The Long Nightmare is Over

June 17, 2008

The Long Nightmare is Over

At 11:54 Eastern Daylight Time last evening, the Celtics finally returned to port. Twenty-two years after setting out in search of a 17th championship, the Shamrock ship reached shore.



The long Celtic Nation nightmare is over. The last 22 years dissolved as Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen hugged and laughed on the bench in the final minutes of the utter destruction of the Lakers. When the lead reached 45, the leprechaun on the center court logo blushed.

``So many things just running through our minds on the sidelines,'' said Pierce. ``We were just in awe over there.''

Twenty-two years of bad decisions and bad luck and bad karma had set like the sun over the Berkshires. The most storied franchise in NBA history finally had a tale worth telling again.

For all those who couldn't be in the Garden to witness it, the writer wishes he could aptly capture the moment. During a timeout with 2:21 left, ``Gino'' danced his way onto the video board. Without Red around, this was the de facto victory cigar.

Danny Ainge - who theretofore had been stone-faced as he watched from under the east bucket - walked over to the Celtic bench. Pierce, Garnett and Allen attacked him in a group hug, thanking him for putting them in the same uniform. That was before Pierce dumped Gatorade on Doc Rivers and before Brian Scalabrine, inactive last night, ran to the dressing room and returned wearing his uniform.

And it was well after this one had been decided. The game did not officially end until the aforementioned hour, but it was ``over'' - OK, ``ovah'' - much earlier. They still had to play 24 minutes and 47.7 seconds, but this thing was history when Garnett took a pass from Pierce, wheeled into the lane and threw the ball in off the glass after being hit by Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom, the latter of whom was called for a foul. Had you been able to see up close the looks on the faces of the Lakers, you'd have known the NBA authorized champagne would not have another day to age.

When the clock was through, green and white confetti rained from rafters that will soon be outfitted with another banner. It was at that point, unable to focus on the setup for the trophy presentation, that 22 years came rolling by. The mind could see the journey. What a long, strange trip it had been.

One season ago, the Celtics were dancing with the dregs of the league in a desperate attempt to collect lottery chances. As much as it was the right thing to do at the time, it still appeared rather beneath the dignity of the Bostonians to be playing Keno in search of a contender.

In a turnaround apparently too dramatic even for the hoop team from Hollywood, the Celtics collected the Larry O'Brien Trophy last night. Not that there was much doubt of such an outcome when they returned from the west coast with a 3-2 lead to play in front of a crowd that was chanting ``Beat L.A.'' as it walked through the doors.

The Celtics won because they had the best collection of players and because those players performed well enough when it mattered. And because Ainge and his staff drafted well enough to make the trades that brought the key additional pieces, then surrounded them with the right free agents.

The Celtics won because, well, that's what the best team in the league is supposed to do.

And since 1986, the Celtics haven't been the best team in the league. An argument could have been made for 1987, but after Kevin McHale broke his foot - and played on it - that team was never going to be the same. Ownership should have read the writing on the X-ray and begun making changes, but it chose to squeeze every last drop out of the well. (You do remember buying shares of actual Celtic stock, the pet rock of its era, don't you?)

Instead, the club simply put different captains at the ship's helm. Dave Gavitt and M.L. Carr and Rick Pitino steered the Celtics further from a title, taking on water and bad contracts as they went.

Probably shouldn't have mentioned those guys, huh? Probably shouldn't have killed your buzz. But all of those eras and errors seemed like time capsule stuff from another century - which, now that you mention it, they were.

Last night, the Celtics sailed the last mile through those storms.

Looking back on his own time with the franchise, Pierce said, ``This is what makes those other moments so sweet.''

It'd be nice to think Red Auerbach, Reggie Lewis, Dennis Johnson and Len Bias were watching from on high. Maybe even having a little Chinese food.