On this day in Boston Celtics history, champion small forward James Posey was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1977.
Although he only played for one year with the team (2007-08), his contribution off the bench was key for the Celtics in both the regular season, when he averaged 7.4 points, 4.4 points, a steal and just under a block per game, and in the 2008 NBA Playoffs, when he averaged 6.7 points, 3.6 boards and a steal per game. His key performance in Game 2 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.
Posey’s and Eddie House’s 29 points off the bench in Game 4 (part of the largest comeback in NBA finals history at that time since 1971) were critical to winning Banner 17.
Posey opted 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.
He signed 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.
Still, Posey later expressed regret over having moved on from his time with the Celtics.
Finally, it is also the date of a three-overtime road loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2006.
Boston managed to send it to an extra period three 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 fell 125-124.
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