Before I officially sever my New York sports affiliation and lionize a team playing for a city in the midst of a Roman Empire type run of merciless rule, I pose a sociological situation to you my loyal and graceful readership.

Prior to Game Four of the NBA Finals, I trekked with some friends out to Long Island for some sun and scrumptious dead animal as my close friend Prozac invited us over to his pad after recently returning from a stint in Wyoming - don’t ask. Prozac showed little interest in the game during the opening minutes as he remained tended to his barbeque, but he also expressed no aversion to those who understand the enormity of the game, and savored such action on a large screen, HD television - the very set that presented Tom Brady’s finest moment this past winter. Did the Giants really win that game? I see Super Bowl shirts occasionally and still need a refresher to remember the G-Men took it all.

Granted, because of the best-of-seven series format, the game held less appeal than the aforementioned NFL season conclusion, yet us watching demonstrated nearly as much gusto for this contest as any. As an invited guest, I bit my tongue in disbelief and shock as Prozac booted us from his house at the half, right after Jordan Farmar banked in a prayer. I could relate to his desire for sleep but our crowd didn’t resemble a Coors Light commercial, more like a public service announcement for the sticky icky. Silence will always be golden in my world. No go on persuading Prozac to bend. Clearly, if I knew of his buzz-kill ways, I would have passed on the beach and camped out in my living room for the night with hands nestled warmly on the remote.

Fortunately, ESPN Classic replayed the game and I caught the conclusion with less anticipation due to knowing the final result. I practice forgiveness but I also covet peace of mind. My resolution usually plays out as I allow time to ease my nerves. But come on now! This was only an unfathomable road, come-back victory in one of the most hyped Finals ever. I will definitely scout out television accessibility next time I hit up a party. Feel free to reply with reaction from this regrettable dilemma. Onto thoughts concerning multi-millionaires playing a child‘s game.

From the post-season onset, ESPN mismatched analysts with their NBA coverage as former Fab Five member and Pacer point guard, Jalen Rose, clashed with the caricature form Queens known as Steven A. Smith. Rose’s impressive resume and irreverent commentary lost legs due to the immaturity of a hack columnist who never donned an NBA jersey. Smith owns the word count between the two but remember young entrepreneurs - it’s not quantity, it’s quality. Rose mentioned how the addition of Tom Thibodeau to Doc Rivers’ coaching staff represented the biggest Celtic acquisition following the arrival of Ray Allen and KG.

Thibodeau helped orchestrate a terrific defensive scheme in New York with Jeff Van Gundy as the Knicks stood near the top of most defensive categories on a yearly basis. With KG as his centerpiece, Thibodeau once again drew up a smothering defensive game plan for the season, resulting in the best defense in the league, and possibly the best overall since Pat Riley’s Knicks some 15 years ago.

To pay respect to a champion (Happy Father’s Day to all you Celtic fanatics as you’re winning it in Hollywood tonight) I will break down a team dripping with toughness and unselfishness that stormed through the season and recovered from an inauspicious start to the postseason to defeat a favorite to oust them before the series started. As a New Yorker desperately clinging to the boyish belief that Mike D’Antoni will boost my Knicks back to watchability, I contest that this Boston team goes beyond the walls of that crummy city. This is a squad with three legit superstars who abide by a team concept. A team representing Eastern Conference basketball with grit and bruising hustle. Without further slurping…

P.J. Brown - A well-traveled Oakley wannabe without much offensive spark who will forever own the ire of Knick fans after body slamming Charlie Ward in the ‘97 playoffs and costing my team the series due to a bogus NBA rule that summons such contempt that I long for learning curse words in a foreign tongue to aptly express my rage, Brown jumped onto this 66-win team after the All-Star break. Move over Scott Boras, KG and Pierce might consider delving into sports agency after retirement as they recruited the former Net during the All-Star festivities as the recently retired Brown enjoyed the weekend in his hometown of New Orleans. I did not expect Brown to play much during the postseason but his toughness has earned him the role of the first big off the bench. Besides school-yard quality aggressiveness, Brown also contributed a memorable jumper in Boston’s Game Seven victory against Cleveland.

Eddie House - A straight-up chucker in Phoenix and New Jersey, House landed a spot on Boston as General Manager Danny Ainge worked immediately following the blockbuster Allen-KG deals to throw together a serviceable bench. House showed his deficiencies in an early-season game against Detroit in which defensive specialist Lindsay Hunter consistently picked House’s pocket. Head coach Doc Rivers cured that dilemma without abandoning House’s deft perimeter touch by going to a smaller second unit without starting point guard Rajon Rando as Allen handles the rock and looks to feed House. House, to the befuddlement of myself and the Sports Guy, played sparingly to start the postseason but when given the opportunity knocked down j’s at a consistent clip. House played during Thursday’s dramatic comeback and gave Boston its first lead at 84-83 with less than five minutes to play. House resembles Hubert Davis from the Riley Knicks as New York won on defense but needed strong shooters to come off the bench and deliver crucial baskets. House did just that the other night.

Leon Powe - Toss Powe “The Show” in there with House for giving me ample reason to lose my lust for Boston during the first two rounds of the postseason as Rivers went Isiah on me and disregarded two of his best bench players from a triumphant season. I won’t slobber over Powe too much for brevity reasons but his Game Two explosion against L.A. in which he slammed down two emphatic dunks, illustrates why Boston can go back-to-back despite an aging Big Three.

