THE BOSTON CELTICS thought they had LeBron James right where they wanted him.
For the third time in five seasons, Boston had a chance to close James out on its home court inside TD Garden. After taking Game 5 of the 2012 Eastern Conference finals in Miami, the Celtics returned home confident that they would do so once again.
"We were ready," Doc Rivers told ESPN with a wistful smile earlier this season. "Our guys were focused."
There was only one problem: So was James.
"I don't think he opened his mouth to breathe [during the game]," Brian Scalabrine, who was working as a television commentator in Boston at the time, told ESPN.