Former Celtics captain John Havlicek, who won eight rings with the Green, presented the conference championship trophy to Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck in the visitors' locker room after last night's clincher. Havlicek reminded the new generation, "With your jersey it carries a lot of great tradition. Go Celtics. Beat LA."
Paul Pierce and friends picked up the theme immediately, chanting "Beat LA! Beat LA!"
"It means everything to Boston fans," said Pierce. "That's pretty much what got me started watching basketball, growing up in Los Angeles, watching the Celtics and Lakers . . . I'm going back home to play against the team I grew up watching and it's a dream come true, man, just thinking about it. I think that rivalry pretty much revolutionized the game of basketball and now I'm part of it."
The Celtics' trek back to the Finals has been arduous. After winning banner No. 16 in 1986, the NBA's signature team endured the tragic deaths of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis, the broken promises of the M.L. Carr and Rick Pitino regimes, lame luck in the draft lottery, and the passing of patriarch Red Auerbach. Fans wondered if Celtic pride and Celtic mystique dissolved when the old Boston Garden was torn down.
The magic came back at a perfect moment last night. Trailing, 70-60, early in the final quarter, the Celtics rocked the Pistons with a 19-4 run. Invisible for much of the night, Kevin Garnett hit some big jump shots and got help from Pierce, Rajon Rondo, and James Posey. A free throw by Pierce (27 points in 43 minutes) put Boston in the lead with 5:25 left and that's when NBA officials ushered Havlicek toward the visitors' locker room.
"I thought this was the best fourth quarter we've played all playoffs long," said Pierce, a 10-year veteran. "I'm just happy to be a part of it. It's been a long process. I could write a whole book on it. To be in this position with the same team, going to the Finals, it's nothing I can put into words."
