BOSTON — It’s the reason Paul Pierce stuck around when the losses mounted and the solution was far from clear. The reason Ray Allen was acquired as a draft-day consolation prize. And the reason Kevin Garnett agreed to leave the only pro team he’d ever known.

The Big Three has won the Big One.

The Boston Celtics rode their three All-Stars to their 17th championship on Tuesday night, blowing by the Los Angeles Lakers with a stunning show of second-quarter scoring to win 131-92 in Game 6 of the NBA finals.

Pierce, the finals MVP, had 17 points and 10 assists in the clincher, Garnett had 26 points with 14 rebounds, and Allen returned from a red-eye from the coast and a poked eye in the lane to add 26 points, including an NBA finals record-tying seven 3-pointers.

It was the first NBA title for each of them, and the first for the league’s most-decorated franchise since the original Big Three of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish won No. 16 in 1986. Danny Ainge was the point guard for that team and the general manager for the one that won 24 games last year and 66 this season – the biggest turnaround in NBA history.

“Where we came from a year ago, where I was at, to be here today celebrating with my teammates, putting a stamp on what a great year it was,” Pierce told the jubilant fans after accepting the MVP trophy. “Everybody stuck with me throughout all the hard times. I know we didn’t have a lot of great years, but you guys stuck with me, and now we bring home a championship to you.”

The Celtics joined the 1975 Golden State Warriors and the ’77 Trail Blazers as the only teams to win it all a year after missing the playoffs.

And it’s not hard to see how they did it.

Last year’s team featured Pierce and a passel of young players who showed promise individually but little sign of snapping the longest championship drought in franchise history. After their legendary luck deserted them in the lottery, leaving them with a worst-case fifth pick in a two-star draft, Ainge wheeled the first-rounder for Allen.

That was enough to convince Garnett to accept a trade and sign an extension, allowing Ainge to cobble together an unprecedented 7-for-1 deal for the final piece in the new Big Three.

“We sacrificed so much of what we did throughout our careers to get to this point because we’ve done everything we’ve been able to do individually, won all type of awards, but never made it to the mountaintop,” Pierce said. “It’s like a breath of fresh air.”

With the best record in the NBA during the regular season, the Celtics earned home court for the playoffs – and they needed it. They won all four games at home in the first two rounds to reach the Eastern Conference finals, then dispatched Detroit in six games.

“It seems like everything has worked out all year,” Allen said. “We respect each other, and we’re here sitting on championship 17.”

But not without a few bumps for the Big Three in the finals.

Pierce was carried off by his teammates after what turned out to be an inconsequential knee injury in Game 1. Despite a six-point, 2-for-14 stinker in his Game 3 return to his home town, he averaged 22 points, six assists and 4.5 rebounds in the finals to earn the Celtics’ first finals MVP award since Larry Bird.

“It means everything,” Pierce said. “I’m not living under the shadows of the other greats now. I’m able to make my own history with my time here, and this is something that I wanted to do. If I was going to be one of the best Celtics to ever play, I had to put up a banner, and today we did that.”

Allen’s shooting deserted him for long stretches, and before Game 5 in Los Angeles he learned that his son had been diagnosed with diabetes. He rushed to the hospital after the game, stayed with his son on Monday and flew all night to get back to Boston.

Then, in the first half, he was raked across the left eye and went to the locker room.

It didn’t stop him from going 7-of-9 from 3-point range, giving him a record 22 3-pointers in the NBA finals.

“I was wondering what happened to Ray,” Pierce said. “When Ray got back out there, I think it kind of fueled us. We pushed the lead up to over 20 when he came back, and it was just like, `Hey, it’s about to be lights out.’”

For Garnett, the title was the one thing missing from a potential Hall of Fame career, and the finale gave him a sense of redemption after a Game 5 performance – 13 points and 14 rebounds, but some key missed free throws down the stretch – that he called “garbage.”

On Tuesday, he went from garbage and helped turn it into garbage time.

All three stars came out – together – with 4:01 left in the game, and Pierce went immediately to give coach Doc Rivers an emotional embrace.

“They came in as a group, and I thought we should take them out as a group,” Rivers said. “They all said ‘Thank you,’ and I said ‘Thank you’ back. Paul … it’s just so sweet. He just kept saying ‘Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for sticking with me, again,’ and I kept saying the same thing to him. So it was really a nice moment.”

While the Celtics reserves – a big advantage for Boston in the series – continued to build on the lead, the starters yukked it up on the bench just as they did through frequent blowouts during the season.

