By Brian A. Lester

People tried their hardest during the playoffs to convince me that the Boston Celtics were a team of destiny. Some daring individuals went as far to say that these Celtics were as good as the Celtics who won three NBA championships in the 1980s.

Each time I laughed. Each time I shook my head and argued that Boston was not good enough to win an NBA title.

Today, I no longer have to worry about convincing the non-believers that the Celtics are not championship material.

The New Jersey Nets, the best the Eastern Conference has to offer -- at least according to the final regular-season standings -- earned the right to be the sacrificial lamb of Los Angeles or Sacramento in the NBA Finals with a 96-88 victory Friday night in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference championship series.

It's not so much a surprise that the Celtics are currently on vacation as it is how they actually got there.

Boston went into Friday's game with its back to the wall. Down three games to two, the Celtics needed to come through with their best game of the season. Instead, Boston's two superstars transformed into the second coming of Bill Buckner and broke the hearts of Boston fans one more time.

Instead of going off for career-high games and forcing a do-or-die seventh game, Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker evaporated like puddles of water in the hot Florida sun when their team needed them most, combining for just three points in the final quarter.

The Celtics were only down by a point (70-69) heading into the final period and it certainly wasn't too much for Boston fans to expect their two biggest stars to play like stars in the most important game of their team's season. Anything even close to a star-like effort would have probably produced a Boston victory. The day would have been saved and the fate of the Celtics might have been decidedly different.

As it is, Pierce and Walker will be remembered for what they didn't do in Game 6. Together, they hit just one of nine shots from the floor and went scoreless over the final 11 minutes of the game. Walker finished with 16 points. Pierce pumped in just 14.

Sure, the Nets deserve some credit for the ineffectiveness of Boston's dynamic duo, but in a game where the end of the season rests on 48 minutes of basketball, good players are expected to play hard and play well. Maybe that type of performance doesn't always result in a victory, but at least the players can walk off the court knowing they put forth their best possible effort.

It will no doubt be a long offseason for the Celtics and their fans. Yes, they can take comfort in the fact that this was the Celtics' best season since 1995 and that the team went further than almost anyone ever expected. However, they will also have to realize that Pierce and Walker were not ready to take Boston to the next level. At least not yet.

This just wasn't the Celtics' year, but that's fine because Boston fans are used to waiting for the next one by now.

Brian Lester is a sports writer in Ohio and can be reached via e-mail at BAL4@hotmail.com.