It was the moment I feared. For the second straight playoffs the Boston Celtics championship hopes were felled as they took a 3-2 series lead by a knee injury. Last year, it was the knee injury of Kevin Garnett and this year it was a Game 6 knee injury to Kendrick “The Hulk” Perkins.

There was no inspirational Willis Reed cameo. There was no lucky high bounce on a key jumper that dropped in. There was nothing but a 4th quarter implosion and a dropped double digit lead from a team that either refused to run or just couldn’t anymore. Eventually, the lack of a defensive presence in the paint caused the Celtics to lose. They couldn’t keep the Lakers off the boards and they just collapsed, much like Kendrick Perkins knee in the previous game.

When it was over all you could see was the tale of two franchises, one where the team is valued above all and everyone is required to sacrifice everything towards the greater good and must be willing to run through a brick wall for victory versus a franchise that relies on one player that is regarded as one of the all time greats. It was the concept of team vs. the superstar. The bad guys won and in the end Boston itself lost. Ah well. Life goes on.

This Game 7 loss was compounded by the fact that Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen & Paul Pierce have just aged another year and Rasheed Wallace has all but announced his retirement. The free agent market this season is much too pricey and the cost of keeping Marquis Daniels and Nate Robinson on the payroll may be too high. The draft? Don’t make me laugh. Will Ray Allen retire a Celtic? I dunno.

Before the series began I thought the Lakers bench would be the weak link. It turns out that the Celtics reluctance to play Shelden Williams, Michael Finley or Marquis Daniels at key stretches coupled with the injury to Perkins would be their ultimate undoing. All of their old demons returned from the regular season. They stopped running and pushing the tempo. They couldn’t rebound. They jumped out to a double digit lead and then completely fell apart in the second half.

Lastly, they were 12 minutes and an even quarter away from a 18th title and they were beaten by Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Ron Artest. The game was even with 7:31 left and the Celtics were lifeless. They’d fought as hard as they could but it just wouldn’t be enough. So what it was 6.17? They weren’t IN 617. At the end of the contest everyone fellated Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest was a hero and Boston was relegated to 2nd best. Again.

The only thing I can do now is bust my ass to make sure that the city of Boston ends up winning somewhere else other than the basketball court or the sports arena. My mission in life is to make sure that the entire world knows about my city and open their eyes to our contributions to the world at large. The real Boston. The one I love and I dedicate my life to repping. Win or lose. In life or in death. I AM A CELTIC. *Throws threes*

One.