Top 8 Reasons We’re Happy That the Boston Celtics Won the NBA Championship

We’re a bit sleep-deprived today, having stayed up past 1 a.m. on a work night to do (figurative) cartwheels over the Boston Celtics‘ win over the L.A. Lakers to nab their 17th NBA Championship.

Here are eight reasons we’re happy about the win—apart from the joy of seeing series MVP Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen add “NBA Championship” to their amazing resumes, not to mention good ol’ coach Doc Rivers nabbing his first NBA title.

1. We don’t have to sit through another game of annoying commentary by “I’m-bald-I-should-pay-less-for-a-haircut” pop culture whiz Jeff Van Gundy, who is to the Boston Celtics what Joe Buck is to the Boston Red Sox (i.e., the kind of guy who’s anti-Beantown no matter who they’re playing).

2. Speaking of Jeff Van Gundy and not having to listen to him for another night, did anyone else notice how quiet he got (finally) when the Celtics burst open the game last night?

3. The final score was 131-92—a new record for the largest margin of victory in a clinch game in the Finals. The previous record was 33 points by the Celtics in the 1965 Championship against the Lakers.

4. A new NBA record for steals: 18. Golden State set the previous record with 17 steals in 1974.

5. One last awesome record: Ray Allen tied the record for three-point FGs in a game (7) and set a new one for the series (22).

6. We were spared the sight of the outfit Kobe Bryant’s wife wore. If they showed it, we missed it. No. More. Purple. Tutus.

7. *Now* we’re over the Patriots loss. (BONUS: Bill Belichick was in TD Banknorth Garden to see the action live, so we hope the Celtics’ 150% push the entire game will make its way into a future Super Bowl pep talk.)

8. Michele Tafoya’s dorky journalistic get-the-sound-byte-no-matter-what attempts aside, you couldn’t help but feel Kevin Garnett’s post-game . . . whatever it was. Celebration? Rant? Victory speech? Raw emotion? You decide (2m, 25s):