Nate looks great as Celtics finally dump Orlando

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Mike Parente, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

We’ve seen this story a million times, and yet it never gets old.

A struggling team in desperate need of a boost gets an emotional lift from an unlikely hero and never looks back.

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Light-hitting third baseman Scott Brosius batted just .203 the year before he arrived in New York, but slammed a pair of home runs in Game 3 of the 1998 World Series, including the game-winner off all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman, to put the Yankees on the brink of their 24th world title. A former sixth-round draft pick, David Tyree had only four receptions during the 2007 season before his remarkable catch in the closing minutes of Super Bowl XLII fueled the New York Giants’ game-winning drive.

The list goes on, and it now includes a pint-sized point guard who rescued the Boston Celtics from the possibility of an epic collapse Friday night with a stirring performance off the bench in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The Celtics still led by 11 points late in the first quarter when Rajon Rondo hit the ground hard on a foul by Jason Williams, but the possibility of their point guard missing a significant chunk of time that early in the game temporarily quieted the raucous crowd at the TD Garden.

No Rondo? No sweat.

Nate Robinson – the former New York Knick who had played a grand total of 16 minutes prior to Game 6 – stepped in and reenergized the Garden with 13 points in the second quarter as Boston opened up a 21-point lead and finally shoveled the last pile of dirt on top of Orlando’s coffin. The Magic made a few small runs down the stretch, but never got back within single digits. Boston held on for a 96-84 win.

Led by Robinson’s unexpected effort off the bench, the Celtics coasted to their second conference title in two years and will now await the winner of the Phoenix-Los Angeles series out west (though it’s clear the fans want the Lakers based on the “Beat L.A.!” chants resonating throughout the Garden long before the end of the third quarter).

Boston can finally exhale knowing 10 years from now it won’t be the answer on the back of a Trivial Pursuit card asking which team was the first to cough up a three games to none series lead. For a while, it got dicey. Orlando’s overtime win in Game 4 brought back memories of what the Philadelphia Flyers did to the Bruins earlier this month in the NHL playoffs, and the Game 5 blowout made for some restless nights in Boston prior to Friday’s clincher.

You had to figure if Boston was to wrap up this series at home, it’d take a monumental effort from one of the “Big 3,” or perhaps a return to dominance by Rondo, who struggled in the two losses to Orlando. No one expected Robinson to steal the show, but his electrifying performance speaks volumes about Boston’s depth. Outside of J.J. Redick, the Magic had nobody else who could match Robinson’s energy. Head coach Doc Rivers promised the former Knick he’d win a game for Boston at some point, but I’m willing to bet not even he thought it’d be Friday night.

These are the sports moments we live for. Nothing beats watching hours upon hours of pre-game coverage recycling the same opinions and predictions, only to walk away scratching your head as the forgotten guy on the bench lands the knockout blow.

Robinson’s story is fascinating, not only because he hadn’t contributed much before Friday, but because of how far he traveled to get here. With the Knicks, Robinson was stuck in purgatory – or, as Knicks’ fans call it, hell – as a 5-foot-9 point guard known primarily for being a three-time Slam Dunk champion rather than his production in real games. He never saw eye-to-eye with Knicks’ coach Mike D’Antoni and ultimately got his wish when the team traded him to Boston in February to clear some salary-cap space for 2011.

Even if he hadn’t played Friday – or throughout this entire series – Robinson probably would’ve been content with going along for the ride. Sitting the bench in Boston with a front-row seat for the NBA Finals beats playing 36 minutes a night in front of a sparse crowd on a team with a one-way ticket to Loserville. Having taken advantage of his huge opportunity Friday, Robinson can safely say he earned the Eastern Conference Champions hat he wore proudly following Game 6. Thanks to his aforementioned effort off the bench in the series’ clincher, he’ll get a chance to earn that championship ring, too.

I’d die a happy man if I never had to read about an athlete getting arrested, missing a child support payment or beating his girlfriend ever again, but I’ll never get tired of the feel-good stories starring unexpected heroes from all walks of life. You can’t make this stuff up.