Congrats To The Celtics

Well, that went a little bit different than most had probably visioned. After keeping the first five games of the series close, the Lakers got run out of the gym to the tune of 131-92. Ouch. No amount of zen will be able to ease that asskicking.

While it would be easy to heap most of the praise on Boston's "Big 3", the truth is that it was a total team effort. Rajon Rondo didn't shoot particularly well, but he ended up with 21 points and his defensive intensity frustrated the Lakers all night. James Posey scored 11, including 3-3 from 3pt range. Even Eddie House chipped in with 9 points. Though, without the "Big 3" firing on all cylinders the outcome wouldn't have been nearly the same.

Paul Pierce, the Finals MVP, ended up with a double-double by scoring 17 and dishing 10 assists. Ray Allen scored 26 despite missing much of the 2nd quarter. And KG made up for his "trash" play in Game 5 by scoring 26 and pulling down 14 boards. He also would have maxed out "overcome with emotion" if that were a statistical category. It's great to see these guys get rings, and I'm especially happy for Garnett because I've been a fan of his for quite some time. It's amazing how far things have come since his interview with John Thompson back in 2005.

From this:


To this:


KG was right when he said "in my heart, you can't measure that". Last night we all got to see what was in KG's heart.

KG's Revenge Has Been Four Years In The Making

That video reminded me of the last time that Garnett made it anywhere close to winning an NBA title. It was the '03-'04 season, and instead of getting bounced in the first round the Timberwolves found themselves matched up against the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

Garnett did his best to get the T'Wolves into the NBA Finals, averaging 23 points and 13 rebounds for the series, but Minnesota just couldn't put it together and lost the series 4-2. However, you can bet that he's been relishing this shot at redemption from the moment that he knew he would be facing the Lakers in the Finals. Hopefully, KG remembers some of the scenes from that video, and it motivates him to take over Game 4 and win the ring that he's been chasing his entire career.

Rooting For "The Big Ticket"

I've always been a fan of Kevin Garnett. During his years in Minnesota, I saw him as an extremely talented player that never had a great ensemble cast. He was asked to do a lot, and seemingly left everything he had out on the court every night. Over time, it appeared that he would become another great player that never won a championship. However, when he was traded to Boston the prospects for that improved, and now here he is just one win away from his first NBA Finals appearance. Though, it's taken him 13 seasons to reach this point. However, in that time he has racked up some impressive statistics.

Garnett's been selected as an All-Star for 11 out of his 13 seasons. The only two seasons where he wasn't chosen as an All-Star were '95-'96, his rookie year, and '98-'99, when there was no All-Star game due to the lockout.

He was selected as the League MVP in '03-'04.

He's been ranked in the top 10 in defensive rebounds over the past 10 seasons, and is currently second among active players and eighth among all NBA players.

He's also been ranked in the top 10 in total rebounds over the past 10 seasons, and is currently third among active players and 25th among all NBA players.

He lead the league in total points during his MVP season in '03-'04, and is ranked fourth among active players with 20,378 points. That total is good enough to have him ranked 31st among all NBA players.

Garnett is currently eighth among active players with 1,665 blocks, and is ranked 23rd among career NBA players.

He's also averaged 49.4% shooting from the field, 78.1% from the free throw line and 37.9 minutes per game for his career.

All in all, Garnett has put up solid numbers year in and year out. Unfortunately, the biggest areas that are lacking are playoff games played, 66 as of right now, and championships, 0 as this entry is being posted. For comparison, one of Garnett's opponents in the Eastern Conference Finals, Tayshaun Prince, has tallied 113 playoff games and an NBA Championship in just 6 years. Hopefully, Garnett can pull even in the title category over the next few weeks.