2008-09 Boston Celtics: Team Overview

The 2007-08 NBA season was one of redemption for the Boston Celtics and GM Danny Ainge, culminating in their historic seventeenth championship.

The league's best team wire to wire ended the regular season with 66 wins suffocating opposing teams with ballhawking team defense.

Led by Head Coach Doc Rivers, Defensive Player of the Year PF Kevin Garnett,new assistant coach/defensive guru Tom Thibodeau, and an unselfish cast of players both veteran as well as rookies, the Celtics proved yet again that defense wins championships in a dominating 131-92 Game Six win over the offensive-minded Lake Show led by reigning MVP Kobe Bryant.

With the Big Three of Garnett, Finals MVP SF Paul Pierce, and SG Ray Allen back again, can the Celtics become the first team to repeat as champions since the Kobe-Shaq Lakers (2000-2002) earlier in the decade?

FRONTCOURT

KG's impact on the team was immediate. Aside from the 18.8 PPG and 9.2 RPG, he brought a level of intensity the C's were sorely lacking since the Original Big Three.

Chosen to the All-Defensive first team eight times, Garnett anchored the league's second best scoring defense with plenty of help from his frontcourt mates.

Fifth-year C Kendrick Perkins came into his own and became a physical presence in the paint, allowing KG to roam and help teammates while Perk manned down the middle leading the team with 1.46 blocks per game. 

Pierce, soon to be team leader in every offensive category in Celtic history, sacrificed his individual statistics for the good of the team. He quickly bought into Rivers philosophy of 'less is more' and had his best all-around season as a pro averaging a team-high 19.6 PPG to go with 4.5 APG.

The Truth turned his attention more to the defensive side in 2007, often going mano e mano with the opposing team's best scorer and more than holding his own.

BACKCOURT

Another key element of Boston's championship was fueled by the emergence of PG Rajon Rondo. Only in his second season, Rondo sets the tempo for the whole offense. In the game-clincher against the Lakers in the Finals, L.A. coach Phil Jackson gave the young point guard the ultimate respect/compliment, citing him as the 'star of the game' and 'the player we had no answer for'. 

It is hard to argue with the Hall of Fame coach after Rondo posted 21 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, and six steals in the biggest game of his career.

Allen, coming off two ankle surgeries last year, showed he was healthy all season averaging 17.4 PPG and came up big in the Finals hitting a record 22 3PT FG in the process. Jesus Shuttlesworth showed "He Still Got Game" on the biggest stage, saving his best performances for the Eastern Conference Championship against the Detroit Pistons and in the Finals versus the Lakers after initially struggling in the earlier rounds against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks.

BENCH

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