The Boston Herald (John Tomase) reports: The Phoenix Suns dealt away the
draft rights to Rajon Rondo two years ago, and here’s what they have to
show for it: cash. That’s it. Hopefully it was a lot of money, because
Rondo may just go down as the steal of the 2006 draft. It’s amazing to
think that the 22-year-old starting point guard for the world champion Celtics
[team stats] could have been had for so little. On draft day 2006, the C’s
sent Cleveland’s 2007 first-round pick, which they acquired for Jiri
Welsch, to Phoenix for the rights to Rondo, the 21st overall pick out of
Kentucky. A year later, the Suns then shipped that pick (No. 24, Rudy Fernandez)
and James Jones to the Trail Blazers for cash considerations.

The AP reports: With Russell and Havlicek sitting courtside, and Red surely
lighting up a victory cigar somewhere, these Boston Celtics returned to glory
like the great teams before them. Dominant in every way. On a new parquet floor
below aging championship banners hung in the rafters two decades back, the
Celtics won their 17th NBA title and a first one—at last — for Paul Pierce,
Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen—their Big Three for a new generation. After 22
long years, the NBA has gone green. Lifted by ear-splitting chants of “Beat
L.A.” early and cries of “Seven-teen” in the closing seconds by their
adoring crowd, the Celtics concluded a shocking rebound of a season with a
stunning 131-92 blowout over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 on Tuesday
night… Garnett scored 26 points with 14 rebounds, Allen scored 26 and
Pierce, the finals MVP who shook off a sprained right knee sustained in Game 1,
added 17 as the Celtics, a 24-win team a year ago, wrapped up their first title
since 1986. Rajon Rondo had 21 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and six
steals as the Celtics, who built a 23-point halftime lead and obliterated the
Lakers, who were trying to become the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in
the finals… Bryant, the regular season MVP, finished with 22 points on
7-of-22 shooting… With Garnett scoring 17 points and Pierce adding 10,
Boston built a 58-35 halftime lead, and unlike Game 2 when they let the Lakers
trim a 24-point lead to two in the fourth quarter before recovering, the Celtics
never stopped.
Ticker reports: Holding a four-point lead after the first quarter, the Celtics
embarrassed the Lakers, outscoring their archrivals, 34-15, in the second period
en route to a 58-35 lead at halftime. The half ended with a bang thanks to
Garnett, who completed a three-point play by banking in a circus shot while
parallel to the floor - practically on his back - to highlight a 26-6 run to
close the opening half. And that’s where Los Angeles spent most of the
night - belly up. The Lakers shot just 27 percent in the first half and failed
to grab a single offensive rebound during that span. Not only did they fail to
execute, but their spirit seemed irrevocably broken. “The last two minutes
of the second period buried the team emotionally, and we went into the locker
room at halftime and tried to get our guys back on bearing and really
couldn’t turn the momentum around,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.
League MVP Kobe Bryant, who completed a lackluster series, scored just 22 points
on 7-of-22 shooting for Los Angeles, which was outscored, 73-57, in the second
half with the game already decided.
InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: The Celtics shot 49.4%, the Lakers 42.2%. But the
Celtics took 87 shots, the Lakers just 64. Boston hit an awesome 13-of-26
threes, Los Angeles a good 10-of-27. Both teams shot almost the same free throw
attempts but Boston hit a few more. The Celtics dominated rebounds, 48-29, and
dominated assists, 33-16. And the Lakers had 19 turnovers, the Celtics just 7.
For the Celtics: Kevin Garnett (10-of-18) had 26 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists
and 3 steals. Ray Allen (8-of-12, 7-of-9 threes) had 26 points, 4 rebounds and 3
steals. Rajon Rondo (8-of-20) had 21 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists and 6 steals.
Paul Pierce (just 4-of-13) had 17 points, 10 assists and 2 steals. The Celtics
bench was incredible, scoring 39.
For the Lakers: Kobe Bryant (awful 7-of-22) had 22 points and more turnovers
than anything else. Lamar Odom (awful 2-of-8, 10-of-14 free throws) had 14
points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. Jordan Farmar (3-of-5, 3-of-4 threes) had 12
points but 4 turnovers off the bench. Pau Gasol (4-of-7) had 11 points, 8
rebounds, and 5 turnovers. No other Lakers did much of anything.
: See raw, totally unedited game notes taken live as the action happened.

