Celtic Pride
Prior to the 2008 NBA Finals, I was in the minority of prognosticators who thought Boston could win their first championship in 22 years. The Lakers had everything going for them, the best player in the league who could always carry a team in the fourth quarter, the best coach in NBA history, a precision offense and a solid bench.
The Lakers easily defeated a tough San Antonio team. Meanwhile, the Celtics struggled with the Hawks and Cavs, before starting to find their mojo against the not-as-good-as-advertised Pistons. Even though the Celtics had home court advantage, most people picked the Lakers.
This was a dream match-up for the NBA, rekindling all the memories from the great Boston-LA series in the 80s. I was a huge Celtics fan during the Larry Bird era, and jumped on the bandwagon again, particularly because Sam Cassell has been my favorite player in the NBA for years, so I dutifully follow him from team to team (A few years ago, when the Clippers beat the Nuggets in the first round and should have beat Phoenix in the second round, I had to be the only Minnesotan to stay up for all 12 of those late-night games).
What amazes me about sports is how quickly public perception can change. Ray Allen went from a player that was “washed up” to a potential Finals MVP candidate in 10 days and Kobe Bryant raised himself to ”On the same level as Michael Jordan” status in the first two rounds of the playoffs to “Jordan would have never let his team blow a 24-point lead in game 4 and get blown out by almost 40 in game 6″ in only a couple of weeks.
Paul Pierce outplayed Kobe, Doc Rivers outcoached Phil Jackson, the Celtics bench (especially James Posey) outlayed LA and Kevin Garnett finally won a ring after many long years in Minnesota. Cassell played terribly, although he obviously doesn’t have much left in the tank (although he did make three straight shots in one of the first two games in Boston, forcing Jackson to switch Kobe on him). Still, it was nice to see Sam I Am win another ring.
You can’t have an NBA Finals without some controversy about the officiating. Ken Mauer, who wrote the foreword for my book, officiated games 2 and 5 of the Finals. He said the atmosphere in Boston was electric. The Celtics had a huge free throw advantage in Game 2, but they were also the more aggressive team. When LA took it to the Celtics in game 3, they were the most aggressive team. The best part about the Paul Pierce-led 24-point come-from-behind win in Game 4 was that all the fans and media were only talking about the amazing comeback, not bellyaching about the free throw disparity. In game 6, no one questioned that the officials decided the outcome in Boston’s 40 point win.
It was fun to see the return of Celtic Pride. A great end to a wonderful 2008 NBA playoffs.