An old cliche rings true once again as the Boston Celtics won the 17th championship in franchise history last night while dismantling the Los Angeles Lakers 131-92.
The Celtics pulled away from the Lakers in the 2nd quarter led by their big three who combined for 69 points, over half of the champion's total, without playing much of the final quarter.
Despite the 131 points Tuesday night, the Celtics can credit their team defense for another banner to hang from an already crowded rafter section. League MVP Kobe Bryant struggled to have any open looks and finished the game with 22 points on 7-22 shooting with only one assist and three rebounds.
From the opening tip Bryant was smothered by defenders. After hitting a fade-away three early in the first quarter, his third of the game, the MVP could not find any separation. Doc Rivers continued to switch different defenders on Bryant hoping that he would get tired and it appeared he did as Kobe pressed and finished with four turnovers.
With the return of Kendrick Perkins the Celtics dominated the offensive and defensive glass, out-rebounding the Celtics 48-29. They also had 18 steals led by the "weakness" of the Celtics starting five Rajon Rando who finished with six steals.
At the end of the night it was the MVP flying across country without the ring many felt would validate his status with the Michael Jordan's of the league. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and the rest of their undesirable players found a way to get it done let by incompetent head coach Doc Rivers. They did it with defense and found a way to stop the best player in the universe.
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