The AP reports: Boston Mayor Tom Menino told WBZ-AM radio Wednesday that a
“rolling rally” to honor the NBA champion Boston Celtics will be held at 11
a.m. on Thursday. The rally is expected to start at the TD Banknorth Garden,
where the Celtics clinched their 17th crown on Tuesday night with a win over the
Los Angeles Lakers.

The AP reports: Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis says up to 30 people have
been arrested during the Celtics championship celebration, most for disorderly
conduct. Several storefront windows were damaged near the TD Banknorth Garden
after the Celtics’ 131-92 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 of the
NBA Finals.
InsideHoops.com joke: It was all Brian Scalabrine. He’s responsible for
every alternation that resulted in all 30 arrests.

Ticker reports: Their odyssey to a league-record 17th crown began long before
being stuck on the tarmac on their charter jet late Sunday night in Los Angeles.
It began after they finished the 2006-07 season with just 24 wins. It continued
when they failed to land one of the top two picks in the draft and had to settle
for the fifth pick last summer. But their fortunes started to turn when director
of basketball operations Danny Ainge traded that pick, along with Delonte West
and Wally Szczerbiak to Seattle for Ray Allen. Then, Ainge pulled off the
blockbuster deal with former teammate and current Minnesota Timberwolves
basketball chief Kevin McHale. Ainge acquired Kevin Garnett and had a new “Big
Three” in place. The team didn’t disappoint. That’s not to say
there weren’t scares along the way. Seven-game series with the Atlanta
Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers had fans and experts questioning the 66-win
season. But the Celtics finally won a road game against the Detroit Pistons and
eliminated them in six games in the Eastern Conference finals.

The AP reports: Light up one more for Red. Some fans wore green Celtics
jerseys with the name “AUERBACH” in white capital letters on the back.
Others puffed victory cigars—an understandable disregard of anti-smoking laws
on a special night—just as the team’s late patriarch often did. After
all, Boston did more than just win its first NBA championship in 22 years with a
131-92 rout of Los Angeles on Tuesday night. The Game 6 victory kept Lakers
coach Phil Jackson from breaking a tie with Auerbach for most titles by an NBA
coach. Each has nine. “This win is for Red Auerbach,” owner Wyc Grousbeck
said. “Red believed in our ownership group and got it done.”
Grousbeck’s group took over the franchise on Dec. 31, 2002. Auerbach, who
was president at the time, died on Oct. 28, 2006, at the age of 89.

The AP reports: The Celtics’ 39-point margin in Tuesday night’s
championship clinching win is the largest in a decisive NBA finals game. In
fact, Boston now has four of the six biggest margins in games that clinched
titles…  Ray Allen set a record for most 3-pointers made in a finals
series with 22. The previous mark of 17 was set by Dan Majerle with Phoenix in
1993 and matched by Derek Harper with New York in 1994. Allen’s seven
3-pointers Tuesday night tied the finals record shared by Houston’s Kenny
Smith and Chicago’s Scottie Pippen. And Boston’s 52 baskets from
3-point range erased the finals mark of 51 set by San Antonio in 2005… The
Celtics also put on a record-setting defensive performance Tuesday with 18
steals, eclipsing the single-game finals mark set by Golden State against
Washington in 1975.