James Posey - Ainge must have gone on a spiritual quest prior to last season’s draft as he made ALL the necessary steps to turnaround a team with the worst record in the league into a flawless championship contender. One only need to look at title teams from the past 15 years and see a relatively common feature - Robert Horry. Horry won two with Houston, three with L.A. and two with San Antonio because of an uncanny ability to hit critical shots down the stretch of games. I now anoint James Posey the next Horry. Posey seems to drain everything he puts up in the postseason and has replicated his defensive performance from the ‘06 Finals where he controlled Josh Howard as a member of the title-winning Heat. Posey bangs you on defense and then spits you out on offense. Maybe Kobe aught to pass on his Black Mamba title to a true predator.

Kendrick Perkins - My first impressions of the straight-out-of-high-school center was generic big body to play d in a league with a shortage of centers. Playing in a league where officials usually feel neglected and incessantly blow whistles on apparition calls, Perkins at times picks up an early two and visit’s the bench. Without rhythm he exemplifies a player not in his prime but see him on the court with confidence and he exhibits quite a repertoire, including a delicate baby hook that belies his beastly play. Perkins exploded during the Eastern Conference Finals where the Pistons coach should have countered with the burly Jason Maxiell. Good luck finding a job Flip.

Rajon Rondo - Without question, the most intriguing player from this unit since the first game of the regular season. Handed the keys to a Rolls after driving a Malibu in his first season, the featherweight has handled the season with poise despite Rivers going Avery Johnson on him and losing faith prematurely. Rondo dissected the Lakers in the first two games with precision passing and little error. The Lakers then forced Rondo into a shooter and he reacted with patience from the perimeter. Rondo understood early on in the season that he needed to develop a jumper but his synergy with KG seems to always bail them out of patterns of stagnation on offense. The expectations were low at the outset for this rangy Kentucky Wildcat, but to say he has overshot them is like saying a then unknown DeNiro did the part of Vito Corleone justice in Godfather II.

Ray Allen - Dead and resurrected - maybe Spike really needs to squash his man crush with Kobe and begin working on He Got Game II - Jesus goes Boston, with Matt Damon replacing Denzel. From an embarrassment to the star of a pivotal Game Five against the Pistons to a possible MVP of the Finals after playing all 48 minutes in Game Four and blowing past Sasha Vujacic in the waning seconds with a reverse lay-up to ensure victory, Allen has truly played like the third corner on an almost equilateral triangle of brilliance. Allen built his bball portfolio with a smooth j, but his quick first step in those spry legs blurs the line between a perimeter player and one with an overall grade A game.

KG - Past Defensive Player of the Year Awards have gone to the likes of Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace and Marcus Camby. No slight on any of the three but not since David Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwon has a superstar center won the award. His wingspan and tenacity alter almost every shot taken in the paint. Analysts want to belabor his overly unselfish tendencies, and yes he shied away from big spots in the first two rounds, but Sir Charles eloquently put it when he said KG is a great player but not a great scorer. His play elevates everyone around him and one cannot downplay his intangible leadership skills that have tied the team together ever since Rivers placed a ban on cell phones in Europe during preseason to build team unity.

Paul “The Truth” Pierce - I’m not here to flower Pierce’s persona by saying he didn’t bail on last year’s team and call him the true MVP of the Celtics because he withstood years of shoddy play from his supporting cast. But I pick up on the creeping sensation that his needs look to him for more than just a basket, which is usually the situation with the Lakers and Kobe. The Celtics rely on Pierce for emotional stability as well as flair. His effervescent smile after draining two huge free throws in his 41-point performance against the Cavs in Game Seven seemed to bury a burden of tension weighing on Boston. Pierce adopted a more stoic demeanor in the next round, best illustrated in Game Six when he was called for a charge on what should have been a four-point play. Pierce laughed off the abysmal call and Boston rallied to win in Detroit and take the series. KG plays uncontrolled at times but Pierce has not flailed in frustration since those first two forgettable series.

Two plays stand out as signature moments for Pierce in that Game Four comeback. The first was a patented Pierce drive in which he muscled to the basket, drew a foul and somehow used his strength to put up a reverse lay-up that rolled in - only LeBron could have pulled off such a display of physical fortitude. But this is Eastern Conference basketball and by this I mean we need to amplify defensive dominance. Pierce shut down Kobe in the second half and even swatted a jumper that led to a fast break. No deflection. No foul. No fingertips. Unadulterated rejection.

Now there have been plenty of corny moments by ESPN and ABC involving this Celtics team as their half-time segments reek of pretentiousness. But I recall the Big Three prior to the postseason sitting down for an interview. Someone on ESPN asked all three to say who was the true MVP of the team. They spoke all at once without letting the audience decipher the answer. I’m going with Pierce for this series because of his defense but since 1980 every NBA champion team has won a title with a distinct superstar except for the ‘04 Pistons. Twenty years from I will not sully this Boston run by telling my child of the KG-or-Pierce led Celtics. This is a team with sturdiness from the bottom to the top. This blog pays tribute to a team in the truest sense of the word that will allow me to root for them despite playing in the same city that has as much sophistication and tact as a New York sewer rat.