On this day in Boston Celtics history, champion small forward James Posey was born in Cleveland, Ohio this date in 1977.
Although he only played one year with the team in 2007-08, his contribution off the bench was key for the Celtics in both the regular season, where he averaged 7.4 points, 4.4 points, a steal, and just under a block per game, and in the playoffs, where he averaged 6.7 points, 3.6 boards, and a steal per game. His performance in Game Two of the 2008 NBA Finals (versus the Los Angeles Lakers) in particular comes to mind.
In that game, his and Paul Pierce’s free throws in the final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter decided the game for Boston.
(AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
Posey’s and Eddie House’s 29 points off the bench in Game Four (part of the largest comeback in NBA finals history at that time since 1971) were critical to winning Banner 17.
Posey would opt out of his final year with Boston to test the free agency waters and ended up pricing himself out of Boston’s future as a result.
(AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
He would go on to sign with the New Orleans Hornets (this was before the current expansion team in Charlotte reclaimed the name of the original North Carolina franchise), and later the Indiana Pacers after being traded.
Even still, Posey later expressed regret over having moved on from his time with the Celtics.
AP Photo/George Widman
Finally, it is also the date of a 3-overtime road loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2006.
Boston managed to send it to an extra period 3 times with big nights from Ricky Davis (33 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists), Mark Blount (27 points, 12 boards), and Paul Pierce (18 points, 9 rebounds, 10 assists, 4 steals), but the Celtics ultimately fell 125 – 124.
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Story originally appeared on Celtics Wire