Doc Rivers Says This Was Key To Celtics’ 2008 Championship Run

BOSTON — In a city that has won a ton of championships since the turn of the century, it’s seem like forever since the Boston Celtics raised a banner in 2008.

The current Celtics are in search of that same spark that Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were able to generate in that 66-16 season that propelled the C’s toward the NBA Finals, and eventually past the Los Angeles Lakers in six games.

Doc Rivers, the bench boss of that historic Celtics team, was back in Boston as his current squad, the Los Angeles Clippers, take on the C’s on Saturday night at TD Garden.

Rivers spoke about that ’08 Celtics squad and how they were able to put it all together.

“Everyone’s gotta sacrifice, if you think about it, every one of their shots were cut from the year before,” Rivers said of the Celtics’ big three. “You can’t just get something when you’re trying to win something. You gotta give something. Then the sacrifice is what binds you together.”

And out the tremendous Celtics trio, Rivers said one player clearly gave up more.

“Ray clearly sacrificed the most,” Rivers said. “One of the three main scorers are going to be the guy who gets less shots. You never know who it’s going to be. … You just have to try to keep them happy as possible.”