http://bleacherreport.com/articles/3046 ... s-Complete
What I saw last night was a Celtics team that wanted it more than an uninspired Laker team. They out-hustled and out-rebounded the Lakers every play as the Lakers recorded an NBA Final record low two offensive rebounds. Fittingly, Paul Pierce was named Finals MVP and the Celtics captured their 17th Championship.
Looking forward to next season, I see no reason why the Celtics can't win the East again. Yes, they will be a year older but no one else in the East will knock them off. Detroit is looking for a change of scenery, Cleveland has to acquire a big time player, and Orlando, Toronto, and Atlanta don't have the firepower to deny the Celtics.
2. "Celtics blow away Lakers for title 17" (Associated Press)
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/ ... orts8.html
Garnett kissed the leprechaun logo at centre 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.
3. "Celtics' Pierce casts his own shadow with Celtic greats" By Paul Levine, dpa (Bangkok Post)
http://www.bangkokpost.com/sportsplus/s ... ?id=128344
By winning the elusive ring, Pierce can be proud, when he points to the newest championship banner at TD Banknorth Garden, that will hang next to the others won by Celtics greats at the start of next season.
"These are the guys, the (John) Havliceks, Bill Russells, the (Bob) Cousys, these guys started what's going on today with those banners. They don't hang up any banners, but championship ones, and now I'm a part of it.
"And just all the years talking to Bill and John and Cousy, finally I just feel like we've come out of that shadow and created our own. Now we can stand up and look at them eye-to-eye and say, 'Hey, we accomplished it, too.'"
4. "Westford's Ed Lacerte kept Celtics in winning form" By Lynn Worthy (Lowell Sun)
http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_9633191
"He's our MVP in the playoffs," Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said of Lacerte after Game 6. "Really, I thought he should've got the trophy. He had to do more work than anybody."
5. "Wheaties box honors NBA champion Boston Celtics" (AP via Yahoo! Finance)
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080618/bkn_celt ... .html?.v=1
The Golden Valley-based cereal maker says the 15.6-ounce Celtics Wheaties box will be available nationally beginning in the next three weeks.
The box features Boston's 11-time NBA All-Star, Kevin Garnett.
6. "Game 6 draws best NBA finals ratings since 2000" (Beacon News/The Associated Press)
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beac ... S1.article
Game 6 drew the highest NBA finals television ratings in eight years.
The Boston Celtics' deciding victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night earned a 10.7 rating on ABC, the network said Wednesday. It's the highest since Game 6 of the 2000 finals on NBC between the Lakers and Indiana Pacers.
The series averaged a 9.3 rating, up 50 percent over the 6.2 last year, when the San Antonio Spurs swept the Cleveland Cavaliers. But it fell short of the last finals involving the Lakers in 2004, which averaged an 11.5.
The rating is the percentage watching a program among homes with televisions.
7. "Team rates high praise from Bird" By Christopher L. Gasper (Boston Globe)
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball ... from_bird/
"Actually, the first person to call, and he left me a text message, was Larry," said Ainge yesterday. "I couldn't respond because it was halfway through the third quarter and we hadn't won it yet. I guess on the outside, it always seems like it's over, and when you're there, you're begging for the clock to move faster."
Bird issued a statement through the Pacers yesterday: "I'm happy for the Celtics and the city of Boston. I know what it means to win a championship as a Celtic and the place championships hold in the history of the franchise. I'm also pleased for Danny Ainge, Doc Rivers, and his staff, knowing where they were last year and then making the decisions to put them in position to win the team's 17th title."
8. "MVP? More like MIA" By Bill Plaschke (Los Angeles Times)
http://www.latimes.com/la-sp-plaschke18 ... 683.column
Kobe Bryant made just seven of 22 mostly wild shots. He had just one assist. He had four turnovers. The league MVP was unable to carry a team that needed carrying.
The league MVP was
AWFUL, unable to break through even the most basic of one-on-one Celtic defenses, unable to carry a team that needed carrying.
