Larry O’Brien Legends, Part 7: The 2nd Greatest Comeback

At the risk of sounding like Bill Simmons, there were MANY options to pick from in Celtics history. However, in light of a certain recent event, I thought it would be fun to reminisce on a legendary Finals comeback. If you’ve been following the NBA for more than a year, you know the story of the 2008 Celtics. For those that don’t, here is the summary: The Celtics had gone from decent to horrible in the years since their conference finals appearance in 2002. After the 06-07 season, Paul Pierce was very frustrated, so general manager Danny Ainge executed arguably the best offseason in NBA history. He traded for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett while retaining promising youngsters like Rajon Rondo and Tony Allen. The Celtics went from 24 wins to 66, the largest single season turnaround in NBA history. In the playoffs, the Celtics ran into their fair share of hurdles. The 37-win Hawks and LeBron carry-job Cavs both took the Celtics to 7 games in rounds 1 and 2 respectively. Boston then met the paragons of East dominance in the Detroit Pistons and beat them in 6, making it to the Finals. For the Celtics Big 3, their head coach Doc Rivers, and 90% of their teammates, it was their first ever finals appearance. This was a veteran team, but one that didn’t have much experience on this stage. The team they went on to face was far from lacking in that department. The LA Lakers had finally made it back to the Finals. Kobe Bryant was leading the way, coming off his first and only MVP alongside the return of head coach Phil Jackson. For context, the duo of Kobe and Phil had played/coached in more finals games than Garnett had in the playoffs entirely before arriving to Boston. The Celtics were the better team on paper, but there was some that believed that LA could use their experience to win this series. Boston managed to win both games 1 and 2 at home, but the Lakers counter punched with a win in game 3 thanks to a masterful 36-point performance from Kobe, which set us up for a game 4 that could shift the balance of power either way. The 1st quarter was just about as bad as it possibly could’ve been for Boston. The Lakers were up 35-14 after 12 minutes. To make matters worse, the Lakers continued the beat down in the 2nd. They built up a 24-point lead (45-21) with less than 5 minutes to go in the quarter. The Celtics did finish the half strong with a 19-10 run, only for Jordan Farmar to hit a last second 3 to give LA an 18-point lead at halftime (58-40). The Celtics started the 2nd half well with an 8-2 run, only for the Lakers to build their lead back up to 20 (68-48) with 7 minutes to go in the 3rd. Doc Rivers then called a timeout. I do not know what he said, but whatever it was, it’s the best idea he’s ever had because the Celtics went on a 23-5 run to end the quarter and cut the deficit to just 2 points (73-71). There was still a quarter to go and Boston made sure their incredible comeback wasn’t for nothing. After a tight 8 minutes, the Celtics finally took their first lead of the game with just 4 minutes remaining, never gave it up and completed, at the time, the greatest single-game comeback in NBA finals history to put themselves up 3-1 in the series. That game basically won them the championship. LA did manage to steal game 5, only to get OBLITERATED in game 6 by 39 points as the Celtics claimed their 17th championship. Paul Pierce, the same frustrated star in 2007, was named Finals MVP. It’s hard to pick an MVP of the comeback as it was truly a team effort. Each member of the big 3 put up 10+ points in the 2nd half while James Posey and Eddie House provided valuable 3-point shooting to add an extra punch. However, I’d pick Paul Pierce who led the way in both scoring and assists (14 and 5). This Big 3 Celtics never won another championship and are sadly remembered more for massively overrating themselves in every TV segment and podcast any of them are on. Ironically, I’ve never heard any of them brag about this, so of course the basketball gods punished them by letting the Knicks have the new greatest comeback in Finals history. Still, during that game and this season, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and most shocking of all, Doc Rivers, became Larry O’Brien Legends.