confidence: It might have. I won’t argue that. At this point, the Lakers will assuredly take whatever rallying point they can find. But what do you think the Celtics’ players are thinking? To a man, I’d guess, they feel they were kicking the crap out of the Lakers until they stopped trying, and then the Lakers got back in it. This is not intimidating to the Celtics. Rather, it’s a lesson learned: namely, that the Lakers, above anything else, are a team that can get hot and score points in bunches. Take your foot off their neck at your own peril. It’s a useful lesson for sure. Just don’t read too much more into it. If the Lakers’ players choose to believe the run was something they accomplished rather than something the Celtics allowed, they are deluding themselves.

As has been discussed in this forum and elsewhere, the Celtics don’t fit the conventional “champion” template. Their best player does not necessarily step up when they need him. They can be inconsistent and downright ugly at times on offense, and Paul Pierce frequently has to bails them out. They’re at their best when playing great defense, which in turn feeds their offense. On their really good nights, they get big contributions from random bench players. In Boston, by now we’re accustomed to this identity and recognize it as our own. The Celtics’ trademark wins are close affairs where they make one or two more plays than the other guys, plays that usually involve James Posey flying out of bounds, Kevin Garnett swatting a layup attempt or Ray Allen taking a charge. Remember in Top Gun when Goose described Iceman’s style, concluding with: “Eventually you get bored, frustrated, make a mistake, and then he’s got you…” That’s basically how the Celtics play. Nationally, I think fans and experts alike who are unfamiliar with the Celtics are struggling to reconcile their evident flaws with their more subtle strengths. It’s the only explanation I can come up with for this excessive national wave of Lakers love.

Other thoughts:

The Lakers don’t play great defense, they don’t rebound particularly well and they are not very physical. Oh, and they float in and out of the vaunted Triangle Offense apparently based on whimsy. Other than that, they are damned scary.

I don’t ever remember Paul Pierce ever playing this calmly on offense. He seems to be in complete control at all times, knowing exactly where he is going. His 5 footer in the lane with 2 minutes left was a perfect example. Oh by the way, Pierce and Posey scored Boston’s last 9 points, including going 4-4 on the game clinching free throws.

My wife and mother in law guessed that the Garden held 35,000 and 40,000 people respectively. I think the place looks bigger in HD.

Early in the first both Van Gundy and Jackson object to the fouls being called on Kobe, feeling they were too soft for playoff basketball. Imagine that, two former Knicks objecting to fouls being called. Clearly Ray Allen’s sternum was not cracked on that elbow, so no way is it a foul.

In the third quarter as the Lakers were falling further and further behind, they came out of a time out during which Jackson evidently told them to be more aggressive. Lamar Odom immediately took the ball at the top of the key and went barreling towards the hoop, getting whistled for a charge. You could see that one coming a mile away. In related news, I’ve been waiting to see this new and improved Odom I keep hearing about. So far he looks like the same old “not nearly as good as he thinks he is or people think he should be” guy that he’s always been.

Good to see old friend Antoine Walker in the crowd looking relaxed and relatively fit. And sporting a plain white tee shirt complemented by a $40,000 wristwatch. Gunpoint hold ups will apparently not convince him that five figure timepieces are excessive.

Mandatory anti-jinx prediction: The Celtics will come back to Boston down 3-2 and Kobe will have scored approximately 200 points in 3 games.

By Kevin Henkin

Forget the X’s and O’s. For the Celtics and the Lakers in Game 2 of the Finals, it was all about the A-B-C’s. As in: A-Always. B-Be. C-Closing. Always be closing, the mantra by which Boston operated in the middle quarters, in a fashion dominating enough to ultimately decide the game. The final score was 108-102, but more on that later. First, the closings of the final three quarters in this bizarre and thrilling game.

