This is it. The last stand for the old guard.
“I think we should always view it that way,’’ said Rivers. “I hope not. Obviously, I’m not sure. You can never take for granted a season, a game, and especially a Game 7 of a Finals. You never know if and when you’re going to be back in that position.’’
Captain Pierce said, “Obviously we have some unrestricted free agents in Ray, some decisions by Doc, but I’ll probably worry about that on Friday.’’
In many ways, this 2010 playoff run serves as a bookend to the 1968-69 season when a fourth-place Celtics team won Game 7 of the Finals at the Forum in Los Angeles. That squad had six players over 30, including Bill Russell and Sam Jones, who retired after the game. One year later, the Celtics went 34-48 and failed to make the playoffs.
Danny Ainge disputes the notion that these Celtics are headed for a fall after tonight.
“Not necessarily,’’ said the Celtic boss. “I hope that’s not the case.’’
But it’s the reality.
We knew this was a three-year window when Ainge assembled the New Big Three in the summer of 2007. The Celtics made a decision to keep Pierce, then gave up a raft of youth in exchange for Allen and Garnett. They were able to get Garnett because Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca opened their wallets to pay an aging talent who was not going to get $25 million from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The 2007-08 Celtics went to Italy for a preseason bonding experience, then trashed the competition in a 66-win regular season. It took them a while to find their mojo in the playoffs. They failed to win a road game in each of their first two series, winning Game 7 at the Garden both times. They found their stride in the conference finals against Detroit, then bullied the favored Lakers in a six-game Finals. When they won the clincher, 131-92, Garnett screamed, “Anything’s possible!’’
. . . including the possibility of injury.
