2008 NBA Finals
The 2008 NBA Finals were held June 5 through June 17, 2008, to decide the champion of the 2007–08 NBA season. The Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference, four games to two in a best-of-seven series. This was Boston’s first title since 1986 during the Larry Bird era and 17th overall. The Lakers appeared in the Finals for the first time since 2004 and a record 29th time overall.
About 2008 NBA Finals in brief
The 2008 NBA Finals were held June 5 through June 17, 2008, to decide the champion of the 2007–08 NBA season. The Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference, four games to two in a best-of-seven series. This was Boston’s first title since 1986 during the Larry Bird era and 17th overall. The Lakers appeared in the Finals for the first time since 2004 and a record 29th time overall. Going into the series, the Celtics had won the most championships of all-time with 16, and the Lakers were second with 14. The Celtics won eight of their previous ten Finals meetings against the Lakers, winning in 1959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969 and 1984. It was also the first NBA Finals series since 1998 to not feature Tim Duncan or Shaquille O’Neal. Rodd Houston narrated the Boston Celtics’ championship season documentary on NBA Entertainment. This, along with 2004 and 2006, is one of the only three 2000s NBA championships not to be won either by the LA Lakers or the San Antonio Spurs. Note teams in Bold won that game. The 2008 Boston Celtics championship team was famously led by the organization’s \”Big 3\” in Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett, and was the first season the triumvirate played together. The newly formed ‘Big Three,’ joined by second year point guard and future all star Rajon Rondo, led the Celtics to a dramatic 42-game turnaround, finishing with 66 wins. In the playoffs the Celtics were pushed to the brink by the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers, and despite not winning on the road, they managed to prevail in a pair of Game 7s on their home court.
After losing the 2004 NBA Finals to the Detroit Pistons, Phil Jackson abruptly retired despite a talent-laden roster. Soon after, the Lakers decided to rebuild by trading away Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant and Brian Grant. The 2004–05 season saw the Lakers miss the playoffs for the fifth time in their history. The 2007 off-season saw Celtics GM Danny Ainge acquire Ray Allen andKevin Garnett to join franchise star Paul Pierce. This new formation was widely regarded as the most talent the Celtics team possessed since the duo of Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce graced the floor of the TD Garden in the early 2000s. The Celtics would finally break their road woes in a six-game win against the perennial Conference powerhouse Detroit Pistons in the 2008 Finals. The series was the 11th time the teams met in the championship round; the Celtics’ 66–16 record gave them home court advantage over Los Angeles. This was the only time since 1997, when the Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz for the championship, and the only time in the 2000s decade that an Eastern Conference team had the home courtadvantage. The Lakers narrowly missed meeting each other in 2002, but the Celtics, who led 2–1 in the Conference Finals, eventually fell to the favored New Jersey Nets 4–2.
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