The AP reports: Kobe Bryant knew all along the Celtics were going to force
someone besides him to beat them, and there was nobody else in purple and gold
up for the job. Bryant finished with 22 points, but shot only 7-of-22 from the
field and was quiet after a sizzling start for the second straight game. The
Lakers needed an MVP performance from Bryant. Bryant needed help… And
there was no one else to pick up the slack. Lamar Odom didn’t have a field
goal until the fourth quarter, when the Lakers were already down by 29 points.
Pau Gasol took only seven shots and finished with 11 points—and he was their
second-leading scorer until deep in the fourth quarter, when Odom went to work
against the reserves who played the last few minutes while Kevin Garnett, Paul
Pierce and Ray Allen were busy celebrating on the sideline.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune (John Reid) reports: Kendrick Perkins will
start tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers after missing Sunday’s Game 5
with a strained left shoulder. Perkins participated in Tuesday morning’s
shootaround and deemed himself ready. But Coach Doc Rivers did not make it
official until about an hour before tip-off when he announced Perkins would
start. Without Perkins in Game 5, the Rivers was forced to start backup Leon
Powe. Powe played 4 1/2 minutes and did not score or grab a rebound before he
was replaced by Slidell resident P.J. Brown, who played 24 minutes and scored
four points and grabbed three rebounds.

These are raw, totally unedited notes of Lakers at Celtics, NBA Finals Game
6, taken live at the game as the action happens. Reload this page regularly.
Kendrick Perkins, who was doubtful for tonight, is well enough to play, and is
starting at center. Rajon Rondo, who seems to be playing hurt and hasn’t
been effective in the Finals, is at his usual starting point guard
spot.

Immediately, a few seconds into the game, Pau Gasol drew a silly
foul on Kendrick Perkins. And that possession, Kobe Bryant immediately nailed a
jumper.
One minute into the game Derek Fisher drove, and crashed into Paul Pierce, who
may have still been moving, but a foul got called on Pierce. It should have been
a no-call or an offensive.
The Lakers are playing a zone.
Rajon Rondo misses a jumper, but then makes up for it with a steal and assist
to Ray Allen, who hits a three.
Pierce got called for what appears to be a touch foul.
Kobe pulls up and nails an off-balance three in Ray Allen’s face. If
he’s doing that all night Boston is in trouble.
Lots of fouls early on. A pair of Rondo free throws makes it 7 all, at 9:12.
Kobe’s shooting the second he gets a look, and even when he
doesn’t. This time he was open and quickly splashed a three.
Pierce faked Vladimir Radmanovic off his feet, shot while trying to draw a
foul, but missed, and no call. It appeared correct.
A defensive three-seconds call against the Lakers. I didn’t see who it
was on.
At 7:36 Pau Gasol falls down, resulting in Kevin Garnett catching and putting
in an easy layup.
Celtics are hustling on the offensive boards these last few shots, but not
finishing.
Pierce checking Gasol, and makes him miss.
Kobe swoops in, tries to flip it in traffic to Lamar Odom, but turns it over.
Rondo, so open I was closer to him than any Lakers defense, swishes it from the
right corner, making it 12-10 Celtics at 5:44.
Kobe, operating outside, fakes everybody a few times and nails a wild
off-balance three, again. He has 11 points.
Bill Russell is in the crowd. How did he get tickets? A scalper, maybe.
Luke Walton is in for the Lakers, replacing Vladimir Radmanovic.
Ticker reports: “Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen left Tuesday’s Game
Six of the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers with 4:20 left in the first
quarter after getting hit in the face. Allen fell to his knees after driving to
the basket and scoring against Lakers forward Lamar Odom.”
Odom caught the ball near the rim, Perkins basically just lifted his arm up,
and got called for a foul.
The Lakers zone resulted in Garnett hitting a fairly close shot over Kobe.
Walton can catch near the rim and make open layups, as he just proved. And then
next play he drove and drew a foul.
KG hits a tough turnaround jumper over Gasol outside the right paint, making it
20-18 Boston with 2:40 left.
Pierce, open from up top at 2:04, missed a pretty open three-pointer.
Jordan Farmar fumbled the ball for no reason, losing it out of bounds.
KG caught an alley-oop and flushed it, driving the fans into a frenzy, though
it’s still just a four-point game.
Farmar misses a jumper. He’s not off to a good start. Stay confident,
young fella.
Farmar almost lost it again, as Rondo tipped it from behind into what was going
to be a turnover, but the refs called Rondo for the reach, putting Jordan at the
line. Farmar hits both.
Leon Powe and Eddie house come in for Rondo and Garnett.
Pierce brings the ball up, guarded very loosely by Kobe. Too loosely, and
Pierce hits a fairly open outside jumper. Kobe tries to respond by forcing in a
defender’s face, but he misses.
Pierce brings the ball up again, guarded by Walton, and with a few seconds left
fakes and leaves Walton in the dust, causing Luke to grab him. Celtics ball with
1.8 seconds. It gets inbounded to Leon Powe, who drives slowly as if
there’s five seconds left. Quarter ends as he’s still making his
move.
End of first quarter: Celtisc 24, Lakers 20.

