The Steal of My Generation

(Photo courtesy of DGA Productions)

By: Greg Payne

I wasn't alive in 1987. So I guess that means I wasn't alive in 1965, either. Many more of you were around for '87 and some of you still remember '65. I salute you. Because in Game 7 of the 1965 Eastern Conference Finals, "Havlicek stole the ball!" and back in Game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals, you might have heard, "Now there's a steal by Bird!"

Two immortal calls by the immortal Johnny Most, but more importantly, two of the greatest defensive plays this league has ever seen, that drastically changed the course of the future for those two respective teams. While the 1987 Celtics might have eventually lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals that year, the 1965 team didn't.

No one knew it in 1987, but the Celtics' championship in 1986 would be the last one for quite some time. 22 years dragged by before the green and white could even sniff the Larry O'Brien trophy again, and while an abundance of factors entered into their 2008 championship equation, one small, almost incidental moment on May 30, 2008, with 1:39 left in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, happened.

Despite the Celtics' 66-16 regular season mark, their 14-game playoff total heading into the ECF, left them as the underdogs. Six of ESPN's top 10 basketball writers/analysts were favoring the Pistons in this playoff series, and those odds might have been even greater had they known heading in that Detroit would steal away home court from the Celtics for the first time in those playoffs in Game 2 with a 103-97 win in Boston.

With 10:45 left in Game 6, Boston faced a 10-point deficit (70-60), and, as improbable as it seemed at the time, it appeared that another Game 7 was on Boston's horizon. But Kevin Garnett drained two jump shots, Kendrick Perkins dunked the ball and Paul Pierce sank a free throw, and suddenly, the Celtics led 75-74 with 5:24 remaining.

Jump to just about four minutes later. The Celtics are cradling a meager four-point advantage (83-79), when Rajon Rondo misses a 19-foot jump shot. Tayshaun Prince of the Pistons secures the board, turns, faces upcourt, and then: POKE. James Posey's hand jabs the leather of the officially licensed NBA basketball and it vaults out of Prince's hands. Posey secures it and Boston reclaims possession.

It took mere seconds for the entire play to unwind. Seconds. There were no famous broadcasters screaming into their microphone that "Posey stole the ball!" and no highlight reels have been dedicated to a poke the Pillsbury Dough Boy would have been thrilled to receive, but the importance of that play tolls out louder than Big Ben itself. A 22-year championship drought stared them in the face, eye for eye. The Detroit Pistons were on the hunt, desperate to escape the Eastern Conference Finals curse that enveloped them since their title in 2004, easily capable of erasing that four-point deficit they faced. A truly hostile Palace of Auburn Hills crowd bared down on the C's like a pack of rabid dogs, hungry for playoff blood. Could the Celtics potentially survive three straight game sevens in the first three rounds? How many times could they tempt fate and playoff execution? No, this one had to end in six. And Posey's poke helped take care of that.

"He looked to his left, put the ball out and I just snatched it," Posey said afterward.

It's tough to compare similar plays when the generations themselves are so different. All three of these steals rang true for the teams whose fortunes were changed by them, but seeing as I missed both of those oldies live, that Posey steal is the single most important in my still brief history as a Celtics fan.

People love to mention the Game 4 comeback against the Lakers and the Game 7 dismantling of the Hawks, along with Pierce's 41-point effort in Game 7 against LeBron in the Semi-Finals. And while those respect moments were incredible in their own right, arguably the simplest of all the fantastic plays of the Celtics' 2008 playoff run held the most merit.

Stay Tuned.