The 2008 Boston Celtics ‘big three’ of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen was put together specifically to defeat LeBron James, according to the author of a new book about LeBron.
“Nobody understood superteams more than Pat Riley and Danny Ainge, and Ainge is up running the Celtics, (Pat) Riley’s down in Miami running the Heat,” author Jeff Benedict told Colin Cowherd.
“The whole thing with [Kevin] Garnett and [Ray] Allen and [Paul] Pierce, what’s he doing? He’s trying to beat LeBron. He’s trying to make sure that the Celtics can beat LeBron because he knows how good LeBron is.”
Boston achieved their objective in the team’s first season together, beating James’ Cavaliers in the second round of the 2008 playoffs and going on to win the championship.
They beat LeBron again in the second round in 2010 but James got his revenge when he defeated the Celtics 4-1 in the second round of the 2011 Playoffs as a member of the Miami Heat.
James beat Boston again in the 2012 playoffs, prevailing in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals.
That was the Big 3’s final season together, with Ray Allen leaving Boston to join LeBron in Miami, where he helped the Heat win their second consecutive championship in 2013.
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