"We Ain't Coming Back to LA!"

In the final minutes of game two from Los Angeles, Paul Pierce helped up a fallen Kendrick Perkins as he turned his angry gaze up to the dejected Lakers crowd.

"We ain't coming back to LA!" Pierce yelled, shaking his head and taking out his anger on his opponents' fans for the second time in two series. Back in the Orlando series, he told the camera that the Celtics were "coming home to close it out" in a post game interview.

So, is Pierce right? Have the C's visited the west coast for the final time this season? Possibly so. My original prediction was Celtics in 5. And while I don't think that will happen, there is certainly plenty of optimism for it. Tonight's game 3 marks the 11th game 3 in the NBA Finals since the NBA went to the 2-3-2 finals format 12 years ago. In the previous 10 series, the winner of game 3 has won the series -- every time. Boston has home court in this game tonight, and coming off arguably the worst playoff performances of their careers respectively from Pierce and Garnett, one might expect Boston to come out with a new sense of energy tonight. A win really puts the Lakers on their heels, and it instills that uncertainty of whether or not they can win in Boston's barn. Most analysts will say that the home court advantage is greater for Boston than it is for LA. The Garden crowd is a raucous bunch, and you can count on them blowing the roof off with a repeat performance from Ray Allen or Rajon Rondo. The C's are in the driver's seat right now.

Pierce may or may not be right. Maybe the Celtics win the next three and never go back to LA. Maybe the Lakers win the next three in Boston, as unlikely as that is. Either way, the team that wins tonight's game has a big edge on the opponent. Against the Magic, Paul Pierce said they were coming home to close it out. They were unable to do so as he predicted, but they still ended up achieving the ultimate goal. Perhaps we could be looking at the same situation here from the Celtics' captain, who was having dreams leading up to the finals that he's holding that golden trophy come series' end.

The Boston folk should know better than anyone, as Kevin Garnett etched in our hearts two years ago: "Anything is possible."