A franchise’s playoff history often is revealed in the rafters.
Check the ceiling of Boston’s Fleet Center and there you will find 16 banners representing the league-best 16 NBA titles the proud Celtics have won.
Glance skyward at Continental Airlines Arena and there’s, um, well, let’s see, a banner touting Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s 15 straight sellouts in 1999.
There is an ABA championship banner from 1973-74, but you get the idea. New Jersey has known mostly heartache since joining the NBA in 1976, enduring 18 losing seasons.
The Boss still might rule the rafters if Tuesday night is any indication.
Boston wrested home-court advantage from New Jersey with a 93-86 victory, tying the Eastern Conference finals at a game apiece behind a gutsy effort that made up in drama what it lacked in beauty.
Former Mt. Carmel High School star Antoine Walker scored 18 of his 26 points in the second half to lead the Celtics and he added 11 rebounds. Game 3 is Saturday in the building with the franchise history housed inside.
Jason Kidd is born to run, but Boston made the necessary adjustments to limit New Jersey’s transition game and make the Nets play from half-court sets.
The results weren’t pretty. New Jersey, which had only four fast-break points through three quarters before a late rally, shot 33.3 percent.
“Everybody said we had no interior defense,” Walker said. “I think Tony Battie showed otherwise. If we keep making them take jump shots, we’ll be fine.”
Battie had five blocked shots.
After trailing by as many as 13 points in the first half, the Nets pulled within 48-47 on a basket by Kenyon Martin with 10 minutes 32 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The Nets didn’t score another field goal until Kidd swished a three-pointer with 2:13 remaining.
Boston ripped off an 18-1 run in the process to take what appeared to be a commanding 16-point lead. But the Celtics limped to the finish.
Paul Pierce, who shot 3-for-20 from the field and 11-for-20 from the line, scored 11 of Boston’s 18 points in the fourth. But the Celtics watched a 14-point lead shrink to five with 1:26 left.
The Nets, however, missed four shots on one hard-fought possession, and Pierce followed with two free throws.
“They packed it in and we didn’t make shots,” Nets coach Byron Scott said. “We were very impatient. We just did a bad job of running our offense.”
Kidd posted his second straight triple-double with 23 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. Evanston native Aaron Williams spelled an ineffective Todd MacCulloch and contributed 16 points and eight rebounds.
The night before Game 2, Scott skipped watching the Western Conference finals to continue a season-long tradition and catch a movie with his wife. They saw the new Star Wars movie and, with apologies to George Lucas, didn’t like it.
“I fell asleep twice,” Scott said. “That’s how bad it was.”
Little did Scott know he would be hiding his eyes again Tuesday night.