The Second Quarter. Leading up to the closing minutes of that frame, the Lakers submitted a sustained effort to close the gap. Los Angeles had the lead whittled down to 5 at 4:22 (from a high of 10 earlier in the quarter) and then at 7 with 2:06 remaining. By the time the horn sounded for halftime, however, Boston’ lead had expanded to 12, largely due to the aggressive play of Rajon Rondo on both ends of the floor and from the shooting of Paul Pierce.

The Third Quarter. Earlier in, Boston had been threatening to blows the doors open. For example, at the 7:40 mark, Ray Allen missed an open three in transition that would have put Boston ahead by 18. However, a 10-3 Lakers run that ended with a Doc Rivers timeout with 4:29 to go brought Los Angeles back within 9 points. Out of the timeout, Boston went on a dominating run that can barely be put into words. Let’s start with the numbers. During that final 4:29 stretch, the Celtics went on a 13-0 run and overall outscored the Lakers 15-2. In the 4:29, the Lakers shot 1-for-6 and turned the ball over 4 times. On the other end, Leon Powe closed things out by scoring Boston’s last 6 points of the quarter in loud and spectacular fashion.

The Fourth Quarter. With the lead as high as 24 points at the 7:55 mark, the Celtics settled in, lost their aggression and waited for the game clock to expire. Hell, a 24 point lead with less than 8 minutes to play? Game over, right? Wrong. Always be closing. The Lakers took on the role of aggressor and erased all but 2 of those 24 points, leaving Boston ahead 104-102 with 38 seconds to play. Alas, Boston got their ABC’s back just in time and closed it out with a pair of skillfully earned and converted freebies by Paul Pierce and a diving save of a loose ball and subsequent sunk free throws by James Posey that sealed the win for good.

Several of the Celtics deserve individual accolades. Specifically:

Paul Pierce scored 28 points on 9-for-16 shooting, including 4-4 from behind the arc. He also earned those free throws when his team desperately needed them to stave off the last gasp of the Lakers. The importance of that play cannot be overstated. That’s what great players do. They submit fine performances and execute when the game is ultimately on the line. Add this one into his legacy vault.

Leon Powe. Where to begin? 21 points on 6-of-7 shooting. 9-for-13 from the line. Highlights included a surreal near end-to-end sprint though a napping Lakers defense that ended with a thunderous dunk, as well as a 6:33 stretch in the first half where he earned nine trips to the line. For the sake of comparison, the entire Lakers team had two free throws in the first half. Let’s say Leon Powe becomes what we think he will: A nice player, someone you can rely on to be a physical energy guy, a player capable of very productive spurts, a gobbler of offensive rebounds. But this? Fast forward 50 years and it’s a pretty safe bet he’s recollecting this game to his grandkids.

Rajon Rondo had a nice game. 16 assists (including 10 in the second half) versus 2 turnovers. He looked every bit as poised and aggressive as his savvy and respected counterpart in Derek Fisher. That’s saying quite a lot for a guy that should have just finished his senior season at Kentucky.

Upon reflection, it’s a difficult game upon which to settle any firm conclusions. I go back and forth on what to come away with. For example, down the stretch of the third quarter, Boston looked so utterly dominant that one had to begin speculating whether LA’s home court edge over the next three games would be enough to send the series back to Boston. After that abomination of a fourth quarter, however (41 points allowed, 29 of which over the last 7:40), all those thoughts were a distant memory. On the turn of a dime, the game switched from a laugher in Boston’s favor to what can only be categorized as an embarrassing victory by the Celtics. I know, it doesn’t matter. It’s a win and there is no such thing as a moral victory, especially in the Finals. Even so, you have to conclude that if A) that game had lasted two minutes longer, or B) it had been played in Los Angeles, the Lakers would have won. Neither is a comforting thought for anyone associated with the Celtics. Then again, coming back to reality, who really cares? The Celtics are still left with their own best case scenario: a 2-0 lead heading into Los Angeles. All the rest is window dressing. Well, except for that valuable object lesson on which the Lakers were so kind as to provide a refresher course. Always. Be. Closing.