The Lakers are in a zone,
still.
James Posey does a great job on Kobe, and despite about 28 fakes, Bryant
can’t get free, and misses a tough, forced jumper.
Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis is in! He’s hungry. Or so I’d
assume.
Sasha Vujacic, and his hair swaying in the wind for the ladies, swishes a
jumper. But Eddie House responds with one of his own. Celtics up four.
Kobe, remembering he’s allowed to hit teammates with passes, fires to
Odom as he cuts to the basket, drawing a foul.
At 9:57 a tech got called on Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who is absolutely
furious because he wants to be reading InsideHoops.com right now and
can’t, or so I’m making up.
Celtics role players are stepping up. First, James Posey intercepts a long
pass. Then, Leon Powe hustles his way to a layup, putting the Celtics up 31-26
at 8:23.
Antoine Walker is in for the Celtics. No, just kidding, obviously. But
wouldn’t it be fun if that were true?
Pierce at the line. He’s twisting his arm sideways slightly more than
usual on some of his shots. A bit off-balance.
Pau Gasol glides in for a layup. He’s been grabbing rebounds (5) but
otherwise has been quiet.
A Celtics miss, but Posey keeps it alive. And then finds himself open in the
left corner for a three, which he swishes, putting Boston up 35-29 at 6:40. And
next play, Eddie House hits a three from the exact same spot, resulting in a
Lakers timeout.
They like the song ‘Crazy Train’ in this arena. It’s being
played yet again.
The Celtics defense continues to deny almost everything the Lakers try. Halfway
through the second quarter L.A. is still stuck at 29. Kobe has 13 of those
points.
Posey on Kobe and once again Bryant gets contained. And the next play down
Pierce finds an open Posey who swishes it from the left elbow, putting the
Celtics up 43-29 at 5:20. Fans erupt in a ‘Beat L.A.’ chant. I have
chills right now, being here for it.
Gasol, inside, guarded by Big Baby, spins and fakes about four times and puts
in a short jump-hook, pulling the Lakers to within 10. But Garnett immediately
answers with a deep baseline jumper.
Pierce is at the line. Fans chant “MVP!” at him.
Some Celtics over-passing results in a turnover. It was good teamwork, though.
The passes all made sense. Just one too many.
Garnett, guarded by Gasol, shakes and bakes, and puts in a fadeaway in the
paint, making it 51-35 Celtics.
Good Celtics passing results in an open Rondo who flips in a short wide open
shot in the paint. Now 53-25 Celtics with a minute left in the half.
Huge play: Garnett sets a screen up top, cuts to the rim, catches a pass, hangs
in the air, and puts in a tough layup plus the foul.
A play later, Pierce, double-teamed, finds Garnett on the opposite side, who
fires it to Perkins down low, who fakes a few times and puts in a layup. Fans
are going nuts.
End of second quarter: Celtics 58, Lakers 35.

