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The Best Rivalry in Sports

Can you write a better script than this? The last two NBA champs who met two years ago in the Finals …two of the most storied franchises in NBA history who have combined for 32 of the 63 NBA titles ….Celtics -- 17, Lakers -- 15 …. East Coast vs. West Coast … Celtics-Lakers is simply the best rivalry in sports … I have ties to both sides. . .Growing up, I proudly wore Celtic Green .. my closet was filled with that stuff .. I can’t tell you how many times I would go to Boston Garden to watch my dad play … Larry Bird was my idol and I admired the Celtics team play …

Where is my Celtic stuff now? Gone. I burned it long ago. Now, my closet is filled with purple and gold.

I grew up a Celtics fan. Now? Not so much.

Who is my dad rooting for? He says he’s a Celtic but is rooting for the Lakers because of me. I guess being a dad transcends Celtic Pride. He says he pulling for the Lakers. Now let’s see what he says when The Boston Globe calls?

Wake, sleep, eat revenge
Been waking up in a shaking sweat
my blood running cold

Thirty-Nine Point Nightmare

Game 6 two years ago is still fresh in my head. The 39-point drubbing. The sheer embarrassment. The Celtics celebrating right in front of us … The Gatorade shower given to Doc. I remember the bus ride leaving the Garden, coming to a standstill as fans pushed and pounded the windows, celebrating title 17. Yep, I remember everything about it.

 

I’ve spent a lot of off days thinking about that game, that experience. Believe it or not, that’s not our motivation for wanting to win title 16. We’re motivated for the chance at another championship.

We’re not playing the revenge card. We’re playing the Larry O’Brien one. We want that trophy.

Artest & Bynum

We’ll have two key players against the Celtics this time around. This will be Ron’s first Finals appearance yet he doesn’t really need any advice in terms of what to expect or how to  handle the enormity of the experience. When we won the Western Conference Finals, he was as calm as anyone out there. We started the season wanting more than the Conference title.  Ron is aware of the fact that it’s not celebration time just to be in the Finals, you celebrate if you win the whole thing.

It’s hard to see Drew in pain as he’s been playing through his knee thing during the playoffs. He’s a big, athletic, physical, long body out there and that’s what you need against Boston. We expect him to play a major role in this series.

47-0

Crazy stat. Phil’s teams are 47-0 when they win Game 1 of a playoff series.

What does it mean? Absolutely nothing, especially as it pertains to this series.

It’s mind boggling, really, when you think about that – 47-0. You wonder if maybe that would impact other teams when they see that but it certainly won’t affect the Celtics. And it’s not going to make us relax at all, especially if we win Game 1.

Phil told us this week that we can’t feel this series out, especially with three games in a row in Boston. We got to come out of the gates ready to play. We’ve had intense practices and we need to maintain that level, especially for Game 1, which can’t come soon enough.