Local fans had faith in the Celtics

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

AMHERST - The atmosphere inside The Hangar Pub & Grill Thursday night was similar to what you might encounter moments before a severe thunderstorm hits, when you can almost feel in your bones that something powerful is about to happen.

Fans eagerly waiting for the deciding game of the 2010 NBA finals between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers were quietly stoic and focused on the television, seemingly saving their energy for a climactic finish to a championship series that had more than lived up to the hype.

Dressed in his Celtics green, Rocky Gove, 71, of Turners Falls, met with friends from his office to watch the game and said he was ready to see the Celtics hang their 18th banner in the rafters of TD Garden.

"I remember the days of Jo Jo White and John Havlicek," Gove said. "I was there to see the John Havlicek's last game in the last row of the original Boston Garden."

Gove was optimistic about the Celtics' chances of bringing home another championship.

"I'm a little excited and I'm ready," Gove said, "but I'm still a little disappointed that they didn't put it away the other night in Game 6."

The rivalry between the two franchises is unmatched in the NBA and dates back to 1959, when the Celtics swept the then-Minneapolis Lakers for their first title. After the Lakers relocated to Los Angeles in 1960, they were defeated by the Celtics six times in eight years - three times in a deciding Game 7.

Down the street at Rafters Sports Bar & Restaurant, more than 100 fans watched together as the starting players were introduced before tip-off. Wearing their Celtics jerseys, longtime Celtics fans Keith Toffling and Chris Snyder, both 28 and of Hadley, said they expected it would come down to which of the two teams wanted it more.

"These teams have been so well matched so far that I don't expect to see anything but the best of both teams in the seventh game," Toffling said. "When it all boils down, it's going to be about which team comes to play with the most energy."

Sharing Toffling's optimism, Snyder said although the statistics show that when an NBA championship series goes seven games the home team usually wins - this is the Celtics team to break that pattern.

"We were solid on the road throughout the entire regular season," Snyder said. "If there is one team that can go into Los Angeles and come out with a win it's Boston."

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.