Make way for duck boats and make room in the rafters. The Celtics will be the next Boston team taking the well-worn parade route through the city. And banner 17 will finally get hoisted into the Garden's rows of hanging white ghosts, joined now by the living.

Last night the Celtics didn't just beat the Lakers, they humiliated their old rivals, 131-92, in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. That's the second largest margin of victory in Finals history, just the way Red Auerbach would have liked it.

The blowout put a bow on Boston's 17th championship, a crown for a new generation to wear. Celtics fans no longer have to recall the good old days. Red, Bill Russell, Larry Bird and the rest have fresh company in the legends lounge.

Paul Pierce gets to sit in the VIP section. The Finals MVP averaged 21.8 points, 6.3 assists and 4.5 rebounds in the series. He was better than NBA MVP Kobe Bryant and he earned alpha dog status among the Big Three. He probably just cemented himself a spot in the Hall of Fame to boot.

But make no mistake, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, who both scored 26 last night, have also earned their place in Celtic lore. This was Garnett's team from day one. The Celtics adopted his insane intensity and commitment. Without Garnett the Celtics are not celebrating. And Allen, the star who sacrificed the most, was a legitimate consideration for Finals MVP. If Pierce was the best player, Allen was the most consistent.

Defense never rested

I didn't get an MVP vote, but I might have considered Tom Thibodeau, Boston's assistant coach/de facto defensive coordinator. Defense has powered this team all year and the Finals were no different. The Lakers averaged 105.8 points per game in the first three rounds of the playoffs. Against the Celtics they averaged just 93.8

The Celtics wouldn't let the Lakers get into Showtime mode. They made Pau Gasol sweat for every point in the paint. They minimized damage from the role players. They outmuscled the Lakers in the trenches. Most importantly, they contained Bryant. The world's best player had too little help and no hope against the world's best defense.

Last night was the defensive coup de grace - 18 steals, 42.2 percent shooting and only two offensive rebounds for the Lakers.

Boston wasn't just physically tougher - they won the mental match as well. The Celtics withstood the Lakers 20-point comeback in Game 2 but the Lakers couldn't do the same in Game 4. Even in the two Lakers wins, Boston was right there in the fourth. By the end, the Lakers crumbled under the pressure while the Celtics reveled in it.

An early end

Bryant did start last night's game like the league's MVP as he hit his first three shots, two of them 3s, and scored 11 of the Lakers' 20 first-quarter points. Still, the Celtics led 24-20 after one - a drastic change from Games 4 and 5 when they trailed by 21 and 17 points, respectively.

It was still close - 32-29 with 7:00 left in the half - when Boston stood on the gas and left L.A. in the smog. Sandwiched around a James Posey steal, Posey and Eddie House, Boston's subs of substance, buried a pair of 3-pointers from the same wing spot to spark a stunning 26-6 half-closing run.

Garnett scored six in the game-changing spurt, including an and-one bank shot where it looked like he was playing Nerf Hoop. Posey picked Bryant's pocket and hit another 3 during the stretch. Kendrick Perkins, playing through his painful left shoulder injury, blocked a Bryant shot and had a layup. Pierce went 4-for-4 from the line. Rajon Rondo (a brilliant 21 points and eight assists) connected on a patented fake and floater combo.

The run frenzied the soldout Garden and flattened the Lakers, who simply had no answers. By the end the Celtics walked into the locker room with a 58-35 lead. Somehow it felt like more. They could have shown Gino during halftime.

Single page