Pierce gets his piece of Celtic immortality

Paul Pierce couldn't wait for the clock to wind down. With 2 minutes 21 seconds between him and an NBA championship, he leaped onto the bench and swayed his hips while the Bee Gees blared through the speakers.

At TD Banknorth Garden, when the "American Bandstand" footage begins and Gino grinds his hips, the game is almost over - for the opponent.

For Pierce the wait was over. From the 10th overall pick out of Kansas in 1998 to NBA Finals MVP, Pierce finally could celebrate.

"This is unreal, just 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, this year," Pierce said to the crowd, following last night's 131-92 Game 6 victory against the Lakers. "I'm just happy that [coach] Doc [Rivers], the ownership, my teammates, everybody, the city of Boston 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."

Pierce entered last night averaging 19.8 points over 25 playoff games, shooting 45 percent from the field. Pierce ended the night with 17 points and 10 assists as the Celtics claimed their first title since 1986.

That year, it was Larry Bird who was Finals MVP. Pierce created his own legend not only in this series but for the entire playoffs.

Before the season, he listed his draft selection by the Celtics as his most memorable moment. He safely can move that moment aside.

Last summer, Pierce let ownership and others know the years and years of disappointment were not acceptable. He was frustrated.

But Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were brought aboard in the offseason, and teamed with Pierce to lead a team that posted the NBA's best record and became the first team to go from last place to a 66-win regular season to an NBA title.

Throughout each playoff series Pierce matured and became the leader the Celtics needed at the most opportune moments.

In the Eastern Conference semifinals, he went head-to-head with the Cavaliers' LeBron James in Game 7, scoring 41 points. In the Finals, his teammates carried him and his injured knee off the court in Game 1, only for him to return minutes later and lead the Celtics to a 98-88 victory. In Game 4, he was part of the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history as the Celtics erased a 24-point lead and took a 97-91 win. He was asked to cover league MVP in Kobe Bryant in the second half of that game, and did so successfully.

Now Pierce has his own legacy in the Celtics' storied franchise.

"It means everything," Pierce said. "You know, 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 like I said, this is something that I wanted to do. If I was going to be [among] the best Celtics to ever play I had to put up a banner, and today we did that."

Pierce may not have had championship experience, but he knew how to celebrate. He grabbed a Gatorade cooler with 30 seconds left and poured it over Rivers.

Why? "I see it on TV all the time, so I decided to go do it," he said.

Rivers said Pierce, Allen, and Garnett came together at the right point to make this happen.

"You get three guys who have accomplished everything in their careers except for that, you know, and we talked about it a lot," Rivers said. "You know, their money can buy everything except for the trophy, and the only way you're going to do that is you're going to have to lean on someone else to achieve that goal."

And Pierce plans to celebrate as long as he can.

"I'm going to enjoy this for the next four weeks straight before I go to bed," Pierce said. "I don't see no sleep in my future."

Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com