The defining performance of Eddie House's first season with the Celtics coincided with key moments in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
The Celtics needed House to replace Rajon Rondo, who was slowed because of an injury. They needed House not so much as a pure point guard, but to shoot with confidence and without hesitation and to take care of less glamorous duties, such as being in position for weak-side rebounds. Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and James Posey would take care of everything else.
On that June 12 night in Los Angeles, the Celtics took a commanding 3-1 series lead with a 97-91 victory over the Lakers in what was one of the best comebacks and/or worst collapses in Finals history. The Celtics overcame a 24-point deficit, the largest comeback in the Finals in 27 years, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Now House, a Hayward High School graduate, is eager for a repeat after signing a two-year contract Monday.
"I'm enjoying every minute of being a champion,"
he said during a telephone interview from Phoenix. "When we get back, it will be time to refocus and retool. It's our goal to defend the title."
"I did want a chance to come back and repeat and I feel good about the deal they put together. Everyone is back, except for (Posey), and we feel we can do it again if we come in with the right mind-set. We have the right pieces. The big piece missing is Posey, but maybe we can get a couple guys to pick it up; maybeTony Allen can do it."
House, 30, will remain in a backup role. But, as House and Posey showed in the Finals, that role can help determine a championship.
That big night against the Lakers House hit the go-ahead basket with 4:07 left, giving Boston 84-83 advantage.
"We just wanted to get it under 10,"
House said of the Celtics' 58-40 halftime deficit. "Then we got it to 2, and from that point, we knew we had a great chance to do something real special."
House appears comfortable in a reserve role. He has started only 30 games in 512 regular-season appearances with eight NBA teams since 2000.
"I want to come in and be better than last year,"
said House, who averaged 7.5 points and 1.9 assists in the regular season. "I need to be better with my ballhandling, and I am concentrating on that a lot. Knowing the offense better will help me make better decisions because I know what I am seeing better."
Jazz: C.J. Miles will stay in Utah after the Jazz matched the deal offered by Oklahoma City to the restricted free agent.
On July 18, Oklahoma City offered a four-year deal worth about $15 million to Miles, who will be entering his fourth NBA season. Under the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, the Jazz had a week to match that offer and said Friday it would do so.
The 6-foot-6 guard was the 34th player chosen in the 2005 draft, selected by Utah out of Skyline High School in Dallas.
In three seasons, the 21-year-old Miles has averaged 4.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists. Last season, he averaged a career-high 5.0 points and 11.5 minutes per game.
Oklahoma City: Former SuperSonics owner Howard Schultz said he was warned by NBA commissioner David Stern that it would be "very expensive"
to pursue a lawsuit seeking to return the team to Seattle from Oklahoma City.
Schultz made the claim in a declaration filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
Schultz has sued to try to reverse his sale of the franchise to Clay Bennett, claiming the Oklahoma City businessman failed to follow through on a promise to negotiate in good faith to keep the team in Seattle.
On July 2, Bennett's ownership group and city of Seattle officials announced a settlement in another lawsuit, allowing the team to move immediately to Oklahoma City, where it will play during the upcoming season. That settlement did not cover Schultz's lawsuit.
Schultz owned the team from 2001 to July 2006, when he sold it along with the WNBA's Storm to Bennett for $350 million.