9. "Lakers are buried in the Garden" By Mike Bresnahan, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
http://www.latimes.com/la-sp-lakers18-2 ... 3976.story
How bad was it? The "Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye" chant began with five minutes left. Then came a "Seventeen" chant a few minutes later. Then it became official, Commissioner David Stern handing over the championship trophy to the Celtics in a blizzard of green-and-white confetti.
10. "Lakers leave the series with injured egos" By Rick Fox (Los Angeles Times)
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-sp-foxvi ... 7034.story
I know the Celtics played with all sorts of injuries, but it is the Lakers who walk away from this series with what could prove to be the more lasting injuries, to their pride, ego and confidence. How they handle that will be found in the team's' El Segundo facility over the next few weeks, gauged by the number of players who show up to take the first important steps on the road back.
11. "Going back in time to bad old days" By Mark Heisler (Los Angeles Times)
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-hei ... 1454.story
Maybe the Lakers should have quit this rivalry while they were ahead.
After a 21-year break to enjoy their 1987 Finals victory that followed their 1985 breakthrough -- after having lost the first eight -- the Lakers saw the Celtics turn the hands of time all the way back to the '60s when Boston ruled everyone, especially them.
All that was left was a confused, overmatched, soft little band of Lakers, circling the perimeter of the Boston defense like ants who couldn't get out of the rain as 21 years of frustration fell on their heads in the Celtics' 131-92 rout.
12. "Rebuilding job makes Danny Ainge worthy of honor" By Steve Buckley (Boston Herald)
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/bask ... id=1101832
Ainge. Speaking on WEEI yesterday, he squashed the Retire No. 44 campaign by saying, “Anyone who knows me knows that won’t happen. . . . Raising a championship banner is enough.”
We will respect Danny’s wishes. But know this: Red Auerbach created Celtic Pride, and Danny Ainge brought it back.
13. "Boston thrash Lakers to win title" (BBC Sport, UK)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_s ... 460506.stm
Celtics coach Doc Rivers, the first black coach to win an NBA title since K.C. Jones guided the Celtics to the 1986 crown, said: "Offensively and defensively it was just perfect tonight." The series victory came on what would have been Rivers' late father Grady's 77th birthday, the elder Rivers having died last 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.'"
14. "Celts' 17th title fills void" (Baltimore Sun)
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bask ... 4863.story
When the Boston Celtics built a new practice facility, they surrounded the court with their 16 NBA championship banners and left a blank space for No. 17.
The message was a bit too subtle for Doc Rivers.
The Celtics coach turned a spotlight on the empty spot on the wall at the beginning of this season so there would be no doubt about the team's goal.
"They can turn that thing off now," guard Ray Allen said early yesterday morning, his left eye still red from a first-half face-raking and post-game champagne spraying that accompanied Boston's title-clinching, 131-92 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
15. "McHale congratulates Ainge" By Jerry Zgoda (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
http://www.startribune.com/sports/wolve ... =Lifestyle
Timberwolves boss Kevin McHale congratulated Boston General Manager Danny Ainge by telephone Wednesday, one day after the Celtics won their 17th NBA championship.
16. "President Bush calls to congratulate Celtics" (AP via Yahoo! News)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080619/ap_ ... ics_bush_1
President Bush has offered his congratulations to the Boston Celtics for winning their 17th NBA championship.
Team owner Wyc Grousbeck says the president called him Wednesday, one day after the Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 and secured their first title in 22 years. Grousbeck says "that helped it sink in."
Grousbeck says Bush told him he really enjoyed the game and that the Celtics made Boston proud.
Grousbeck says it was "a very gracious, generous phone call."
17. "Boston Celtics' 17th title best ever, columnist Ron Chimelis says" (Union-News & Sunday Republican)
http://www.masslive.com/chimelis/republ ... xml&coll=1
Talk about ending a curse. Here was a franchise beset not just by back luck (two lost No. 1 picks in the lottery) but tragedy (Len Bias, Reggie Lewis).
For 22 years, the leprechaun had left the building. Admit it - until this year, you'd given up hope.
This title is more 2004 Red Sox than 2007 Red Sox. It is the one we thought we'd never see, won by a franchise the modern NBA had left behind.