4 5 Boston Celtics superstar Ray Allen left soars to the basket during the 2008 National Basketball Association Finals 20 LAKERS 18 LAKERS 24 CHAMPIONS AGAIN
FACTS AT A GLANCE BILL RUSSELL won 11 National Basketball Association NBA Championships with the Boston Celtics After retiring from playing Russell became the NBA's first Black HEAD COACH The NBA Championship trophy is named after former Celtics coach RED AUERBACH From 1959 to 1966 the CELTICS won eight straight NBA titles In 2008 the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers squared off in the NBA Finals It was the 11th time the teams had faced each other in the series That year the longtime rivals were the top teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences NBA fans expected a classic series and they got one The best of seven series was close from beginning to end In Game 4 the Celtics stormed back from 24 points behind to win 97-91 Boston's victory was the biggest comeback in the NBA Finals in almost 40 years The win put the Celtics ahead three games to one They were just one win away from the championship The Celtics lost Game 5 in Los Angeles California Game 6 was back home in Boston Massachusetts That night the Celtics played their 5
6 best basketball All Star guard Ray Allen scored 26 points He made seven three point shots to tie the Finals record Forward Kevin Garnett chipped in with 26 points Paul Pierce another forward added 10 assists It was a true team effort Five Celtics players scored at least 10 points Every Boston player scored at least two points When the buzzer sounded to end the game the Celtics had overpowered the Lakers 131-92 Boston captured the series four games to two Pierce won the series Most Valuable Player MVP award The 2008 NBA title was the first for the Celtics in 22 years It was their 17th overall championship On that night in Boston nobody could deny that one of the NBA's most successful teams was back on top 41 TOYOTA CELTICS 5 Kevin Garnett played 12 seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves before joining the Celtics in 2007
7 Paul Pierce celebrates winning the 2008 NBA Championship with his teammates CHAMPIONS 200 CHAD
