Most Satisfying Regular Season Win Since 2/16/86

On February 16, 1986, the Boston Celtics completed a season sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers by defeating them 105-99 in the Forum. The game was never as close as the score.

Tonight's victory was every bit as satisfying as that win, and here's why.

1. The Celtics won with Tony Allen playing the majority of the minutes at point, while Rajon Rondo sat out the contest with a sore right hamstring (the 1986 Celtics beat the Lakers without Kevin McHale).

2. The Celtics swept the Lakers in convincing fashion, humiliating them to such a degree on their home floor that the Lakers quit playing with seven minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

3. Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant both admitted this was a statement game, and both looked totally demoralized by game's end.

4. KG responded to every bad call or non-call the Celtics got on offense by taking it out on the Lakers with his own brand of smothering, nasty defense. He let his actions do the talking, and played his first game of Russellesque proportions.

5. Pundits had downplayed the Celtics 22-3 start because they hadn't played anyone, and they hadn't traveled out West. Now they are 26-3, having swept four West Coast teams in 5 nights. The Lakers, who had entered the game winning 9 of their last 11, looked completely outclassed and bewildered. "Not even in the same league" is a phrase that comes to mind.

6. The Associated Press had the temerity to call out the Lakers as "Fakers" this morning, long before the game even started. And you know what? They were right.

7. This article dovetailed nicely with my historical piece in which ML Carr called the Lakers "Fakers" in 1985.

8. Ray Allen was money when it counted, proving again that when rested, Ray Allen is everything we need him to be, which is to say absolutely lethal.

9. Paul Pierce gave the impression that he was just toying with the purple.

10. Doc Rivers announced before the game that he didn't want the Lakers to win sh*t on his watch, and, sure enough, his boys dominated the game from the git-go.

11. Phil Jackson as motivator has been exposed as a fraud.