| LAKERS CELTICS LAKERS 2008 NBA Finals - THE PAST AND PRESENT |
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Los Angeles Lakers - #1 Western Conference
Team
Boston Celtics - #1 Eastern Conference Team
This is the Finals matchup I predicted in
April. The outcome, however, was not. Maybe
things would be different with Bynum, maybe
not, but Celtics dominated Game 6.
This video takes you back to the classic
history of Lakers vs Celtics; Larry Bird vs
Magic Johnson. The Celtics defeat to the
Lakers in 1987 marked the end of the
franchise's greatness for a full generation.
The Big Three arrive to rekindle the Celtics
tradition, but the Lakers look to continue
the Celtic curse.
Please don't forget to check out my video
series on the Lakers' evolution and is
informative yet entertaining.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8-s2OrtPUY&fe
ature=PlayList&p=0C2525F5F4FA96B0&index=0&pla
ynext=1
Denver Nuggets game 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Utah Jazz
Phoenix Suns San Antonio Spurs Houston
Rockets Dallas Mavs Mavericks
Tags : Lakers celtics denver nuggets game nba finals 2008 kobe bryant kevin garnett dwaynewadesucks |
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Affichage : 154186
Durée : 262 s |
| Lakers-Celtics 92-131 Gm6 Finals08[Bryant 22pts vs KG 26pts] |
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BOSTON, June 17, 2008 (AP) -- With Russell
and Havlicek sitting courtside, and Red
surely lighting up a victory cigar somewhere,
these Boston Celtics returned to glory like
the great teams before them.
Dominant in every way.
On a new parquet floor below aging
championship banners hung in the rafters two
decades back, the Celtics won their 17th NBA
title and a first one - at last - for Paul
Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen - their
Big Three for a new generation.
After 22 long years, the NBA has gone green.
Lifted by ear-splitting chants of "Beat
L.A.'' early and cries of "Seven-teen'' in
the closing seconds by their adoring crowd,
the Celtics concluded a shocking rebound of a
season with a stunning 131-92 blowout over
the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 on Tuesday
night.
"It means so much more because these are the
guys, the Havliceks, the Bill Russells, the
Cousys,'' Pierce said. "These guys started
what's going on with those banners. They
don't hang up any other banners but
championship ones.
"And now I'm a part of it.''
With the outcome assured, Boston fans sang
into the night as if they were in a pub on
nearby Canal Street. They serenaded the
newest champs in this city of champs, and
taunted Kobe Bryant and his Lakers, who
drowned in a green-and-white wave for 48
minutes.
Garnett scored 26 points with 14 rebounds,
Allen scored 26 and Pierce, The Finals MVP
who shook off a sprained right knee sustained
in Game 1, added 17 as the Celtics, a 24-win
team a year ago, wrapped up their first title
since 1986.
Rajon Rondo had 21 points, eight assists,
seven rebounds and six steals as the Celtics,
who built a 23-point halftime lead and
obliterated the Lakers, who were trying to
become the first team to overcome a 3-1
deficit in The Finals.
They didn't stand a chance.
Boston's 39-point win surpassed the NBA
record for the biggest margin of victory in a
championship clincher; the Celtics beat the
Lakers 129-96 in Game 5 of the 1965 NBA
Finals.
In the final minute, Pierce doused Celtics
coach Doc Rivers with red Gatorade. Owner Wyc
Grousbeck, who named his group Banner 17 to
leave no doubt about his goal, put an unlit
cigar in his mouth - a tribute to Auerbach,
the patriarch who had a hand in the
franchise's first 16 titles.
Garnett dropped to the parquet and kissed the
leprechaun at center court and then found
Russell, the Hall of Famer who taught him the
Celtic way, for a long embrace.
"I got my own. I got my own,'' Garnett said.
"I hope we made you proud.''
"You sure did,'' Russell said.
Rivers pulled Pierce, Garnett and Allen with
4:01 left and they shared a group hug with
their coach, who was nearly run out of town
last season. Rivers lost his father at the
beginning of this remarkable run, a season no
one expected.
By the time Rivers was handed the Larry
O'Brien Trophy, it was June 18 - his late
father's birthday.
When the game clock reached zeros, Rivers
reflected on his dad.
"My first thought was what would my dad
say,'' Rivers said, "and honestly I started
laughing because I thought he would probably
say, if you knew my dad, `It's about time.
What have you been waiting for?'''
It's was Boston's first title since the
passing of Auerbach, whose presence was the
only thing missing on this night. Even
Auerbach, who died in 2006, got some
satisfaction. Led by Rivers, Auerbach's
beloved team denied Lakers coach Phil Jackson
from overtaking him with a 10th championship.
The Boston-Los Angeles rivalry, nothing more
than black-and-white footage from the 60s and
TV highlights of players wearing short shorts
in the 80s to young hoops fans, remains
tilted toward the Atlantic Ocean. The Celtics
are 9-2 against the Lakers in the finals.
Boston missed its first crack at closing out
the series in Game 5, but the Celtics didn't
miss on their second swing, running the
Lakers out of the gym.
Bryant, the regular season MVP, finished with
22 points on 7-of-22 shooting.
He started 4-of-5 from the field and seemed
intent on forcing a Game 7. But he missed
seven shots in a row and everywhere he went,
L.A.'s No. 24 ran smack into a wall of Boston
defense as high as the Green Monster.
"They were definitely the best defense I've
seen the entire playoffs,'' Bryant said.
"I've seen some pretty stiff ones and this
was right up there with them. The goal was to
win a championship, it wasn't to win MVP or
anything like that, it was to win a
championship.''
Garnett and Allen were All-Stars in other
cities, stuck in Minnesota and Seattle,
respectively, on teams going nowhere. But
brought together in trades last summer by
Celtics general manager Danny Ainge, a member
of the '86 Celtics champions, they joined
Pierce and formed an unbreakable bond, a trio
as tight as the club's lucky shamrock logo.
They resisted being called The Big Three, a
nickname given to Larry Bird, Kevin McHale
and Robert Parish two decades ago.
Tags : NBA Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers game play Garnett Allen Bryant Odom dunk moves 3pt clutch Finals Playoffs 2008 |
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Affichage : 33201
Durée : 230 s |
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