By Kevin Henkin

When it comes right down to it, the Celtics won this game. I mean that in the sense that they won it more than the Lakers lost it. The final score was 98-88 but it felt much closer.

After a lackluster first half, at the end of which they trailed by five, the Celtics came away with the victory by clamping down on defense and standing tall down the stretch. They were notably led by a gritty effort from the Captain Paul Pierce and by their two defensive towers in Kevin Garnett and P.J. Brown.

There was, of course, the drama surrounding Pierce when he went down with a strained knee early in the third quarter. This was on the heels of Pierce scoring 8 points in the first 1:20 of the third and breathing life to a previously stalled Boston offense. When Pierce was carried off the court by teammates, Celtics fans were immediately doing the mental math on how Boston could replace Pierce’s production. The equation looked like a disaster. Thankfully, Pierce returned after a brief checkout in the locker room and delivered back-to-back dagger threes later in the quarter. He finished with 22 points on an efficient 7-10 shooting line, including 3-4 from deep waters.

Garnett was a big factor early in the game, scoring 8 of Boston’s first 14 points and finishing with after two. He went ice cold in the second half, however, at least until he delivered a backbreaking throw down dunk over Pau Gasol off a missed three by James Posey. The play happened with 1:32 left in the game and put Boston back up by 8, at 94-86. It was simply devastating to the Lakers’ chances. Although Los Angeles hardly threw in the towel, you could still see the wind fall out of their sails at that point. Garnett finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds.

Both teams came out of the gates in the first quarter looking a bit out of sorts, especially Boston with their 3 turnovers in the first three minutes. Garnett subsequently set the tone with his early offense. Ray Allen then chipped in 5 points in a 24 second span to extend Boston’s lead to 5 with 3 minutes left to play in the first. At the end of one, Boston held a tenuous 23-21 lead.

Through much of the second quarter, Boston held onto the lead, growing to as high as five at one point but eventually relinquished it at the 4:17 mark on a Derek Fisher free throw. Throughout the second frame, Boston had difficulty defending the pick and roll and the Lakers were able to find the open man for several easy baskets. Of note, in the second, the Lakers had fallen into the penalty with over seven minutes left to go, but the Celtics weren’t able to capitalize, only earning one more foul for freebies for the remainder of the quarter. For the most part, the Celtics settled for jumpers while their rare trips into the paint typically resulted in blocked shots or turnovers.

The Lakers shot over 50% in the first half but finished with a lowly 41.6% overall. Kobe Bryant had an off-night, shooting only 9-26 and reaching the line only six times. While the Boston defense was strong on Bryant, a better performance is anticipated from the offensive supernova going forward. As they say, Be Afraid.

Sam Cassell’s line of 8 points on 4-9 shooting wasn’t accurately reflective of his poor play and categorically insane shot selection. The fact that some of those shots actually fell and that Lindsey Hunter was no longer harrassing him on defense were not sufficient drivers to justify Cassell’s seemingly endless 13 minutes on the court. Rondo had played well enough down the stretch at the end of the third quarter to justify a brief respite and yet Doc Rivers chose to keep Cassell in the game for nearly halfway through the fourth. Of note, Rondo finished with 15 points, many of those on knocked down jumpers in the face of the sustained “I Dare You” defense against him. He also had 7 assists (two more than Ray Allen’s 5, all in the first half).

As indicated above, P.J. Brown was once again a factor. He finished with 2 points and 6 rebounds but the line does no justice to the job done by the veteran, who always seemed to be where the loose balls were bouncing during his time on the court in the fourth quarter. His presence was especially needed with Kendrick Perkins hindered by early foul trouble and then later by an ankle injury in the third quarter. The 38 year old big who was semi-retired a mere four months ago once again answered the bell when called upon.

In the end, Boston’s Big Three (65 points combined) outplayed LA’s Big Two and the Celtics’ team defense arrived in time to shut down the Not-Quite-Showtime Lakers’ offense.