“We had bumps along the road. There was frustration,” Allen said. “But we always came back to each other as a team, and to finally win this and to prove we’re the best team in the NBA this year, everything we went through was definitely worth it. We know exactly what it takes to be the best.”

At the next timeout, it was Gino time: The scoreboard showed the disco-era American Bandstand clip that the Celtics have been using to celebrate victories all season. A shaggy man in a “Gino” T-shirt danced on the scoreboard, and Pierce stood up on the bench to frolic.

“We said, ‘This is the reason we came here. This is the reason we got together,’” Garnett told reporters, after he had a chance to brush the green and white confetti from his bald head, cradle the trophy and bathe in champagne. “This is the reason right here.”

Bryant scored 26 points, his teammates kept Utah at bay down the stretch, and Los Angeles Lakers extended the stunning home success by NBA teams in the second round of the playoffs, beating the Jazz 111-104 on Wednesday night to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.

The Lakers, who never trailed, can advance to the conference finals for the first time since 2004 with a victory Friday night in Utah. But if form prevails, the teams will be playing a seventh and deciding game Monday night at Staples Center, where Los Angeles has a 17-3 record against the Jazz since the arena opened before the 1999-2000 season.

Home teams have won 19 of the 20 games played in the second round. The Lakers are the top-seeded team in the Western Conference, meaning they have home-court advantage through the first three rounds of the postseason.

“That’s what you play for,” Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said before the game. “When you start off the season, you want to try and get the home-court advantage because I think it’s been pretty big in this league.”

Manchester United took a giant stride towards the Champions League semi-finals with a clinical victory against AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.

Cristiano Ronaldo headed home his 36th goal of the season from Paul Scholes’ cross six minutes before half-time.

Roma rallied, with Christian Panucci missing from close range and Edwin van der Sar saving brilliantly from Mirko Vucinic’s 61st-minute header.

But Rooney bundled home United’s crucial second five minutes later.

British Airways has cancelled 34 more flights from Heathrow’s Terminal 5 the day after it opened but says passengers will be able to check in hold luggage.

Hold luggage services were suspended as a result of a baggage backlog and 34 flights were cancelled at the £4.3bn T5 on its first day of operation.

Some stranded travellers spent the night on the floor of the new building.

BA, which has sole use of T5, said: “We sincerely apologise to those customers who have suffered disrupted journeys.”

Chief executive Willie Walsh said: “I am very sorry that the problems have meant that some of our customers did not experience the true potential of this amazing new building.

The airline advised customers to check its website, www.ba.com, for service updates.

A spokesman stressed that Friday’s cancelled flights were all to short-haul destinations, which would be served by other flights during the day. In all, BA will be operating 80% of its planned flights in and out of Terminal 5, including all scheduled long-haul flights.

Golden State Warriors forward/center Chris Webber announced his retirement from the NBA this morning at a press conference at ORACLE Arena, closing the final chapter on a 15-year NBA career that included five All-Star appearances and five All-NBA Team selections. “There have been so many people who have supported me through my career, from players to coaches to fans,” said Webber. “I appreciate all the owners, GMs, doctors, equipment managers, trainers, ballkids and staff who not only supported me, but helped propel me to the next level. I do not take your love for granted. I look forward to continuing these relationships in my future basketball and business endeavors.”

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Webber, 35, finishes his career having averaged 20.7 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.44 steals, 1.44 blocks and 37.1 minutes per contest in 831 regular-season games with Golden State, Washington, Sacramento, Philadelphia and Detroit. Additionally, he participated in the NBA Playoffs 10 times during his career, appearing in 80 games with averages of 18.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 36.3 minutes per game. Webber earned a spot on the Eastern Conference All-Star squad in 1997 while with Washington and made four-straight appearance on the Western Conference All-Star team as a member of the Sacramento Kings from 2000 thru 2003. He also was a five-time All-NBA selection, having earned first team honors in 2001, second team honors in 1999, 2002, 2003 and third team honors in 2000.

Playing on the right-hand side of midfield, Beckham was booked for a foul on Franck Ribery and was replaced by David Bentley after 63 minutes.

France won the game through Ribery’s first-half penalty.

Beckham, 32, becomes the fifth player to reach a century of England caps, after Billy Wright, Sir Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore and Peter Shilton.

“Obviously I am very honoured,” Beckham said. “When I started playing I never dreamt I’d get to 100.

“It is any footballer’s dream to play for your country, let alone get to 100 caps, and I want to carry on.

