LeBron James finally conquers Boston Celtics dominance

It seems, over the past few years, that the Boston Celtics have always had the upper hand when playing teams with LeBron James.

Well, maybe a few hands - Allen, Garnett, Pierce, Rondo and the rest of the gang.

Consider just last year when the Celtics dominated James and the Cleveland Cavaliers (the top seed in the Eastern Conference with the league's best record) in the second round, eliminating James for a possible NBA Championship in six games.

At the start of the 2011 season it seemed that James and his new team, the Miami Heat (even with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh) could not best the performance of the Celtics, losing the regular season series 3-1.

This year's playoffs, however, were a different story.

After taking both home games, Miami found itself in Boston and a resounding loss in Game 3. With the series at 2-1, and still playing at TD Garden, James et al accomplished something remarkable. They beat the Celtics on their home turf in overtime.

Why remarkable? Prior to that victory James had only won twice in Boston out of 15 attempts and his teammate, Dwayne Wade, had lost 11 straight games on that court.

After the win, James was quoted as saying, "I haven't had much success in this building."

That was a gigantic understatement.

Back in Miami, with Boston trailing 3-1, there was a definite threat to extend the series. It could be seen that the Celtics were gunning for a win at Miami despite the fact the Rajon Rondo and Jermaine O'Neal were sidelined with injuries. The game was tied 87-87 with 2:13 remaining and all of a sudden LeBron exploded.

He dropped two shots from downtown, stole the ball and took it in for a slam dunk, then closed out the game with a jumper, scoring the final 10 points of the game. Final Miami 97, Boston 87. Series end: Miami 4, Boston 1.

It does seem that LeBron conquered whatever it was about the Celtics and TD Garden that had haunted him. And it was gratifying to watch him compliment Doc Rivers and the Celtics as he did following the game.

Now, on to the rest of the NBA championship run.

Over For Now.

Main Street One