Last Tuesday night, June 17, will be remembered as one of the best nights for the Celtics, for the city of Boston and for NBA basketball. It was a night when the Boston greats made history again, where every basketball fan couldn’t help but remember the golden age of the Celtics and the significant legacy they have left in the sport.
Given that this season’s Playoff Finals were determined between all-time rivals the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics, this was expected to be a great final, filled with memories and emotions. And that was exactly what happened.
The NBA Championship Finals series kept spectators on the edge of their seats since Game 1, when for a moment Boston thought it would be losing its captain Paul Pierce when he collided with teammate Kendrick Perkins and had to be loaded and taken off the wheel. chair with an injured knee in the middle of the third quarter. However, Pierce returned in the fourth quarter with only 5:04 minutes remaining, inspiring his team to finish with their first win of the series. They also secured home-court advantage by winning Game 2, where Pierce led his team with 28 points to advance to Game 1 in Los Angeles with a 2-0 lead.
The Lakers managed to overcome Game 3, pulling the series 2-1 and then in Game 4 the Los Angeles team was in control with a comfortable average difference of 20 points during the first half of the game, however, remembering the good times, the Celtics wrote another page in the history of the league’s most famous rivalry when they made one of the biggest comebacks in Finals history by recovering from a 24-point deficit to win the game 97-91 , taking command of the 3-1 series and leaving the Lakers one defeat away from elimination on their own court.
Game 5 started in a similar way to Game 4, the Lakers won by more than 20 points in the first quarter and although the Celtics managed to recover earlier and the score was fairly even for most of the game, the Lakers did not allow Boston to do so. . He opened any bottle of champagne on his home court and won the game 103-98, pulling the series 3-2 and moving East again for Game 6.
And then the night that Boston has dreamed of for the past 22 years finally came. In Game 6 at home, the Celtics, buoyed by an emotional crowd full of gleeful and proud fans singing “Beat LA” and “Seven-teen”, were absolutely dominant in every way; his defense was unwavering and his offense unstoppable, finishing the game with 48 rebounds, 14 of them offensive. With a scoring advantage increasing from the early stages of the game, the crowd and the team itself began to celebrate from the start of the fourth quarter, anticipating the dazzling 131-92 victory. The green was back in the NBA.
Another page of the most winning franchise in NBA history has been written and there are images that document the emotions of the protagonist, such as when 2008 Finals MVP Paul Pierce gave his elegant coach Doc Rivers a Gatorate bath for a few minutes. before reaching the championship. ; or when Kevin Garnet collapsed on the court with happy tears and then hugged former Boston star and eleven-time championship winner Bill Russell. These images will remain in the minds of every Boston fan for years to come as the best comeback in the league.