END IT, Celtics. DON'T. FUCKING. LET. UP.

Too early to call it after what we've seen the past couple of games, but Lakers fans, think of this next year:

Fisher (Farmar?)
Kobe
Odom
Gasol
Bynum!

I don't think the key will look so empty when Bynum is on the court.

I don't watch much of the non-celtics bball during the year, is Bynum actually that good, or is he mostly hype and "potential" ?? objectively...

if rondo gets the consistency and a reliable midrange jumper he's a perennial all-star

Still no offensive rebounds for the Lakers, the smallest amount of offensive rebounds in a Finals game is 3.

Celtics deserve to win this title. Maybe next year for the Lakers but I think Boston is going to repeat as champs next season.

Ray Allen now has the record for most 3 pt FG's made in a NBA Finals series with 20 (and counting)

The Lakers don't even look like they are trying anymore. I don't like the Lakers, but why the hell is Kobe on the bench?

if the Big 3 are back they should be favored, and if they keep Posey and House to boot I think they'll be heavy favorites, especially as Perk+Rondo+Powe+Big Baby develop...

He was living up to the potential before his injury. He's got great length and dunks everything close to the basket, which works great with Kobe when he draws the D on drives. His individual D is a work in progress but he is a pretty solid weakside shot blocker.

Depending on how he bounces back from injury there's a lot to be optimistic about for LAkers fans.

He's still a project in the making, but one which has already started to bloom. He still needs to develop more girth and moves underneath, and like many young players, he needs to be more consistent. But he is already a very strong and athletic player whose presence has an impressive effect on what opposing teams do against the Lakers in the post. And while he's probably not going to ever be a jump shooter, he has really worked on impriving his post moves and is simply too quick for most big guys underneath.

But his biggest addition is what he will do to the rest of the lineup. Gasol no longer has to play as an under-sized center, but can return to being a faceup PF who will be very difficult to stop further out from the basket. Odom drops from third to fourth option, meaning he is relied on even less, and he becomes a matchup nightmare for almost every 3 in the league. And it gives the Lakers three players who have averaged double-digit rebounds on their front line and removes Radmonovich/Walton from the starting lineup.

And he's still getting better.

21 3's

I'm kind of numb...

The Celtics were my first sports love too.

It was kind of sad to see them fall into a clear #3 in the region - but tonight it's all them.

Is Doc gonna play Cassell tonight? He hasn't got in the game yet.

He was in the middle of a month-long or so stretch as the league's leading shot-blocker before his injury, I think.

He's a presence. He's no Shaq-in-his-prime, not yet, but he would have made a difference on defense.

I'm torn between watching the usual end of season awards and what not, and turning on the radio to listen to Lakers' fans jump off the cliff.

22

and 7 in the game (ties a single-game finals record)

So who gets MVP? Before this game I'd have given it to Pierce, but Ray Allen just broke an NBA record and has been on fire for most of the series. I think I give it to Ray.

I think they have a great chance to be better - the only real question mark is whether Allen hits the wall. Otherwise, Pierce and KG are right in the middle of their prime, and the young guys will be a little better.

I love how the song had a Boston accent.

Wow, Bill Belichick must be coaching the Celtics here :)

Truly a pathetic display by the Lakers in an elimination game. We deserved better than this. The Celtics certainly deserve this win and the championship. They've been the best team all year. The Big 3 will be back next year and they'll make it back to the finals again, maybe against the Lakers who are a young team that should also get better.

Goosebumps.

for MVP: I think you could argue pierce or ray allen for sure -- but idk...i imagine pierce gets it for being the "long suffering soldier" type thing

Go New England!

Mad props to Danny Ainge. A lot of teams don't bother to pull the trigger and take a chance when they see an opening...and he did it at the right time. Got the right pieces and made it happen at the right time. Heck of a job. Congrats Boston.

"He might not be a hall of famer as a coach, but his players love playing for him."

Now there's a ringing endorsement from the commentators about Doc Rivers.

It feels like it was easy as DDS:PB or whatever the basketball text sim of choice is these days. Trade draft picks and young players for a superstar core and then find great bargains for the supporting cast.

I agree. I think I'd like to see Allen win it, for some reason I feel it would mean the most to him of the 3.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007-08...Celtics_season

Wikipedia not updated yet, but they put NOT YET in front of something about to happen. So strange.

Go Eastern Conference!

not sure after pierce's effort last game if ray ray is still the team's leading scorer in the finals - if so that just makes the case for him stronger

but now he has the 3 pt record (single game) tied and the series 3-pt record

yy. That's the best part about it. Totally made two text sim deals there to make this happen. That's what was astounding about it. Stuff like that is never supposed to happen in the real world.

