The best thing about winning an NBA title is defending it. My favorite Celtics team ever was the 1986-87 group. They lost Lenny Bias 48 hours after drafting him. They lost Bill Walton and Scott Wedman for basically the entire season. Kevin McHale injured his foot near the end of the regular season, played on it and broke it (and gamely kept playing). Dennis Johnson, Danny Ainge and Robert Parish were limping around on sprained ankles by the second round. Only Larry Bird was healthy -- he ended up averaging an inconceivable 44.1 minutes in 23 playoff games. In the second round, they fended off a really good Bucks team, winning Game 7 even though they trailed by 10 with six minutes to go. In the Eastern finals, they held off a hungry Pistons team by winning two of the greatest games in the history of the Garden: Game 5 (Bird's famous steal from Isiah) and Game 7 (an unforgettable display of heart and will, with a little luck thrown in: the Dantley/Microwave collision). In the Finals, they came within Magic's baby sky hook and Bird's miracle 3-pointer missing by a sliver of tying the series at 2-2 against one of the five best basketball teams ever. When they got bounced in Game 6, every Celtics fan said to themselves, "I cannot ask for anything more than I just got."
Now that, my friends, is a title defense. Mike Fine was the first writer to mention the similarities between the 1986-87 Celts and 2008-09 Celts in the "What else can go wrong?" sense; I was furious I didn't think of it first. The other thing those teams had in common: a refusal to quit or make excuses. This season, Garnett disappeared but Powe and Perkins stepped up, then Davis did the same when we lost Powe. Pierce played the best all-around basketball of his life, and that's saying something. Allen played brilliantly this season -- remarkably efficient, repeatedly clutch -- and reinvented his career in a historical sense. The young guys played with particular purpose and pride. If there was a defining Celtics game this season, it was Game 81: The No. 2 spot already clinched, Allen suspended, no reason to try at all ... and yet there was Pierce submitting another world-class performance (31 points, 12-for-16 shooting, defended Andre Iguodala all game) and leading them to a road win over a Philly team that desperately needed the game.
You know who deserves more credit than anyone? Doc Rivers and his coaching staff. It's hard to keep a defending champ motivated; it's really hard to keep them focused without their leader; and it's REALLY hard to keep them consistently good as you're constantly integrating new guys into the rotation. Currently, the Celtics have three guys (Stephon Marbury, Mikki Moore and Davis) who weren't in their nine-man rotation at the start of the season. They haven't missed a beat. They finished with 62 wins, and honestly, I don't know how they got there. There was no bigger Doc critic over the years than me, but the man was unbelievable this season and defended his guys vociferously every time they were getting screwed by calls. He had the single hardest coaching job in the league. Period. And he delivered. I have to hand it to him.
Because of Pierce, Garnett and Allen, and Doc as well, it's a proud Celtics team that cannot be counted out. If there was ever a team built for "Nobody Believed In Us" status, it's the 2008-09 Boston Celtics. They will miss Kevin Garnett, but I guarantee you that everyone on that team believes -- from Doc on down -- that they can make the Finals and win.
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