Some stats coming shortly.
But first, I’m having some root beer and a Hershey’s chocolate bar.
That’s right, I’m a health nut.
The big Celtics lead is very indicative of how well Boston is playing and how
Los Angeles is being controlled.
In the first half, the Celtics shot 46.5%, while the Lakers hit an awful
8-of-27 for 29.6%. Also, while the Lakers took 27 shots, the Celtics, who
hustled way harder, took 43. The Celtics hit 5-of-12 threes (Posey had 2), the
Lakers 3-of-11 (Kobe had all 3). The Lakers hit 16-of-19 free throws, the
Celtics 13-of-14. Boston totally controlled rebounds, winning that battle 26-14.
And the Celtics had 17 assists (Pierce 9), the Lakers just 5 (Derek Fisher 3).
The Lakers had 11 turnovers (Gasol 4), the Celtics just 3. The Celtics had 10
steals (Rondo 4, Posey 3), the Lakers just 3.
Yeah, so, it really is that bad for the Lakers so far.
For the Celtics: Garnett (8-of-12) has 17 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
Paul Pierce (just 2-of-9, weird twist on his shot today) has 10 points, 3
rebounds and 9 assists. Ray Allen (2-of-3) has 8 points and 2 steals. Eddie
House (2-of-3) has 7.
For the Lakers: Bryant (4-of-11) has 14 points, 3 turnovers, and little else.
Gasol (2-of-5) has 6 points, 5 rebounds and 4 turnovers. Everyone else has 4
points or less. Odom is 0-of-4 with 7 rebounds. The Lakers all stink so far. But
credit Boston for that.

The guys who control which fans get shown on the
big scoreboard screen above the court have a great sense of humor. During
halftime they’re showing fans cheering, making sure to include hot chicks
in Celtics jerseys, but twice now they’ve shown a row of three fans where
an Asian gentleman in a suit has fallen asleep and the other two people look
bored. They showed that guy twice. The third time, he started to wake up,
causing fans to cheer. And now the fourth time he’s shown, the guy is
fully awake and waves to the crowd.
The third quarter has started. And immediately, Rondo nails a deep open jumper
from the side, making it 60-35.
Part of me wants to keep taking notes at the frantic pace I did in the first
half, but the rest of me wants to just chill and wait and see if the Lakers make
some sort of comeback.
Kobe misses again. And naturally the Celtics control the board. Quick Boston
ball movement results in Ray Allen jacking a three as Kobe runs at him. Swish.
Celtics up 27, at 10:32.
Finally, a Laker makes a play. Derek Fisher fakes, drives, gets to the rim,
gets bumped by Kendrick Perkins, scores plus the foul. P.J. Brown enters for
Perkins. Free throw good. Celtics up 24.
More nice Celtics teamwork. Rondo flips it to Garnett around the free throw
line, who drives and tosses a short pass to P.J. Brown near the rim, who goes up
and gets nailed. Both free throws good.
Odom, guarded by Garnett, fires a long alley-oop to a cutting Gasol, who dunks
it. And a play later, Radmanovic swishes a three from the left corner. But Rondo
pushes the ball, no one steps up to stop him, so he goes straight to the rim and
scores plus the foul. The free throw puts Boston up 70-44.
Kobe is guarding Rondo, playing about 10 feet off of him, as usual. No one
respects his outside or even mid-range shot.
The Celtics are simply the superior team tonight, in every way imaginable.
Crisp ball movement and brilliant floor positioning results in Ray Allen being
wide open for a three from the right corner, which he swishes.
Boston gets good looks maybe 5 plays out of 6. Los Angeles gets them around 1
play of 6.
Kobe has a defender in his face every time he shoots. But so do all the other
Lakers. That’s kind of a big problem.
At 5:09, Gasol caught the ball right near the rim, yet KG contained him and
forced a jump-ball. The Lakers won the tip and Radmanovic swished a wide open
three. But the Celtics quickly answer, making it a 30-point game.
Finally, Bryant looks like a star on a move where he shook Pierce, got at the
rim, drew help defenders but double-clutched and went to the other side of the
rim for a sweet layup.
Garnett is guarding Odom, and playing so far off of him that when Lamar drives
instead of shooting, KG can easily get proper position and force him to pass. A
turnover is the result.
Even when the Celtics have to force a shot, they get a look about as decent as
the average Lakers look, and Boston almost always gets a hand on the miss, even
if they aren’t able to grab it.
Pierce is still off-balance. He fired an airball from the right corner. The
Celtics are up 30, though, so it’s all good.
At 1:50 Garnett did something evil: He flopped, while guarding Kobe. The refs,
fortunately, ignored it. That’s just wrong, KG. Don’t do that again.
Of course, it’s possible he tripped and I just didn’t see it from
the correct angle. But from this seat it was a ridiculous flop.
A Gasol jump-hook in the paint cuts it to 25 with around a minute left. Still,
each Laker bucket seems lucky, almost. LIke it shouldn’t have really
happened.
Everything is going right for Boston, still. Crisp ball movement results in an
open mid-range shot for P.J. Brown.
Final shot of the third quarter was Kobe, guarded brilliantly by Posey, firing
a desperate fadeaway from the side which wasn’t even close.
End of third quarter: Celtics 89, Lakers 60.