I thought it was Pierce before this game. I think I'd still lean that way, but wouldn't be shocked if he didn't get it.

Why isn't Brian Scalabrine in the game?

The MVP will be Paul Pierce.

40 Point Celtics lead, can they beat the all time Finals Records for biggest butt whoopin in a Finals game (42)

SEVENTEEN Banners.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! They just Gatoraded Doc Rivers, and Phil Jackson calls a time out in a snit :)

This still isn't even sinking in for me. I'm 23, my earliest C's memory is the Bird losing in the playoffs...and now I finally get to see my team raise a 17th BANNER!!! Un-Freakin-Believable!!

He's not on the roster tonight, because Perkins is back. In a classy move, the Celtics had Scalabrine, Pollard, and Pruitt go back and put uniforms on in the closing minutes.

Awesome.

I still stare in amazement every time I see:

"Bill Russell: 11 NBA Championships".

Congratulations Celtics fans. You deserve it. Good to see guys like KG, Allen, and Pierce finally break through. Masterful job done by the whole organization.

+1

KG - kick ass. Glad this team won it - one of the most likable bunch of guys around.

Yup, big congrats to the Celtics. They totally and completely earned the championship. I'm really happy for KG and Pierce. Allen was always a bit of an ass in Seattle, but for the other two, I can deal with him getting a ring.

I don't understand 90 percent of what KG just said.

I feel dirty but.....

CONGRATS TO THE CELTICS AND THEIR FANS!

I think he was shouting out to all his old friends - but he included his mom so he gets bonus points from me. And then he embraced bill russell...mega bonus points

It's getting a little dusty in here

We are going to hear Garnett's "ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE" clip over and over again in every finals highlight package for the rest of our lives.

Bill Russell is the fucking man.

I remember what he said to KG before the playoffs.

And KG just said the equivalent of "Thanks, Bill.. but I got one of my own now." :)

It's also GREAT to see him out there enjoying all this, after spending almost 2 decades at odds with the city.

Thanks Lakers fans in the thread - lets do it again next year.

props to david stern for the shoutout he just gave to red

It's a date. :)

Well, unless my Clips crash the party. PLEASE CRASH THE PARTY, CLIPPERS!

Oh, what the heck am I smokin'?...

Stuart Scott and David Stern boo'd.

That has to be the absolute greatest postgame appearance ever -- Kevin Garnett is a madman. Screaming at the sky, dropping the f bomb, hitting on the reporter, boasting at the camera, crying on Bill Russell...instant "Save until I delete" status.

I gotta get a DVD of this.

Kevin Garnett would be a fascinating psychological study.

Be patient. I'm sure ESPN will have one out in about 24 hours. :)

So who's going #1 in the draft?

Just kidding...

When he screamed "Anything is possible" I took it to mean less about basketball and more about the next 24 hours in Kevin Garnett's life. I mean, the man might impregnate the whole city of Boston. He might develop working cold fusion. Anything is possible!

Oh hell with it... I hate the NBA, but I'm still enjoying this championship feeling!

Can he bring Dems and Repubs together?

Seriously - what kind of party do you have after 116 games, all that pressure, and then an NBA Championship.

Doc Rivers singing along to "We are the Champions" - this is some scene.

Congrats to Boston. I'm a Lakers' fan, but I've never enjoyed a team I root for losing more than this. KG has always been a favorite of mine and he and the rest of the Celtics deserve this championship and I'm happy for them.

Bill Russell: I think that you're going to win at least two or three championships here. Okay? And if you don't but I see you playing the way you should play ... I'll share one of mine with you.
Kevin Garnett (softly): I'm sure you would.
BR: This is a genuine friendship thing I'm talking about. But if you play the way you play, and you dedicate yourself to doing it, they will come. It's like that FIELD OF DREAMS. If you build it, they will come. You may have to put your arms around a couple of guys and take them with you but you can't drag 'em. You've got to put your arms around them and take them with you. Okay? And you have no idea how proud I am of you. I couldn't be any more proud of you than I am of my own kids.

He put his arms around a couple others and took them with him.

He got it.

Thank you KG. Thank you Bill.

EDIT: KG apparently hugged Bill, and asked him "Did we make you proud", before saying "We got one!"

showing some class - someone says they lipread KG asking Russell "Did we make you proud?" ---- goosebumps. What class

I like it that Kobe doesn't have one without Shaq.

Awesome quotes.

lol...I underestimated the marketing machine.

I hope when they have the parade they have duckboats with the legends on them...

Damn, there are fans crying on the post-game Lakers show. Wow.

