In sport, it is difficult to enter a tournament as the favorite and still go on to destroy the opposition and emerge winners. The Dallas Mavericks suffered carrying the tag of favorite and were instantly sent home by the eighth ranked Golden State Warriors in 2007. The New England Patriots won 18 games in a row but lost the final (only loss of the season) to the New York Giants in the 2007/08 season.
The Boston Celtics organization virtually did what outstanding teams do. They carried the tag of favorites with ease and delivered in the most devastating manner on the pivotal night winning 131 to 92! A whopping 39 point separated the winner and the runners-up Los Angeles Lakers.
It was a night when their top three players came to work focused and delivered in a most effective way possible as a team. Ray Allen was doubtful before the game and was poked in the eye in the first quarter but still managed to score 26 points, including an NBA record-tying seven 3-pointers; Kevin Garnett had 26 points with 14 rebounds and Finals MVP Paul Pierce scored 17 with 10 assists on Tuesday night. Surely even for the Los Angeles Lakers fans, the Tuesday performance by the Celtics was one to be acknowledged with respect.
The Lakers fell to a much better team. For the Lakers their top three were led by regular season MVP, Kobe Bryant with 22 and Lamar Odom 14 and Pau Gasol 11. It is apparent that for the Los Angeles Lakers, shooting deserted them and even worse their defense and ball passing were below par. I am sure they will kick themselves hard for having surrendered a 24 point lead in the 4th game series to lose to the Celtics at home. That devastating loss eroded most of their confidence and never rebounded to compete effectively in the series.
Boston Celtics deserve all the kudos for rebounding from one of the worst seasons in 2007 to emerge with 66 wins in the regular season and to go past Atlanta hawks in 7, Cleveland Cavaliars in 7, Detroit Pistons in six and Los Angeles Lakers in six. The players and the Coach have earned themselves a place in the history of NBA and their Vice President, Danny Ainge must be one of the proudest men around today. In a year when player trading went into over drive and some with disastrous consequences such as the Dallas Mavericks, bringing on board Ray Allen and Kevin Garnet was a master stroke.
It appears therefore that the Celtics out gunned the Lakers in all areas thereby leaving no doubt as which was the best team in the NBA in the 2007/08 season. It was an excellent run and an outstanding finish to the NBA season. The series may not have produced many spectacular plays but I am reminded of the heroics by the post season MVP, Paul Pierce in the second game in Boston when he got injured went off to the locker room for bandaging and came back and delivered three pointers that won the game. To me Paul Pierce, as a Captain, played with the heart of a lion and throughout the series led his team into battle like a man possessed. He deserved the MVP award.
So on a night dated 17th of June 2007, Boston Celtics appropriately won their 17th title of their franchise history. Congratulations!
