A season that began eight months ago for the Boston Celtics in Europe ended in memorable fashion in front of a fanatical home crowd late Tuesday as they claimed their 17th NBA Championship in a 4-2 victory over the LA Lakers.

The decisive Game Six win was widely predicted, despite a long catalogue of mounting problems and distractions for the Celtics, but the manner of their victory, and the perfunctory effort from their beaten opponents, was staggering.

On a wider scale, the lopsided nature of Boston’s first Championship in 22 years - insanely popular as it proved in this sports-crazed city - was hardly what the league had been hoping for as their two most famous properties met for the tenth time in an NBA finals.

Interesting as each game was in its own right - not least for the manner in which Doc Rivers, the oft-maligned Boston coach, outsmarted the venerated Phil Jackson - none lived up to the pre-series hype or could be remotely described as a “classic.”

At least, for David Stern, the NBA Commissioner, who has battled all week against allegations from shamed former referee Tim Donaghy that play-off games are rigged by officials, the emphatic Game Six win surely eradicated such conspiracy theories.

The Celtics easily bettered their own record for the biggest winning margin in a deciding finals game - the 33 points by which they beat the Lakers in 1965 - and the outcome was decided long before half-time, by which time Boston led 58-35.

Kobe Bryant, whose reputation, along with that of Jackson, has been open to unflattering scrutiny and analysis throughout the series, began the game in staggering fashion, hitting eight points in the opening three minutes and 11 in the first five-and-a-half minutes as the Lakers stayed close. But as Boston’s stifling defence and tenacious effort began to take a grip of the game, Bryant missed all six of his second period shots and the Lakers were outscored 34-15.

The Celtics’ “Big Three” of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were on the way to achieving something they had failed to do in the previous five finals games - all play to their full potential on the same evening. Garnett, a huge disappointment in Sunday’s Game Five defeat in LA, had 17 of his 26 points in that first half alone, making eight of his 12 shots, and the Lakers were on the way to humiliation.

Allen (26 points) and Pierce (17 points, 10 assists) were ably aided by irrepressible point guard Rajon Rondo who hit 21 points and had an impressive six steals, although it was Pierce who was a unanimous selection as finals MVP, just one year after he agitated for a move from the club because of their apparent lack of ambition.

“This means everything,” said Pierce. “I’m not living under the shadows of the other greats now. I’m able to make my own history with my time here. 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 [championship] banner and today we did that.

“To work so hard, and for ten long years with the Boston Celtics, going through my ups and downs, this is what makes those other moments so sweet, knowing that you were at rock bottom a year ago today and to climb all the way to the top. This is a dream come true.”

The Celtics’ victory was all the more impressive given the problems they overcame in the six-game series. Pierce, Rondo and fellow starter Kendrick Perkins all battled through injuries and Allen was forced out of the final game for nearly 12 minutes after taking a poke in the eye.

Nor were Boston's problems limited to the physio room. Allen, who spent some of his childhood on a US Air Force base near Ipswich, nearly missed the game because he was forced to stay behind in LA where his son was taken ill. Then the entire Celtics squad only arrived home at midnight the day before Game Six after their plane developed technical trouble in LA.

Such obstacles were quickly forgotten as Boston, who credit their pre-season tour to Rome and London, where they played the Minnesota Timberwolves at the O2 Arena, as a key factor in the team-building process, eased towards the inevitable celebrations.

“We talked about adversity all year,” said Rivers. “And we kept saying that it had to come our way and we had to accept it and embrace it. We talked about that before the game this morning.

“I just basically said, and we said as a group, no excuses, don’t use them. We just don’t need them. I just thought we had a very tough team mentally in that way.”

Allen rained in four fourth period three-pointers to ensure those celebrations could start early as the lead built as high as 43 points and the Boston fans entertained themselves taunting Bryant with chants of “You’re no Jordan” - a sarcastic reference to comparisons between him and the legendary six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan.

Bryant finished with a tame 22 points but LA’s weakness was encapsulated by the statistics emanating from the supposedly strongest members of his supporting cast, Lamar Odom (14 points) and Spaniard Pau Gasol (11 points).