Originally published Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Blowout clinches NBA title for Celtics
On a new parquet floor below aging championship banners, the Boston Celtics won their 17th NBA title and a first one — at last ...
The Associated Press
JIM ROGASH / GETTY IMAGES
Finals MVP Paul Pierce, left, celebrates with Celtics teammate Kevin Garnett and coach Doc Rivers after Boston put the finishing touches on its title-clinching victory Tuesday. It is the franchise's first NBA championship since 1986.
BOSTON — On a new parquet floor below aging championship banners, the Boston Celtics won their 17th NBA title and a first one — at last — for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, their Big Three for a new generation.
Lifted by ear-splitting chants of "Beat L.A." from their adoring crowd, which included Boston legends Bill Russell, John Havlicek and Jo Jo White, the Celtics concluded a shocking rebound of a season with a stunning 131-92 blowout over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 on Tuesday night.
With the outcome assured, Boston fans sang into the night as if they were in a pub on nearby Canal Street. They serenaded the newest champs in this city of champs, and taunted Kobe Bryant and his Lakers, who drowned in a green-and-white wave for 48 minutes.
Garnett scored 26 points with 14 rebounds; Allen, the former Sonic, scored 26; and Pierce, the Finals MVP, added 17 as the Celtics wrapped up their first crown since 1986.
This was total domination. The Celtics obliterated the Lakers, who were trying to become the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the Finals.
No way. No how. No chance.
Boston's 39-point win surpassed the NBA record for the biggest margin of victory in a championship clincher; the Celtics beat the Lakers 129-96 in Game 5 of the 1965 NBA Finals.
Garnett dropped to the parquet and kissed the leprechaun at center court, then found Hall of Famer Bill Russell for a long embrace.
"I got my own. I got my own," Garnett said. "I hope we made you proud."
"You sure did," Russell said.
The Celtics missed their first crack at closing out the series in Game 5, but didn't miss on their second swing, running the Lakers out of their gym.
Bryant, the regular-season MVP, finished with 22 points.
With Garnett scoring 17 points and Pierce adding 10, Boston built a 23-point halftime lead. And unlike Game 2, when they let the Lakers trim a 24-point lead to two in the fourth quarter before recovering, the Celtics kept coming in waves.
They pushed their lead to 31 in the third quarter, and with Boston still up by 29 after three quarters, plastic sheets started going up in the Celtics' locker room in preparation for a champagne celebration.
Bryant started 4 of 5 from the field, but he missed seven shots in a row and finished 7 of 22. Everywhere he went, No. 24 ran smack into a wall of Boston defense as high as the Green Monster a few miles away at Fenway Park.
"Defense," Rivers said before the game, "is what we do."
In the second half, Celtics fans chanted "You're not [Michael] Jordan" at Bryant, who will have to wait for his fourth title and first without former teammate Shaquille O'Neal. The Lakers, who stole Pau Gasol away from Memphis in a midseason trade to help Bryant, will have the all summer to think about what went wrong.
Boston outscored Los Angeles 34-15 in the second quarter, getting 11 field goals on 11 assists while holding Bryant to three points, all on free throws. The Celtics toyed with the Lakers, outworking the Western Conference's best inside and out and showing the same kind of heart that made Boston the center of pro basketball's universe in the '60s.
House and Posey made three-pointers to put the Celtics ahead by 12 points and baskets by Pierce, Garnett and Rondo put Boston ahead by 18.
In the final minute, Garnett floated in the lane, banked in a one-handed runner and was fouled. His free throw made it 56-35, and after Perkins scored, the Celtics ran to the locker room leading by 23.
On his way off the floor, Garnett screamed, "That's that."
And so it was.
