Boston Celtics: Paul Pierce and the Celts' 6 Best Closers Ever

The Red Sox don't have a closer. But the Celtics have so many in their storied history, maybe the local baseball entry should give them a call.

To win 17 championships, you have to have guys who know how to finish off their opponents, and the C's have had those types of guys in all of their title eras.

Looking back to the 60s, 70s, 80s and this current edition of the team, you'll find plenty of players who are as cold-blooded at the most important times.

Here's a look at those assassins, starting in the past and continuing on through the present.

1. Sam Jones

How can a guy known, during and after his playing career, as "Mr. Clutch" not be included on this list?

Jones, a five-time All-Star, three-time All-NBA first-teamer and, most importantly, 10-time champion, led the C's in scoring five times over a 12-year career.

His reputation as a closer began to develop in the 1962 playoffs, when he raised his scoring average by 2.5 points per game from the regular season and sealed Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Philly, by hitting a jumper over Wilt Chamberlain with two seconds left.

Jones would go on to take over in overtime of Game 7 against the Lakers in the Finals, leading the C's to a title. He also won a potential elimination Game 4 against L.A. in 1969, propelling the Celts to their 11th championship.

In 154 career playoff games, Jones averaged 18.9 points, up from the 17.7 he scored in the regular season. 

No wonder he's one of the NBA's 50 greatest players of all time.

2. Bill Russell

Bill Russell didn't take the last shot for his Celts teams—that honor went to the previously mentioned Jones.

But if there was ever such a thing as a defensive closer, Russ was it.

Russell's profile on NBA.com notes that the greatest Celtic of all time, "revolutionized NBA defensive concepts." 

He also averaged 22.5 rebounds per game over his career and once broke 50 in a single night. But what Russ did really well, one of the primary reason he's on this list, was blocking shots.

The NBA didn't start tabulating blocks as an official stat until 1973, four years after Russ retired. But there's never been anyone better.

Offensive players went to the basket against Russell's Celtics teams at their own peril. The chances were better than good that any attempt from inside the paint would be re-directed somewhere else.

And unlike some of today's shot blockers, Russ wasn't interested in batting the ball into the 10th row while screaming like a banshee. He blocked shots to his teammates or to himself. 

It was an art form, or at least, Russ made it one. As great as he was defensively, and he was one of the best of all time, he was even better down the stretch, when the stakes were highest.

Run the plays for someone else. Russ will close it out his own way.

3. John Havlicek

"Havlicek steals it! Over to Jones. Havlicek stole the ball! It's all over!"

Those words were spoken—or screamed—by legendary Celtics broadcaster Johnny Most in the final seconds of Game 7 of the 1965 Eastern Conference Finals against the Sixers.

The play, which sent the C's to the Finals and their seventh consecutive title, is one of the most famous, not just in team history, but in NBA history too.

It also represented the birth of Hondo as one of the greatest closers the Celts have ever known.

Havlicek's 40 points in Game 7 of the Eastern Finals in 1968 and his unreal runner off the glass against Phoenix in Game 5 of the 1976 Finals for triple overtime are perfect evidence of his offense.

It didn't really matter how he did it though. Havlicek was always out there.

When he retired after the 1977-78 season, he was the NBA's all-time leader in games played. He played in all 82 games in his final season—at age 38. 

Talk about a great way to close.

4. Larry Bird

Bird—the greatest Celtics closer of all time—was the most cold-blooded killer the game has ever seen.

You want game-winning shots? There had to have been at least 30 of them—the most famous being his fall-away from the corner to beat Portland in 1985.

You want defense? How about his steal from Isiah Thomas and feed to Dennis Johnson to beat the Pistons in Game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals.

Inhuman performances in big games wet your whistle? Well then look up the clincher of the 1986 Finals.

Bird finished with 29 points, 12 assists and 11 boards in Game 6 against the Rockets, leading the C's to their 16th championship.

How about a mano-a-mano duel? It was in 1987 again. Bird and Atlanta's Dominique Wilkins basically played one-on-one in the fourth quarter in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, as Bird came out on top.

The point is simple. They don't come any better, any tougher or any more clutch than Bird was.

No one closed like him. It's hard to picture anyone else ever doing it like that again.

5. Ray Allen

Allen doesn't have quite the Celtics pedigree of the previous names on this list, but he sure has had some memorably clutch moments in his nearly five years in Boston.

Google "Ray Allen buzzer beaters," and watch how many clips, articles and photos pop up. He started early in his Celts career, dropping one on Toronto in his second game wearing green.

He would go on to hit a handful more, one against Charlotte, another against Philly, and perhaps his most famous, a playoff game-winner against the Bulls in 2009.

There have been others in the clutch (another playoff game ender against the Knicks last season) and all of them have been as smooth as you'd expect coming from a guy like Allen.

It's easy to see why. After all, he is the NBA's all-time leading three-point shooter.

6. Paul Pierce

His nickname is "The Truth," so you know Paul Pierce has it in him. And his body of work is a testament to the moniker.

Twenty-one times in his career, Pierce has beaten the buzzer. He's the one who gets the ball at the end of the game for the C's.

Sure sometimes he'll dish to Allen, but the captain takes the last shot. And Pierce is a master at it.

He's done it in the regular season and in the playoffs, most notably two years ago against Miami. He's the one you expect to see with the ball when the game is on the line. And you expect him to take it—and make it.

In the long line of great Celtics closers, Paul Pierce has taken up the mantle with aplomb.