If Rondo and Perkins keep improving, along with Posey returning they'll be the favorite, but I'm picking New Orleans as my darkhorse next season. They would have destroyed the Lakers with pick-and-rolls if they met up.

FYI - Ray Allen just said in his postgame that the "medical emergency" was that his son was hospitalized and diagnosed with diabetes

KG is like a 30 year old, 7 foot fall gradeschooler in the locker room celebrating...it's kind of adorable

I am most happy for Paul.

can we drop the "KG can't deliver in big games" tag now? Or does he have to do it another year? 26 and 14 tonight, overall had a spectacular postseason too.

i'm just glad the Patriots didn't win the Super Bowl (that my NY Giants won, ahhh thank you very much). if that happened, i would've had to take road trip to blow up Boston.

One night does not a career overcome.

I would say this game elevates KG to "can sometimes deliver in big games", but that's at best. He still disappears way too often to be called a big game player.

Ugggh. I hoped Andrew Bynum watched the performance tonight and felt motivated to work hard this offseason.

Congrats to the Celtics.

Dude, that was so totally James Cagney.

"I made it, ma! Top o' the world! Top o' the world!"

Yeah, he called his mama out, but he gets the bonus points for me for the White Heat reference.

Congrats to the Celtics and their fans. The better team won this series. I can't think of anyone better for the Lakers to lose to than KG and the Celtics.

Congrats Celts. After getting shit all year about "playing in the weak Eastern Conference", they went out and punked the best team in the west with everything on the line. I imagine this Celtics team was easy to pull for.

Anyone catch Lamar Odom's postgame interview? I am torn between feeling sorry for the guy or blaming him for the way he played this series. He was pretty emotional and he was swallowing his words in such a way that he seemed to mumble. He kept on repeating the fact that losing Game 4 after being up by 20+ was the biggest factor in this series.

I wouldn't want to step into any one of those Lakers' shoes right now. I might have an emotional breakdown.

That's interesting because his postseason line is 21.6/12.4/4.4, while his regular season line is only 20.4/11.2/4.4

In his biggest series before this season, the conference finals against the Lakers, Garnett put up 16, 24, 28, 30, 22 points and had rebound totals of 10, 11, 11, 13, 19, 17.

In the game 7 clincher that got Minnesota to the conference finals, Garnett put up 32 points, 21 rebounds, 4 steals, and 5 blocks.

I think KG shows up during the big games, it's just that he disappears during the last 3 minutes.

He's put up great numbers in this series, but he really hasn't delivered in the final minutes of close games as much as people would expect him to.

Not like Allen, or Pierce, or Kobe, who seem to relish taking the final shot, or making the final crucial plays of a game.

You mean like the 9 points he scored in the final 3 minutes of Game 2 in that frantic comeback?

Or the two field goals he sank in game 3 to put away the Celtics?

Or his attempts to salvage game 4 with four points and a crucial assist to D.Fish to cut the lead down to two?

How about the steal/dunk he had on Pierce to effectively put away game 5?

At the end of the day, Kobe is willing and able to, at the very least, try and impose himself during the closing moments of close games, similar to Pierce, Allen, and any other clutch player in the league.

I'm sure most would. I'm glad you agree that he does disappear during the last 120 seconds.

So how does it feel to be of a fan of the most unimpressive 60+ wins/championship team ever?:p

I was only replying to CR's statement regarding Garnett not showing up during big games, stating that he does show up and makes big plays, just that he prefers to pass out of taking the big shots and the big plays during the final moments.

The point is that he disappears during the end of games. Taking control of a game in the final moments of a close game is not exactly one of his strengths. I'm merely pointing out that it clearly is a facet of his game that other teams have taken advantage of for the past, what, 13 seasons?

Thank god that the Celtics have been able to cover that weakness impressively this season, surrounding him with reliable shooters, something he clearly did not have in Minnesotta.

I'm happy for KG, he finally got his, and he deserves it 100%. That doesn't make him any better in the clutch, though. :)

so you want to say he's a big game player cuz he averaged 1 more point and 1 more rebound in the post-season?

move over, MJ and Reggie Miller - Big Game Garnett is here. :eek:

:D

I love how you clipped out the rest of my post that showed his big time performances in big games.

I don't care about one game blips on the radar. i'm referring to the regular season avg vs. the postseason avg.

anyone can have a huge game through 3 rounds of the playoffs. can you avg big games and elevate your stats through the entire postseason? that's the question.

Glad to see Kobe, Phil, and the Lakers go down in flames. Congratulations, Celtic fans. Out of all the recent Boston championships, this was the easiest to root for.