Celtics 131, Lakers 92
| L.A. LAKERS | fg | ft | |||||
| min | m-a | m-a | or-t | a | pf | pts | |
| Radmanovic | 21:30 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| Odom | 40:25 | 2-8 | 10-16 | 0-10 | 5 | 4 | 14 |
| Gasol | 32:23 | 4-7 | 3-4 | 0-8 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| Fisher | 28:06 | 2-4 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| Bryant | 42:46 | 7-22 | 5-5 | 1-3 | 1 | 1 | 22 |
| Walton | 14:02 | 2-4 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| Farmar | 25:57 | 3-5 | 3-4 | 0-1 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| Vujacic | 14:58 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Turiaf | 10:49 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Ariza | 9:04 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Totals | 27-64 | 28-38 | 2-29 | 16 | 25 | 92 | |
| BOSTON | fg | ft | |||||
| min | m-a | m-a | or-t | a | pf | pts | |
| Pierce | 38:35 | 4-13 | 7-8 | 1-3 | 10 | 2 | 17 |
| Garnett | 35:39 | 10-18 | 6-7 | 3-14 | 4 | 2 | 26 |
| Perkins | 13:25 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Rondo | 31:52 | 8-20 | 5-7 | 2-7 | 8 | 3 | 21 |
| RAllen | 32:23 | 8-12 | 3-3 | 1-4 | 2 | 0 | 26 |
| Brown | 16:11 | 1-2 | 4-4 | 1-3 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Posey | 26:07 | 4-4 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| Powe | 9:18 | 3-5 | 2-2 | 1-4 | 0 | 5 | 8 |
| House | 16:08 | 2-6 | 4-4 | 0-2 | 5 | 0 | 9 |
| Davis | 14:34 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 2-4 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| TAllen | 5:48 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Totals | 43-87 | 32-37 | 14-48 | 33 | 25 | 131 | |
| L.A. Lakers | 20 | 15 | 25 | 32 — 92 |
| Boston | 24 | 34 | 31 | 42 — 131 |
Three-pointers in
9 attempts Tuesday by Ray Allen
9
Times Celtics have beaten Lakers in the Finals
11
Times Celtics and Lakers have met in the Finals
17
Titles for the
Celtics, most in
NBA history
39
Margin of victory for Game 6, second in Finals history
| Boston breakaway | ||
| The Boston Celtics have beaten the Lakers nine times in 11 NBA Finals between the teams: | ||
| Season | Winner | Res. |
| 1958-59 | Boston Celtics | 4-0 |
| 1961-62 | Boston Celtics | 4-3 |
| 1962-63 | Boston Celtics | 4-2 |
| 1964-65 | Boston Celtics | 4-1 |
| 1965-66 | Boston Celtics | 4-3 |
| 1967-68 | Boston Celtics | 4-2 |
| 1968-69 | Boston Celtics | 4-3 |
| 1983-84 | Boston Celtics | 4-3 |
| 1984-85 | Los Angeles Lakers | 4-2 |
| 1986-87 | Los Angeles Lakers | 4-2 |
| 2007-08 | Boston Celtics | 4-2 |
| Lakers were in Minneapolis in 1958-59 | ||
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company
UPDATE - 9:40 PM
Portland stops Orlando, which plays without suspended Dwight Howard
Chicago Bulls hand Miami Heat fourth straight loss | NBA
Local NBA connections: Catching up with Martell Webster
New Jersey earns 137-136 victory over Toronto in 3 OT in London
Ex-Washington Husky Nate Robinson has knee surgery | NBA

nwautos
Turismo upgrade "Gran Turismo 5: XL Edition" for PlayStation 3 has features such as new car-tuning settings, new NASCAR vehicles, better replay video...
Post a comment
- Lakewood cop accused of embezzling $150K meant for slain officers' families
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- Agency set to investigate handling of 911 call about Josh Powell
- Quick decisions: How Washington hired its new football staff
- Historic day for gay marriage as another fight looms
- Justin Wilcox's versatile defensive style is the right fit for Huskies | Jerry Brewer
- Social worker recounts minutes before Powell fire
- It's Terrence Time: Enigmatic Ross leads Huskies
- $25B settlement reached over foreclosure abuses
- Club promoter convicted in brutal 2010 murder of Des Moines prostitute
- Gay-marriage bill passes House, awaits Gregoire's signature
491 - Historic day for gay marriage as another fight looming
371 - Wanted in Seattle classrooms: more teachers of color
359 - Council members get briefing on arena proposal, minus details
247 - AP Source: Obama to change birth control rule
246 - 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
245 - Oregon live game thread
155 - Pac-12 picks ... including the UW game
140 - Worker: Josh Powell told son he had 'surprise'
108 - Rough road again
102
- Wanted in Seattle classrooms: more teachers of color
- State Medicaid program to stop paying for unneeded ER visits
- 3 big health insurers stockpile $2.4 billion as rates keep rising
- Economy, blogs give survivalists new reason to look to Northwest
- State's share of mortgage settlement: $648 million
- One man's audacious pursuit of sailing history
- Darren Berg gets 18-year sentence for Ponzi scheme
- Bellevue College adds a third bachelor's degree program
- $25B settlement reached over foreclosure abuses
- 'Gauguin and Polynesia': dazzling mix-and-match | Art review












