If you weren't happy for Kevin Garnett's unbridled show of emotion after clinching the NBA championship for the Boston Celtics with a dominating 131-92 win over the Los Angeles Lakers Tuesday night, you're either heartless or a Lakers fan. In his 13th season (can you believe he's been around that long?), KG answered the critics who accused him of shrinking from the finals spotlight by submitting a 26-point, 14-rebound performance in the deciding Game Six. Paul Pierce was definitely the worthy finals MVP, but Garnett was the best player on the floor last night.
With so much attention focused on accusations that NBA officials may have tried to affect results of key playoff games on orders from the league, the Boston Celtics put on a near-perfect exhibition of championship basketball on Tuesday. And while much of the credit deservedly goes to the Celtics' "Big Three" of Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, here are the big three reasons why Boston won its 17th title.
Defence
The Boston Celtics are the best defensive team in the NBA, and they reminded us why the hoary cliché that "defence wins championships" is so pervasive. After the Lakers scored 100 points or more in 11 of 15 playoff games leading up to the finals, they scored in triple digits in only two of six finals games.
The Celtics held Kobe Bryant to 40 percent shooting in the series with effective execution of the "box-and-one defence" where four players play zone defence in a box formation and the other defender guards the offence's most dangerous scorer. This defence succeeded in keeping Kobe out of the lane and forcing him to take contested jumpers, and much of the credit should go to Paul Pierce – who defended Kobe man-to-man about as well as anyone I've seen in a long time.
Bench strength
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