Boston Celtics: Remembering the NBA Finals and the Season that Was

Games 5 and 6 were predictably won by the home teams, which set the table for a duel the likes of which Boston fans had not seen since the 1988 conference semifinals, when Larry Bird and Atlanta’s Dominique Wilkins combined for 80 points in game 7, which the Celtics won by 2, 118-116. Lebron James, who had been struggling noticeably throughout the series, scored 45 points on 15-29 shooting and took over the game at times, while Paul Pierce scored 41 and carried his Celtics to a 96-89 victory.

Pierce and James seemed to answer each other throughout the game. For a time they held serve, basket for basket, blow for blow, like two heavyweight fighters, circling each other, waiting for the other to make a move. Pierce and the Celtics ended up winning of course, and Lebron’s Herculean performance, like that of Wilkins in 1988, was not enough to overcome Boston’s superior play.

“It was the Cleveland series that made me doubt them” said Sean Crowe when asked about the Celtics’ early playoff struggles. “Kevin Garnett was timid down the stretch, Ray Allen was playing like crap, and Paul Pierce didn’t seem like he was at 100%. Plus, it was hard to envision a team that couldn’t beat the Lebron pu-pu platter on the road winning a championship.”

After two consecutive seven game series, many thought that Boston would be burnt out by the time they faced a well rested Detroit Pistons team, which had easily dispatched Orlando in five games, in the Eastern Conference Finals. After splitting the first two games in Boston, many fans were worried that Boston’s playoff road struggles would cost them the series. Previously, Detroit had only lost once at home and seemed unstoppable at the Palace. Boston would dismiss the constant doubts of their ability to win away from home by taking not one but two games in Detroit against the Pistons, en route to a six game series victory.

After beating the Pistons, the Celtics headed into the NBA Finals as a clear underdog to the streaking Los Angeles Lakers, who had accumulated an amazing 12-3 playoff record against the rugged Western Conference, which sported an eighth seed (the Denver Nuggets) that won 50 games. Boston on the other hand, had struggled their way to a 12-8 playoff record, including two seven game nail biters against a clearly inferior Atlanta team and a Clevelandteam that seemed content to watch Lebron James engage the entire Celtics team in a riveting game of 1 on 5.

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