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Basketball: Garnett, Pierce and Allen take their place among Celtic legends

AFP - Thursday, June 19

BOSTON, Massachusetts, June 18, 2008 (AFP) - Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen put themselves alongside some of basketball's greatest legends by powering the Boston Celtics from oblivion to their first title in 22 years.

In bringing the Celtics their 17th National Basketball Association crown, the 21st Century stars extended the club's all-time title record with their heroes joining the immortals of a previous generation in Boston sports lore.

Pierce was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player after struggling for nine prior campaigns in Boston. Garnett made it past the firts round of the playoffs only once in 12 years at Minnesota. Allen went 11 years with no title.

But now they will have a championship banner raised to the rafters at Boston Garden, just one of 17 hanging from the ceiling but symbolizing the supreme season that a trio of NBA All-Stars came together and became champions.

"As soon as you come through the doors and you see the banners and the jerseys and the pictures, you know you are around something special," Garnett said.

"It's so much motivation coming in here every day with the banners on the wall and seeing the ex-players come in and watch you practice. There's so much responsibility putting this jersey on."

In the aftermath of a title-clinching 131-92 romp over the Los Angeles Lakers here Tuesday, Garnett was congratulated with a hug from Bill Russell, the superstar who helped the Celtics capture 11 crowns between 1957 and 1969.

"You know you are a Celtic when the other players come up and congratulate you," Garnett said. "They explain the tradition. It's like coming into a fraternity. They let you know right away it's about tradition and the team."

There was John Havlicek cheering the latest edition of the green and white, watching a new generation of greats dance with joy on the parquet floor just as he and Bob Cousy and JoJo White and other Celtics of bygone days had once done.

"All those years talking to Bill and John and Cousy, finally I just feel like we've come out of that shadow now and created our own and now we can stand up and look them eye to eye and say we accomplished that too," Pierce said.

"It's a great feeling just knowing these guys and what they accomplished. Those things hang over us every day. For us to go out there and make history in front of those guys, it means so much more.

"Havlicek, Bill Russell, Cousy. These guys started what's going on today with those banners. They don't hang up any other banners but championship ones and now I'm part of it."

Retired Celtics legend Larry Bird, who sparked Boston to three titles in the 1980s, sent his congratulations from Indiana, where he serves as president of basketball operations for his home-state NBA Pacers.

"I'm happy for the Celtics and the city of Boston," Bird said. "I know what it means to win a championship as a Celtic and the place championships hold in the history of the franchise."

For Celtics supporters, the celebration rolled long into the night and will continue through Thursday's victory parade.

"We're just so happy for our fans," Boston center Kendrick Perkins said. "It has been a long time, 22 years. I'm just really feeling them. It means a lot."

Making the triumph even sweeter was that it come over the Lakers, the arch rivals whom the Celtics have defeated in nine of 11 meetings in the best-of-seven NBA Finals.

The fact the clincher came at home by the second-widest victory margin in NBA Finals history - the widest for any title-winning contest - allowed the Celtics to forget the disappointment of a game-five loss in Los Angeles.

"It was a statement game for us," Garnett said. "We were really ticked that we lost the game in LA. We thought that slipped right through our fingers.

"Doc let it be known in the locker room - 'Hey let's not beat this team, let's beat them by 30 and solidify this win and enjoy this night."

It's just the sort of thing Red Auerbach might have done. The late Celtics coaching legend guided nine NBA champions, eight in a row, and remains tied atop the all-time list with Lakers coach Phil Jackson since Boston beat L.A.

Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck lit a cigar in the game's final minutes, borrowing Auerbach's trademark title celebration moment, while joyous Celtics fans pushed cigars into the mouth of Auerbach's statue outside Faneuil Hall.

"This win is for Red Auerbach," Grousbeck said.

And somewhere high above even those banners in the rafters, one could imagine Auerbach holding a cigar that burned with an oh-so heavenly light.

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