I guess I'm the "Late To The Party" guy this week. Showing up just in time to make everybody uncomfortable and rehash topics that have been discussed ad nauseum all night. But, humor me, dear readers. I'm bringing some David Ortiz quotes with me. I know there's not a Sox fan out there who'd shy away from a good Papi line.

While most everybody involved refused to (or "couldn't") comment about the recent threats lobbied at Manny and Cocoa -- I guess we're taking this Boston Championship-envy to a whole new level -- David Ortiz met the question with a smile, a laugh and a joke...

If Manny had his own reality TV show (and I don't know that there's a human being on earth, Sox fan or not, who'd object to this) he could've opened that day's episode Real World-style:

"This is the true story... of a right-handed slugger... on a road trip... denied 16 tickets to a game... who decided to stop being laid-back... and start getting pushy... The Ramirez Realm."

This has nothing to due with Boston, or sports, but was too darn funny not to pass along. A school was literally locked down because someone reported seeing a ninja. I don't even need to write any jokes.

Just read...

It's funny to think about now, but it wasn't that long ago we were justifying tanking our season to grab Oden or Durant. One of these guys was going to "change the face of the franchise" and "turn us into a contender for years to come." I was no better than anybody else. I had the next 10 or so years of my life planned around watching Kevin Durant draped in green. I only half-jokingly told my wife to start saving some money because we were moving downtown and buying season tickets. Kevin Durant truly felt like the light at the end of our tumultuous tunnel. So, on draft lottery night, when our collective dreams exploded in the form of the number five pick, I was literally left standing alone in my apartment, staring at the wall, not knowing if I wanted to punch it or cry.

We'll have plenty of post-Finals coverage for you. I just wanted to quickly share my two favorite quotes from last night's post-game:

Kevin Garnett:

"Since day one, man, Paul told me that this city is unlike any other city when it comes to sports, and you give them a reason, they will jump on and they will be behind you even when you're losing or even when you're going through tough times. I got to see that. I thought I played in front of some good crowds, and Boston has a special place. I'll be forever linked to this city, and I'm more than grateful for that."

While Scalabrine said this:

"Maybe now you could say I didn't play a second, but in five years, you guys are going to forget. In ten years I'll still be a champion. In 20 years I'll tell my kids I probably started, and in 30 years I'll probably tell them I got the MVP. So I'm probably not too worried about it."

I can't say this enough: What an incredible group of guys to root for.

Lastly, I just want to apologize to Doc Rivers for all the horrible things I've said about him. You did it, Doc. And you did it by coaching the hell out of a 9-time champion. No one, not even us fickle bloggers, will ever be able to take that away from you. We've been calling for your head for some time now, and you've been calling for some talent. Well, you got it and you earned it. Amazing job, Doc. And, no, this doesn't mean I won't be critical of you in the future... but right now, you're an NBA freakin' Champion!!

I know that wherever you are right now, Red, you've got the biggest plume of smoke from your victory cigar circling your head. This one's for you!!

Due to a freak natural occurrence -- which was actually very cool, it just had terrible timing -- I wasn't able to write about last night's game. Lightning struck, simultaneously with the loudest thunder boom I had ever heard, right outside our townhouse complex, knocking out power for about 30 minutes and causing multiple car alarms to go off.

I felt like I was in Auschwitz right before liberation.

I think we can all agree that that last sentence was in poor taste. Very poor taste. Nazi references in general are not funny and typically frowned upon. That common knowledge didn't stop our favorite hack disaster ESPN columnist Jemele Hill from equating cheering for the Celtics to being a Hitler sympathizer and rooting for Communist Russia to drop a nuclear bomb on the United States (no, I'm not making this up).

I'm going to have to eat a lot of my anti-Doc Rivers words because he coached the bajeezus out of Phil Jackson tonight. The first half, not so much. That was pretty embarrassing... in fact, I'm successfully managing to block that out of my memory. But the second half was a completely different story. For the 4th straight game our halftime adjustments were outstanding. And for the 4th straight game the Lakers were unprepared to handle the onslaught we were ready to deliver. After being down 58-40 at half, we outscored LA 31-15 in the quarter and went on a 21-3 run to end the 3rd. The fourth was more of the same, as we outscored the Lakers 26-18 to close it out.

