Sports Insider by Frank Coppola: Celtics complete surreal turnaround with dismantling of Lakers

June 18, 2008

Celtics complete surreal turnaround with dismantling of Lakers

To fully appreciate the 17th championship that the Boston Celtics clinched with Tuesday's 131-92 rout of the L.A. Lakers, you have to remember where we were at this time one year ago.

On June 18, 2007, the Celtics had recently completed a 24-58 season, the worst record in the Eastern Conference and the second-worst in the league. Boston's hopes of winning the NBA lottery and landing one of two potential franchise players, Ohio State center Greg Oden or Texas forward Kevin Durant, had vanished.

The Celtics were saddled with the fifth pick -- the worst-possible scenario -- and seemed to be choosing between Chinese forward Yi Jianlian and Georgetown forward Jeff Green. The prospects of either of those players joining the Celtics triggered nothing but yawns from the loyal Boston fans who had yet to jump off the bandwagon -- all 10 of us.

Then something interesting happened. The Celtics traded that fifth pick to Seattle in a deal that brought them shooting guard Ray Allen, one of the best long-range bombers in league history. But enthusiasm for the trade was lukewarm at best, no matter what people would like to think today. Allen, 32, was coming off two ankle surgeries that left doubt about his future as a big-time scorer.

For some fans, the move to get Allen was a confusing one. We knew that the combination of Paul Pierce, Allen and young forward Al Jefferson might be enough to get a few more wins and make a run at the playoffs, but it wouldn't be enough to win a championship.

Another move had to happen.

Since taking over the Celtics in 2003, basketball boss Danny Ainge had spent his time acquiring young talent that he hoped he could one day spin to other teams in order to acquire the veteran players who would return Boston to a championship level. Young teams simply don't win in the NBA, and Ainge knew this.

The majority of Boston fans, however, were losing patience. They didn't understand Ainge's plan, even though he candidly discussed it on TV and radio time and again.

Then, on the day of July 31, 2007, the light bulb finally went off.

The Celtics had traded Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Sabastian Telfair and two draft picks for 10-time All-Star Kevin Garnett. All of a sudden, Ainge's plan didn't look so stupid, huh?

Boston's 7-for-1 deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves instantly made the Celtics relevant in Boston again, validated the Ray Allen trade and transformed the franchise forever.

But Ainge wasn't done. Although trading all those players for Garnett was a no-brainer, the deal left Boston with few players on its bench other than Brian Scalabrine. And that certainly wasn't getting it done.

The Celtics tried to convince future Hall of Famer Reggie Miller to come out of retirement, but the former Pacers star turned down Boston's offer. Instead, the Celtics signed journeyman forward James Posey, a defensive specialist who had developed a reliable outside shot in recent years.

Thank you, Reggie Miller.

Posey turned into an incredibly important player for the Celtics, a clutch shooter, a defensive stopper and one of the team's emotional leaders. Pound for pound, it might have been Ainge's best signing of the year.

Boston added more veterans to the mix -- Eddie House and Scot Pollard -- and stole fan favorite Glen "Big Baby" Davis in the second round of the draft. Suddenly, the bench -- with holdovers Leon Powe and Tony Allen -- wasn't looking so bad.

The rest, as they say, was history. The Celtics started 20-2, finished with an NBA-best record of 66-16 and clinched home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. Pretty important, as it turned out. Adding veterans P.J. Brown and Sam Cassell during the season didn't hurt, either.

After surviving seven-game series against Atlanta and Cleveland in the first two rounds, the Celtics ousted Detroit in six games to win the East, then completed their magical run by crushing Kobe Bryant's Lakers by 39 points in Game 6 to win the finals.

All in a year's work.

A new generation of Celtics fans, much like Kevin Garnett, now have a championship to call their own. And for the older fans who remember the glory days of the '60s, '70s and '80s, it was the ultimate reward for sticking with this team through the low points of the last 20 years: The deaths of Reggie Lewis and Len Bias. Missing out on Tim Duncan. The Rick Pitino disaster.

We saw it all, and next fall we'll see banner No. 17 getting raised to the rafters. It was all worth it. A stunning, remarkable, historic turnaround given the state of this franchise just one year ago.

Move over, Patriots and Red Sox, you've got company in title town.

The Celtics have returned to glory. Somewhere, Red Auerbach is puffing on a victory cigar. It was a long time coming.

Celtic notes

Some leftover thoughts from Boston's latest championship run:

* Although it was 22 years between titles for the Celtics, only six other NBA teams won championships during that span: the Lakers (five), Pistons (three), Bulls (six), Rockets (two), Spurs (four) and Heat (one). Just goes to show how hard it is to rebuild in the NBA. Makes Boston's rise from worst to first all that more remarkable.

* You can't say enough about the efforts of second-year point guard Rajon Rondo on Tuesday night: 21 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and six steals. Rondo was a liability on the road in these finals, but boy did he answer the call in Game 6. He set the tempo from the start and was an absolute beast on defense.

* Everyone has their own moments when they knew it was going to be the Celtics' night. For me it was when Garnett banked home a ridiculous shot in the paint while falling to the ground after getting fouled by Lamar Odom. The shot, which gave the Celtics a 20-point lead right before halftime, was a death blow to the Lakers.

* Some eye-popping numbers from a game with many of them: The Lakers shot 29 percent in the first half and still had zero offensive rebounds; L.A. had just two offensive rebounds all night, both coming in the fourth quarter; the Celtics had more steals in the first half than the Lakers had field goals; after starting the game 4-for-5 with 11 first-quarter points, Kobe Bryant shot 3-for-17 the rest of the game.

* Six-time All-Star Paul Pierce was already a lock to get his number 34 retired by the Celtics after his career is finished. But with a Finals MVP award to go along with his career scoring average of 23.2 points per game, Pierce is now a cinch for the Hall of Fame too. And since Garnett was the single biggest reason for this turnaround, it's a good bet that his number 5 will someday get raised to the rafters too.

* Just think: We are one defensive stop away from the Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics simultaneously holding the championships in their respective sports. We'll never see a decade like this again in our lives and it's not over yet. All three of those teams should remain title contenders in the foreseeable future. What a time to be a New England sports fan.

Posted by Frank Coppola at June 18, 2008 12:08 PM

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