Monday, May 27, 2024

The Boston Celtics Reach The NBA Finals Amid The Passing of Bill Walton

While riding on the Orange Line following the Leonid and Friends concert, I learned the Boston Celtics would be going to the NBA Final with a 105-102 victory over the Indiana Pacers sweeping the Eastern Conference Final.

I am grateful the game took place in Indianapolis. Given that City Winery is a stone's throw from the Garden, the scene would have become a drunken debacle had this been a home game.

The Celtics did reach the NBA Finals two years ago but fell to the Golden State Warriors in six games. Boston last won the NBA Title in 2008 when the triumvirate of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett ruled the court. 

The Celtics will most likely face the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Final. The Mavs currently have a 3-0 lead in the NBA Western Conference Final against the Minnesota Timberwolves who upset last year's NBA champion Denver Nuggets.

Tonight's triumph comes with some sadness as news came this afternoon of the passing of NBA legend Bill Walton of cancer at the age of 71. While Walton had most of his glory days at the collegiate level at UCLA and in the NBA with the Portland Trailblazers in the 1970's, he would finish his professional career with the Celtics as a sixth man backing up Robert Parish and would earn his second NBA ring with the 1985-1986 team. The Celtics and Pacers held a moment of silence for Walton prior to the game.

Good luck to the Celtics!!!

R.I.P. Bill Walton.

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