“I am very stubborn and want to carry on for as many years as possible. I proved my fitness and that was the biggest thing. It was better than I thought it would be.”

Beckham said the game at the Stade de France was a special moment for him, despite the defeat.

“I was very emotional even during the build-up to the game today,” Beckham explained. “I kept getting messages from family and friends about it and I had to hold back the tears.

“It was an emotional moment for myself and my whole family. They have been there for me through the ups and the downs and there have been more highs than lows.

“Tonight was a high for me. We have lost the game and we are disappointed.

“But we held our own and we played well in the first half and I don’t think we deserved to be 1-0 down.

“On a personal level, to play my 100th game for my country is something special and I am proud my whole family was here tonight.”

Capello refused to be drawn on whether the LA Galaxy midfielder had a long-term future in his squad.

“Beckham was fit and he could have carried on playing but I substituted him because I needed to see other players,” said the Italian.

Beckham made his England debut in 1996.

He became captain in 2000 and led his country on 58 occasions. He has played in three World Cup finals – in 1998, 2002 and 2006.

Whether Beckham could surpass Shilton’s record of 125 caps is uncertain but he does feel he can still be involved come the 2010 World Cup.

“It is something I want to reach,” said Beckham, who will have just turned 35 by the time the tournament in South Africa starts.

“I would love to play and be part of the squad in 2010. But I’m taking it as it comes – who knows what is round the corner?

“The combination of the players and the combination of manager and staff is setting us up right for the qualification games for the World Cup.”

Despite Beckham’s optimism, former England captain Alan Shearer believes it will be difficult for the former Manchester United man to play on for his country until 2010.

“It will be very tough for him to get to the next World Cup,” Shearer told the BBC.

“He is not playing in a great league, which may work against him, but it’s up to David to keep impressing the new manager.

“We’ve found out that the new manager is not going to pick players on reputation.

“So it will be a big ask for him to still be playing, but we’ve said it many times before about David Beckham, so I wouldn’t write him off.”

Rio Ferdinand – captain for the match against France on Wednesday – paid tribute to his former Manchester United team-mate.

“Not many players get to play 100 times for their country so it is a huge honour,” said Ferdinand.

“He has never stopped working hard, he has been a great servant and he fully deserves to win his 100th cap.

“Five players in the history of English football have managed that. He is with some illustrious names, some icons of the sport and he is a worthy member of that list.”

England supporters in Paris for the game signed a giant congratulations card for Beckham.

Viduka struck in the sixth minute when he collected a pass from Geremi and fired low past goalkeeper Kasey Keller.

Owen should have doubled their lead with a close-range header before nodding in from Geremi’s free-kick.

Jimmy Bullard had Fulham’s best chances but his long-range efforts were comfortably dealt with by Steve Harper.

The victory will be a massive relief to Newcastle, who move six points clear of the relegation zone.

But the signs seem ominous for struggling Fulham, who are now four points adrift of safety with seven games left.

The visiting team were gifted enough possession during the first half but time and time again failed to come up with the killer ball.

Their downfall was self-inflicted at the other end of the field where Roy Hodgson’s men produced a display that could politely be described as inept and in the sixth minute Viduka took advantage of that.

The Australian, who had not played for nine weeks prior to last week’s draw at Birmingham, controlled Geremi’s pass from the right, turned then drilled his shot into Keller’s bottom right.

Owen, the hero at St Andrew’s should have made it 2-0 but he could only head Geremi’s clipped ball into the hands of Keller after finding himself inexplicably free eight yards out.

The England striker also had a 20-yard shot tipped over by the American shot-stopper, who then had to be alert to divert Obefemi Martins’ low effort round the post.

Harper had his hands kept warm on a wintery Easter Saturday by the spirited Bullard, who fired in a couple of shots from distance that the Newcastle keeper had to crouch down low to save.

Keegan’s men, who looked edgy in the first half despite taking an early lead, were far more confident after the break although shots on goal were few and far between.

They always looked potent though and Joey Barton, who along with Nicky Butt was one of the stars of the show, came closest to doubling his side’s lead when he whacked a 20-yarder that missed Fulham’s right-hand upright by a foot.

The result was still in doubt until the 83rd minute when Owen leapt above the Fulham defence to score his second in two games.

And with that, some of those growing concerns on Tyneside seemed to drift away.

Fulham: Keller, Stalteri (Healy 84), Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Andreasen, Bullard, Murphy (Volz 71), Davies, McBride (Dempsey 66), Johnson.
Subs Not Used: Warner, Bocanegra