
Cassell back to help Celtics defend NBA title
By Jimmy Golen of the ASSOCIATED PRESS
Posted Sep 29 2008 7:48PM
BOSTON -- All the issues Doc Rivers had to deal with in his first summer as an NBA champion - replacing the free agents who left, working on his golf game, figuring out what to wear to the White House - there's one thing that never came up.

"I can't imagine even seeing a laid-back Kevin Garnett," Rivers said Monday. "I don't think that will happen. So I don't worry about that part."
The Boston Celtics coach gathered with his title-winning team for media day at its practice facility, where a shiny white 2008 championship banner is already covering the empty spot where Rivers pointed a spotlight last year - just in case anyone didn't get the point. It was the NBA-record 17th title for the team, the first since 1986, and no one in the organization wants to go through a similar drought before Banner No. 18.
"You do not get to a level and then step backward," Garnett said. "It will probably be the hardest thing we've done, other than getting the first championship."


![]() | Williams to Boozer Carlos Boozer slams it home with authority. |
![]() | Bulls vs. Jazz: First half Carlos Boozer scores 16 first-half points as the Jazz lead the Bulls 40-57 at the break. |
![]() | Up and In Carlos Boozer gets the underhand scoop to fall in. |
![]() | Reverse Dunk Ronnie Brewer finishes the play with a reverse two-hand dunk. |
![]() | Magic vs. Hawks The Hawks fall apart in the second half and the Magic capitalize for a big Southeast division win. |
![]() | Monster Dunk Joakim Noah delivers a one- handed facial against Carlos Boozer. |
![]() | Another Day at the Office Dwight Howard rejects Josh Smith's shot on its way to the rim. |
![]() | Thing of Beauty Mike Bibby tosses the perfect alley-oop to Josh Smith for the throwdown. |
![]() | Power Slam Anthony Johnson tosses this ball up for Dwight Howard to throw down. |
![]() | Reverse Flush Dwight Howard has his first shot blocked but sticks with the play to throw it down hard. |