BOSTON — One title has never been enough.
Not for the Boston Celtics.
The league’s most-decorated franchise avoided the biggest playoff collapse in NBA history and earned a chance to hang an unprecedented 18th championship banner from the rafters, beating Orlando 96-84 on Friday night to eliminate the Magic in six games and advance to the NBA finals.
It’s an opportunity for a second title in three years for the new “Big Three” of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett who won it all in 2008 but failed to repeat last year when the Magic eliminated them in the second round.
“Obviously, one is special,” coach Doc Rivers said. “But the other groups have a couple, and we would love to join that club. No one can ever take away that first one, but we want to join the other club, too.”
Pierce had 31 points and 13 rebounds, and little-used backup Nate Robinson gave the Celtics a boost with 13 second-quarter points to squelch Orlando’s attempt to be the first NBA team to come back from a 3-0 deficit in a playoff series.
Allen scored 20 points, Rajon Rondo had 14 points and six assists and Garnett, who missed the playoffs last year with a knee injury, added 10 points for Boston.
“This starting five has never lost a series, ever,” Rivers said. “We believed that coming into the season, and we just kept believing.”
The finals will begin Thursday in either Los Angeles or Phoenix. The Lakers lead the Western Conference finals 3-2, and a victory over the Suns in Game 6 on Saturday would set up the cross-coast rivals for a rematch of the 2008 finals — and 10 other championship series from 1959-87.
The Boston fans have been chanting “Beat L.A.!” since Game 3, when the Celtics cruised to a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals. Orlando won the next two games and threatened to become the first team ever in the NBA — but the second in Boston this month — to come back from a 3-0 deficit in a playoff series.
“I never really think negative about losing, or being up 3-0 and something tragic happening,” said Pierce, who was the MVP of the ‘08 finals. “This is not hockey. It’s basketball. Even though one day it’s possibly going to happen, … I’m just glad we were able to prolong it one more year.”
The Bruins opened a 3-0 lead against Philadelphia in the NHL’s Eastern Conference semifinals before the Flyers rallied to win — in the very same building. But the Magic, who dressed in the same locker room where the Flyers celebrated their comeback, couldn’t match it — or even force the series back to Orlando for a Game 7.
“Those guys played like they wanted to win the championship the whole series,” said Dwight Howard, who had 28 points and 12 rebounds for the defending East champions. “That’s why they’re in the position they’re in now.”
Vince Carter scored 17 points, and Jameer Nelson finished with 11 points and four assists as he was outplayed by Rondo, Boston’s starting point guard, and Robinson, his backup.
Reporters and fans snickered when Rivers said last month that Robinson, who had struggled to get playing time since coming to Boston at the trade deadline and had never appeared in the postseason before, “He’s going to win us a playoff game.”
But Robinson came off the bench at the start of the second quarter, when Boston led 30-19, and hit 3-pointers 90 seconds apart to help stretch the lead to 15 points.
The free throws gave Boston a 21-point lead — its biggest of the first half.
“Nate Robinson was huge in the first half,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “That was a huge, huge lift for them.”
Orlando cut it to 13 points at halftime, but the Celtics scored 11 of the first 13 points in the third quarter — including back-to-back 3-pointers from Allen 38 seconds apart. Boston never led by fewer than 14 points in the fourth quarter until the final minute.
By that point, the Celtics were already dancing on the sidelines, wearing the NBA finals hats and T-shirts that had been standing by since Saturday, when they cruised to a 94-71 victory to take a 3-0 lead in the series. When it was over, Hall of Famer Dave Cowens presented owner Wyc Grousbeck with the conference trophy and told the team, “Bring home No. 18, now.”
The Celtics followed a first-round victory over the Miami Heat by eliminating LeBron James and the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, then the reigning East champs in six games.
“They beat two very good teams, and made us look like we weren’t very good teams,” Van Gundy said. “When you go through two series like that, I think you have to be fair and say a lot has to do with them.”
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