Blowout clinches NBA title for Celtics

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

Percentages: FG .422, FT .737. Three-point goals: 10-27, .370 (Farmar 3-4, Bryant 3-9, Radmanovic 2-6, Vujacic 1-2, Walton 1-2, Ariza 0-1, Odom 0-1, Fisher 0-2). Team rebounds: 11. Team turnovers: 19 (32 PTS). Blocked shots: 0. Turnovers: 19 (Gasol 5, Bryant 4, Farmar 4, Odom 3, Vujacic 2, Fisher). Steals: 4 (Bryant, Farmar, Vujacic, Walton). Technical Foul: Defensive three second, 8:18 first. Flagrant Foul: Farmar, 10:44 fourth.

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

Percentages: FG .494, FT .865. Three-point goals: 13-26, .500 (R.Allen 7-9, Posey 3-3, Pierce 2-7, House 1-5, Garnett 0-1, Rondo 0-1). Team rebounds: 8. Team turnovers: 8 (7 PTS). Blocked shots: 4 (Brown, Garnett, Perkins, Posey). Turnovers: 7 (Perkins 2, Pierce 2, R.Allen, Posey, Rondo). Steals: 18 (Rondo 6, R.Allen 3, Garnett 3, Posey 3, Pierce 2, Brown). Technical fouls: Coach Rivers, 9:57 second; Defensive three second, 7:54 second; Defensive three second, 3:37 second.

L.A. Lakers	20	15	25	32 — 92
Boston	24	34	31	42 — 131

Attendance: 18,624 (18,624). Time: 2:47. Officials: Joe Crawford, Eddie F. Rush, Bennett Salvatore.7

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