On Phil Jackson’s whiteboard, the magic number “4” is written. This, of course, signifies the amount of requisite wins remaining for the Lakers to win the championship. Save the eraser, Phil. For at least another couple nights anyway.

By Kevin Henkin

Have I repeatedly strolled down memory lane since the Celtics clinched their invite to face the Lakers in the NBA finals? To paraphrase Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men:

YOU’RE GODDAMNED RIGHT I HAVE!!!!

And why wouldn’t I? This is huge. It’s worthy of the indulgence of reminiscence. If you can’t appreciate the relevance of the past to what is unfolding at present, then you have missed one of primary common truths about sports and life, namely that the past matters. The past connects us across generations. And when a once-great rivalry is revived, we are transported back to our origins as fans and reminded of why we began to love sports as we do.

I’ve always valued the basketball analysis of Bob Ryan, largely because of his ability to incorporate that “I was there back then and here’s how it’s relevant today” historical perspective into his narrative. I’m not Bob Ryan and I won’t ever pretend to be, but in this case, I will step forward and try to explain why this pending Celtics-Lakers series means so much to my generation.

To begin with, it’s necessary to paint the landscape of the Boston sports scene in the early 1980’s. In terms of Boston sports coverage, there were two iconic institutions in place. After you watched the games, you followed the sportscasts during the news with Bob Lobel on Channel 4 and you read about them in The Boston Globe. That was how you got your daily fix, and that’s how it was for everyone I knew. Lobel. Globe. Discuss. If you were a die-hard sports fan in Boston, those two mediums felt like an essential part of your life. You took them for granted and never questioned whether you needed any more. It seems quaint, in retrospect.

Also, during that time period there was far greater parity among the four teams in terms of attention paid by both the fans and the media. The Red Sox were certainly popular but it was nothing compared to their present domination as a cultural phenomenon. The popularity of the Patriots came and went according to their win-loss record but it was more difficult to follow them because their home games were rarely televised due to the lack of sellouts. On the flip side, the Bruins were far more popular back then when Ray Bourque and Cam Neely roamed the ice and they were perennial Stanley Cup contenders. Back then, the Bruins had a very real presence and they justified the contention that Boston truly was a four sport town.

Regardless, none of the above teams held a candle to the Boston Celtics during the 1980’s. During those years, Celtics games were the toughest ticket around. Also, the excellence of the team was infectious. While everyone played little league, it was pickup basketball that was the dominant activity of male youth. During the halftime breaks of playoff games, if you walked out to your front stoop you would see kids expending their pent up energy by shooting hoops for as far as the eye could see. It’s not a cliché. It’s how it was.

Then there were the two teams themselves, which were the very personification of how teams should play the game. Passing was an art form. Almost every player on the floor could shoot. Fundamentals were set in stone but, as has been said repeatedly during these current playoffs, good offense beats good defense and that was never better demonstrated than when those two teams played. Consider all of the Hall of Famers involved in those three Finals showdowns. Looking back, it’s almost unreal. Those teams really were that good.

Which brings us to the present, and the future still unwritten. So much is on the line, legacies in particular. Paul Pierce has the most to gain, the lifelong Celtic who at last has a chance to sit amongst the legends of the most storied franchise in basketball. Garnett and Ray Allen have the chance to engrave their resumes with the stamp of “Winner”, which is notably listed above “Great Player.” Doc Rivers has the chance to speak the final word (or finger gesture) to his nay-sayers. On the flip side, Phil Jackson has absolutely nothing to prove and yet can surpass Red Auerbach in coaching rings, most fittingly against Red’s team. Kobe Bryant can finally separate his own legacy from that of Shaquille O’Neal. The Celtics can extend their lead on most NBA titles to 3. Or see it reduced to 1 at their expense. It goes on and on, as it does within a rivalry so special.

It’s time. Cue up the theme to “Terms of Endearment”, show the requisite clips of Bird, Magic and McHale’s magical clothesline…and let the games begin.