Rondo, Ray Allen, Posey,
Glen Davis and PJ Brown are in for Boston. Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, Trevor
Ariza, Lamar Odom and Ronny Turiaf are in for Los Angeles.
Rondo glides in for a layup as if no one is even pretending to guard him. Magic
Johnson must be rolling over in his grave.
Fans start chanting something that I think sounds like “Where is
Ko-be?” but I’m not positive that’s what they were saying.
A Lakers turnover resulted in a long pass to Rondo who went up for what was
possibly going to be a dunk, but Farmar fouled him, and it was called a
flagrant. So Rondo got free throws, and the Celtics kept the ball.
At 10:44 fans start chanting “seventeen!” And then Brown comes out,
receiving a standing ovation from the fans.
The Celtics bench is going just as hard as the starters. Glen Davis attacks the
rim and gets nailed by Odom. He hits one of two, making it 95-65 Celtics.
Ray Allen curled around some picks, found himself wide open, and quickly
launched a three as Vujacic tried to catch up with him. No, Sasha. Swish.
Fans start cheering “seventeen!” again.
Ray Allen keeps running around some picks and getting wide open. He hits again
from outside: 101-70 Boston up at 9:07. Timeout Lakers. It’s too late,
Phil. Put in Mike Smrek, David Rivers and Kurt Rambis.
During the timeout, they showed Danny Ainge on the big screen, causing fans to
go absolutely bonkers, and causing me to get chills for the 9th or 10th time.
Ray Allen, yet again, gets open, not quite as open as before, and again nails a
three, making it 104-70 Boston at 8:24.
KG inside. Puts it in. Who was guarding him? Doesn’t matter. It’s
too easy.
With 6 minutes left in the game Boston leads 110-75.
And at 5:18, Ray Allen, for the 39th time tonight, finds himself open in the
corner for a three, and nails it.
I’m heading downstairs, folks. To beat the crowds getting to where
players will be interviewed in post-game conferences.
Congrats, in advance, to the 2007-08 NBA champion Boston Celtics!
Read InsideHoops.com every single day of the year. Coming soon, the NBA Draft,
free agent negotiations, signings, trades, summer league coverage, Team USA
coverage, and more, every day on your online home, Inside Hoops.
Congrats to Celtics fans and also it should be said that the Lakers have much
to be proud of. Their future is bright.
But the Celtics own the league this year.
Roundups, stat reviews, and much more coming late tonight and all day
tomorrow.