Here it was, finally, improbably, a decisive Game 7 against the young, athletic Atlanta Hawks. For two days Doc Rivers and his Boston Celtics had heard the rumblings: That it shouldn't have come to this, not in the first round and not against a team that had scratched into the playoffs on a losing record; that Rivers had failed to properly triage the three road meltdowns that had put his Celtics in Sunday afternoon's winner-take-all finale; that Rajon Rondo, left alone with the ball in his hands and a playoff game on the line, would revert to his perimeter-challenged self; and that the Celtics, a proud franchise boasting 16 world championships, would fall on their own swords in the greatest playoff collapse in NBA history. Yes, Rivers and his Celtics had heard the rumblings. For two days they had listened to questions about their character and their composure, and for two days they had patiently answered them all with sober, measured bluntness. And then they stepped onto the court and took it out on the Hawks, delivering their biggest statement of the season.
...Big Chief [Parish] took me under his wing. He helped me a lot. A lot of people don't realize this...I didn't until I got there...but Chief, Kevin and Larry are all very funny people. Great jokesters. They all talked some trash, told some jokes, and pulled some pranks. So there was never a dull moment [laughs]...
Bill Walton Ray Williams Pervis Ellison Tiny Archibald
Here it was, finally, improbably, a decisive Game 7 against the young, athletic Atlanta Hawks. For two days Doc Rivers and his Boston Celtics had heard the rumblings: That it shouldn't have come to this, not in the first round and not against a team that had scratched into the playoffs on a losing record; that Rivers had failed to properly triage the three road meltdowns that had put his Celtics in Sunday afternoon's winner-take-all finale; that Rajon Rondo, left alone with the ball in his hands and a playoff game on the line, would revert to his perimeter-challenged self; and that the Celtics, a proud franchise boasting 16 world championships, would fall on their own swords in the greatest playoff collapse in NBA history. Yes, Rivers and his Celtics had heard the rumblings. For two days they had listened to questions about their character and their composure, and for two days they had patiently answered them all with sober, measured bluntness. And then they stepped onto the court and took it out on the Hawks, delivering their biggest statement of the season. 
...Big Chief [Parish] took me under his wing. He helped me a lot. A lot of people don't realize this...I didn't until I got there...but Chief, Kevin and Larry are all very funny people. Great jokesters. They all talked some trash, told some jokes, and pulled some pranks. So there was never a dull moment [laughs]...