Around halftime I was having flashbacks from the '84 Finals Game 3 where we were on the road and the Lakers literally ran and dunked all over us. They were having a great time, the fans were having a blast. It was like a Globetrotters game, but we were the helpless generic opponents solely there so the Lakers would have someone to score on. It was after that game when Larry Bird gave his famous "Sissies" speech,

Not a great showing by Boston, but to be expected. Kobe had a great game, with 36 points on 12-20 from the field and 11-18 from the line. He only dished 1 assist, committed 3 turnovers and, surprisingly, his +/- is only +2. If we can weather a game like that from Kobe, have KG and Pierce struggle mightily, lose our point guard for a quarter, and have to lose 4-5 possessions to Sam Cassell foolishness and still only lose by 6 on the road... well, let's just say I like our chances for Game 4.

One more thing: Game 3 fouls: Boston 28, Lakers 23 ---- Game 2 fouls: Lakers 28, Celtics 21. The difference in the foul shots was in the aggressiveness and attacking the basket. That's all, just wanted to reinforce my point to any Lakers fan or ill-advised pundit still bemoaning Game 2.

...what have we learned tonight? We've learned that we can dominate this Lakers team. That our strengths - rebounding, defense, 3-point shooting, toughness - are not neutralized by the mesmerizing power of Kobe Bryant, nor the mind-warping techniques of Phil Jackson. We've also learned that our biggest weakness - inability to close out games - becomes terrifying when the game's best offensive weapon is suited up for the other team. Up 2-0, this series is far from in the bag for us. It's very possible that we head to LA and lose the next 3 games. Our road woes are well documented (even if we shed them in Detroit), but the gigantic confidence boost that we just laid on LA's doorstep by blowing a 20+ point lead in the 4th quarter is what has me worried about our trip out West...

So, I'm going to be trying something different tonight. Instead of the usual post-game recap that I normally do, I'm going to be posting my in-game thoughts and reactions. Yes, it's absolutely a rip-off of a Bill Simmon's running diary... but I want to remember what it was like to actually watch and enjoy the game, not just what happened. If my effort/results suck, I'll be the first to admit it and you won't see me try it again. But if I enjoy it, and it turns out well, then we'll keep this rolling throughout the finals. Remember, like the Big 3, this is my first time doing this, so be easy on me...

Each year adults nationwide save up their sick days for a few certain events. Baseball's opening day, the release of the new Madden video game, Flag Day. Well, I hope you people in New England have one sick day stashed away, because you may just want to call into work tomorrow.

Adidas is releasing the Commander KG sneakers to just a few lucky, insanely rich people tomorrow. Celtics.com is ticking down the minutes until release... as of right now, you have 11 hours, 13 minutes and 33 seconds until you can get your hands one a pair of these bad boys....

...this was the biggest game in Celtics history for those too young to remember the mid-to-late 80's glory days. Those young'ns (and I'm not that old myself), don't have too much to hang their hats on when it comes to the past 20 years of Celtics basketball. Finally, we have a team on the cusp of going to the finals with a real shot of winning it all. But they're a fragile bunch,...

...despite doing everything we could to hand Detroit tonight's game (with a huge assist coming from the guys in gray), our vets held on and walked off the court one win away from reaching the Finals. If I was Doc I would hammer that home to our guys every second from now until Game 6 tipoff. One win away from the Finals... One win away from the Finals... One win away from the Finals... We need Perk, Rondo and especially Ray to come up big for us once again if we expect to steal Game 6 at the Palace, but if tonight was any indication, they just may pull it off.

There have been a few occasions here at BostonSportZ where I've had to question (attack?) a fellow writer. These attacks have always been warranted (and always pointed at someone who's getting paid a lot of money to write their garbage), and today's is no exception. Without further ado, we're going to be giving the Fire Joe Morgan treatment to ESPN Page 2's Jemele Hill. Enjoy...