Pierce drives on Jason Kidd in 2002 playoffs comeback. Pats parade—Green version next week?
The Celtics shocked the world Thursday, staging a record 20-pt comeback against a Lakers team that hadn’t lost a home game in the playoffs. Taking a 3-1 lead, the C’s are poised to win their record 17th title, Boston’s first in 22 years. Two stories today focus on Celtic legend.
The Boston Globe looks back to 2002, when the Celtics staged a similar record playoff comeback against the New Jersry Nets. I hated Jason Kidd back then. We made shirts that said “Wifebeater” over his number. His wife, Jumama or something, was annoying at the games, and Kidd had been arrested for slapping her around. Ever the gentleman, Bob Ryan said on ESPN that Jumama deserved to get hit, forever losing his national pulpit. The shirt sold huge for years. Good ole Antoine Walker comes off like a champ in this story:
But the origins of the comeback might go back even further, to a May 25, 2002, playoff game, when the Celtics overcame a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the New Jersey Nets, 94-90.
“For me, it was deja vu all over again, watching the game [Thursday] night,” said former Celtics guard Kenny Anderson, who is in Los Angeles for a promotional event. “Paul Pierce was the only guy who played in both games, and I knew he was sitting in the huddle saying all the things we said. “He had been in that situation before and he pretty much knew what could be done.”
The Celtics entered Game 3 of the ‘02 Eastern Conference finals tied with the Nets. And the Nets led by 26 points in the second half, but were outscored, 41-16, in the final quarter. The Garden crowd had been booing in the third quarter, but ended up cheering on the Celtics in a chaotic final quarter. At the time, the Celtics said they were motivated by an inspirational speech from Antoine Walker.
“[Walker said] no matter what happens in this fourth quarter, win or lose, we’re just going to go down fighting,” Pierce said after that game. “We’re not going to get embarrassed tonight.” Pierce had been in a shooting slump, connecting on 5 of 34 shots in the series, then scored 19 points in the final quarter.
“Antoine was so positive in timeouts,” former Celtics coach Jim O’Brien said. “He was saying to Paul, ‘You just take over this damn game. You just start carrying us. Attack, attack, attack.’ ”
A Rodney Rogers foul shot with 3:55 remaining started the Celtics’ decisive 13-2 run, Pierce’s free throws giving the Celtics a 91-90 lead with 46 seconds to go. Then Anderson broke in for a layup off a Kerry Kittles turnover to make it 93-90. Walker hit a free throw to complete the scoring.
Before Pierce’s free throws, the Celtics had led for a total of 13 seconds, on Eric Williams’s foul shot in the opening minute of play. After the game, Celtic players embraced Pierce near center court, and when Pierce broke free, he jumped on the scorer’s table and gestured to the crowd.
O’Brien, normally undemonstrative, got caught up in the moment, pumping his fist toward the fans as he went to the locker room.
The NYT, meanwhile, writes about when The Big Three first met coach Doc Rivers and he took them in Duck Boats along the championship parade route. Very cool:
Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen had just become teammates last summer when they were ushered onto one of Boston’s famous duck boats and taken on a tour by Celtics Coach Doc Rivers.
It was a move ripped straight from the Phil Jackson coaching manual — a team-building exercise wrapped in a whimsical diversion. Rivers showed his three superstar players the parade route used by the Patriots and the Red Sox, preaching sacrifice and team defense along the way.
That poetic moment may soon be enshrined in franchise lore, next to tales of Red Auerbach’s cigars, Larry Bird’s twirling towel and, most certainly, Thursday night’s stunning comeback victory over Jackson and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Celtics hold a 3-1 lead in the N.B.A. finals after wiping out a 24-point deficit in Game 4. On Sunday night, they are poised to claim the franchise’s first championship since 1986.
So Rivers was asked to retell the story of three All-Stars, one coach with a team-first sermon and one amphibious vehicle.
“I just thought it was important that they saw the route,” Rivers said Friday of the duck-boat tour. “Paul knew about it. Paul has been in Boston for so long. But Kevin and Ray, I think they thought we were going on a historic trip of Boston. I don’t think they really got it at first until we explained to them what we were doing.”
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