Knocked the bully's ass out!

Those who heavily criticized Kevin Garnett for his Game 5 4th quarter offensive woes (2 missed free-throws, 2 missed tip-ins, and the general feeling that KG fades in crunch-time) failed to see that he played a pretty good game at the other end (14 rebounds, 2 steals, a number of stellar defensive plays, and numerous effective picks on Kobe to free up Pierce en route to his game high 38 points). Garnett himself declared that his game 6 performance was “garbage” and that he would do better.

Perhaps the biggest effect of this externally and self-applied flagellation was to fire up Garnett for Game 6. Even though the Celtics started off slowly in this game on 3-15 shooting, KG was determined to atone for his measly 13 point production in the previous game and finished with 10 points in the quarter. And despite another strong start from Kobe (11 points on 4-4 shooting), the Celtics led at the end of the first by four points.

It had been the pattern in this series for Boston to dominate the third quarters. In this game, they didn’t wait around that long. Boston started out strong and finished with a flourish, ending on a 26-6 run. More importantly, they held Kobe to exactly 0 points, forced 11 turnovers, didn’t allow a single offensive rebound, held LA to 29% shooting, and continued their dominance on the boards with a 26-14 edge.

Once again, Kobe had a strong start that would lead one to think that this was going to be his “breakout” game, but once again the Celtics were able to adjust defensively and put the clamps down on “Black Mamba.” His uttering to a fan courtside of “Not tonight” would prove to be moot. He finished with only 22 points when the Lakers needed him to score 50. After his quick start, he faded with only 11 points in the final 3 quarters.

While KG scored on a variety of offensive plays including on a back-door alley-oop, and his usual mix of hooks and short-range jumpers, the signature play for the “Big Ticket” was a double-pump bank shot and ‘one against Odom. It was this sequence, with Garnett down on the floor pumping his fist, that capped off the Celtic surge in the second quarter that essentially put this game away. That surge was also undoubtedly fueled by Ray Allen’s return from an eye and nose injury that had caused him to miss almost 10 minutes of playing time. Much like Pierce’s now infamous return in the first game, as Allen ran back onto the court the court went wild, and in Pierce’s own words: “Ray’s return rejuvenated us.”

In the third quarter, with the game still within reach, the Lakers mentally checked out after about 4 minutes. After a Radmonovic 3 pointer cut the lead to 23, the soft Laker defense allowed Rondo to drive the length of the court and get a shot in less than 4 seconds. The defender on the play was none other than Kobe Bryant. Rarely did you see a Celtic giving up on any play in this series. Kobe’s tentativeness on the play indicated that the Lakers knew they were beaten. Rondo continued terrorizing the Lakers, stealing the ball and running the fast break to perfection. On another play, Rondo drove the ball into the lane, and found Ray Allen with no one within 10 feet of him in the corner. Rondo finished the game with 6 steals (1 shy of the record), while Allen, despite his missing in action sting, finished with 7 three-pointers, tying the NBA finals record.
(His 22 total for the Series was a record.)

Boston was able to make the historic comeback in Game 4 because of their commitment to defense. The Lakers defense and mental toughness was in question in this series. With the lead at 30 with 6 minutes gone in the fourth quarter, this game was over. There would be no near-miss Laker comeback like in Game 2. The Celtics were not going to play the score, not with a championship in sight. Their 39 point final margin of victory was the largest for a series clinching game in the Finals.

The Big Three finally have their championship. Doc Rivers finally has his championship. KG’s primal screaming and the rawest display of emotion while being interviewed courtside with Michelle Tafoya was matched only by his embrace with Russell and subsequent uttering of “I’ve got my own” and also the most authentic of exchanges at the press conference when Scoop Jackson asked him to express how it finally felt to have won a championship. KG’s responded with an analogy that is perhaps better than getting the monkey off your back, finally conquering the playground bully. I finally “knocked the bully's ass out!” Pierce was equally as ebullient after having been awarded the MVP of the series and could hardly sit down in any of the interviews. Allen, while still clearly overjoyed with the achievement, was a bit more muted. While the other two are the undisputed emotional leaders of the team, Allen displayed the kind of rock steadiness that helped him not only overcome a miserable start in the playoffs but also provided the necessary fireworks from a third-gun that proved to be way too much for the overmatched Lakers.

In the locker room, the team whirled like a hurricane gaining energy with every turn, spraying champagne into the air, and then when that ran out, spilling whatever other beverages were to be found in a celebration of pure and unbridled, unscripted joy. The perfect image of Ubuntu.

Here’s the scary thing about this team. They accomplished this the hard way, playing the most games (26), losing the most games (9), losing their first 6 games on the road, being extended to two 7 game series. As a collective group, they were an unproven commodity in playoff basketball, but they learned how to win in their first season together, enduring the most arduous and difficult playoffs of any champion. KG and Pierce both scored over 500 points in the second season alone, a feat only previously accomplished before by Larry Bird.

Having mastered the playoff learning curve in their first year together, how good can this team get ? Is a repeat imminent ? The Big Three are all in their 30’s but are all in very good shape. Pierce’s knee injury was obviously not as bad as everyone thought (especially as initially conceived to here to be series ending) and can be repaired. The Celtics bench is deep and proved to be better equipped to handle the playoff pressure than the Laker bench. Cassell and PJ Brown are veterans and signed on to this team late. As instrumental as they were to this championship, they most likely will not return. But if Boston can keep the core of Posey, House, Powe, and Davis. this team should be favored to win the East again next year.

Back in the late 80’s, the Detroit Pistons used a tough physical defensive style on Michael Jordan with the purpose of beating him up as the game wore on. They gave him multiple looks by throwing different defenders and then using two or three man traps to make it difficult for him to be both a scorer and a playmaker. Even though Jordan got his points, the strategy worked because it forced Jordan to use extreme amounts of energy to solve the myriad defensive looks he faced. The strategy also made it hard for the teammates to get involved in the offensive flow. The end product was that the Pistons beat the Bulls twice en route to two championships. The strategy, known as the “Jordan rules”, was resurrected by the Celtics and used to great effect against the two best current players in the league. Against Kobe, their defense tabled, at least momentarily, the comparisons of Bryant to to “his Airness”.

We’ll wait for next year, where hopefully a Laker team with a healthy Bynum can survive the West again and return for this century’s round 2 of this historic rivalry.