June 17 + Celtics’ 17 = Paul Pierce 34
The line says it all. On June 17th 2008, Boston Celtics took revenge against their archrivals, Los Angeles Lakers, to clinch their 17th title, their first since 1986, with excellent contribution from their captain, and the MVP of the finals, Paul Pierce (jersey 34)!!!
And, what a final it was! Stamping authority at home, the Celtics defeated the Lakers with a record margin for a decider, 131-92!!! The trinity of Pierce, Allen and Kevin Garnett, a.k.a. The Big 3, were on target together in this game. The Lakers were left rattled. Kobe’s little contribution and the odd 3 pointers shot in the final minutes by Lakers made no difference to the result of the game, as they gave away too many turnovers and had less assists. Rajon Rondo of Celtics had 6 steals in what turned out to be a good game for him. KG, top scored for the Celtics and also had a few assists to his name, to earn him the Player of the Match title. Lakers were drowned by the performances by Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen in the second half, with allen and Pierce contributing about 10 three pointers in that period alone. House from downtown, puts a few in!!! The Lakers’ defense just didn’t seem to exist, so pathetic, that coach, Phil Jackson had to express his anger in a very angry manner, by his standards. He said to the team at half time to not give the title away meekly, but what followed was like a practice for victory lap for the Celtics. 
The Celtics defense was ecstatic. Players from the bench were good at defending the Lakers too. Kobe was well marked by Pierce and at times by Rondo, making him crave for space.
The arena went emotional as the shot clock had no more to show. It had taken them years to get this title, so many years of good performances went in vain. Then came in some prosperous sign ins. They started their season on top of the table in Eastern Conference, and never did they let it slip. They lost only 5 games at home in the regular season, and just one in the post season playoffs and finals. The championship title seemed to be heading their way all along. The “loudest arena” couldn’t have been any louder!
Some record breaking highlights from The Finals :-
Paul Pierce played more than 60 playoff games with Celtics before getting his maiden title, most by any player.
It was Celtics’ coach, Doc River’s first championship title in 6 seasons of coaching, 2nd year with Celtics. This prevented Phil from becoming the sole most successful coach in NBA, but he has to be satisfied to share the record with Celtics’ legendary coach, Red.
Ray Allen had 22 three-point FGs, most in the Finals history.
The 39 points margin was the highest in a decider at the NBA Finals.
18 steals in the game in favour of the Celtics is now the new record, overtaking Hornet’s 17 set way back in ’75.
Photos : NBA
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