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BOSTON: An overwhelming Boston Celtics squad
humiliated the Los Angeles Lakers 131-92 Tuesday, capturing their
first National Basketball Association (NBA) title since 1986 in
record-shattering fashion.
In claiming the best-of-seven NBA
Finals four games to two, the Celtics took a record 17th league
crown by humbling the Lakers in the second-most lopsided blowout in
NBA Finals history, the worst rout in any title-clinching game.
Kevin Garnett scored 26 points
and grabbed 14 rebounds. Ray Allen added 26 points, while Rajon
Rondo contributed 21 points and six steals and Paul Pierce added 17
points and 10 assists in one of the all-time devastating NBA
efforts.
“Other than my kid being born,
this has got to be the happiest day of my life. I don’t plan on
sleeping for a month,” Garnett said.
“Ever have a bully pick on you
in school? I knocked the bully out. That’s what it feels like.”
Garnett, Pierce and Allen
completed a championship quest after years of NBA frustration.
Pierce struggled for nine seasons in Boston. Garnett had 12 years of
frustration in Minnesota, while Allen spent 11 seasons without an
NBA title.
But the Celtics obtained Allen
and Garnett in July and together they turned their title dreams into
reality by crushing the Lakers.
“This is all we talked about,
and it’s finally here,” Pierce said. “Kevin, Ray and myself,
we sacrificed so much. We got all sorts of rewards in this league,
but we never got to the mountaintop. Today it’s a breath of fresh
air.
“Nothing beats this.”
Pierce was named the NBA Finals
Most Valuable Player, averaging 21.8 points and 6.3 assists in the
series. One year after Boston finished with the NBA’s second-worst
record, the Celtics became champions.
“This is what makes those other
things so sweet, knowing you were at rock bottom a year ago,”
Pierce said. “To climb all the way back to the top, this is a
dream come true. I’m going to cherish this one forever. It means
everything.”
The Celtics surpassed their own
mark for the biggest title-clinching blowout set in 1965 when they
ripped the Lakers 129-96 to take the crown in five games.
The only NBA Finals game more
one-sided came in 1998 when the Chicago Bulls ripped Utah 96-54.
Boston led by as many as 43 points but relaxed in the final minutes.
“Everybody is disappointed that
we didn’t get a game out of this, give ourselves a chance,”
Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said.
Allen matched an NBA Finals
record with seven three-point baskets in the game while the Celtics
set an NBA Finals mark with 18 steals, one more than Golden
State’s old mark from 1975, and took advantage of 19 Laker
turnovers.
“It has been a long time
coming,” Allen said. “The last time I won a championship was
when I was a boy.”
Celtics Coach Doc Rivers became
the first black coach to win an NBA title since K.C. Jones guided
Boston to the 1986 crown.
“Offensively and defensively it
was just perfect tonight,” Rivers said.
The clincher came on what would
have been Rivers’ late father Grady’s 77th birthday. The elder
Rivers died after a brief illness in November.
“That was the first thing I
thought of, what he would say,” Rivers said. “I laughed, because
I thought he would say, ‘It’s about time. What have you been
waiting for?’”
The Lakers failed in their bid to
claim their first NBA crown since 2002 and lost for the ninth time
in 11 NBA Finals match-ups against the Celtics.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with
22 points but the Celtics pulled ahead 58-35 at halftime and never
let the Lakers recover.
“The goal is to win a
championship. From that aspect we failed,” Bryant said. “If we
are going to learn anything from this series, it’s that we can’t
win a championship by focusing on the offensive end.”
The Celtics lost Allen 7:30 into
the game when he was poked in the left eye by Lamar Odom.
Allen went to the locker room and
did not return to the bench until midway into the second quarter,
just in time to help spark a 26-6 run to end the first half.
“When Ray got back, it kind of
fueled us,” Pierce said. “Once he came back I think he really
rejuvenated us.”
James Posey hit two
three-pointers and Eddie House added five points to open the run
with 11 consecutive Boston points. Garnett and Pierce took charge
after that, carrying the load in a 15-2 run to finish the quarter.
“The last two minutes of the
second quarter buried the team emotionally,” Jackson said.
“We went into the locker room
at halftime and tried to get our guys back on bearing and really
came out in the third quarter and couldn’t turn the momentum
around.”
Bryant had 11 points for the
Lakers in the first 6:35 but did not hit another basket until 4:51
into the third quarter. By then it was all but over.
“It’s pretty bitter right
now,” Bryant said. “Second place just means you are the first
loser.”
--AFP
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