CELTICS

Nine years ago, Paul Materazzo was just a guy from Cambridge who liked basketball and getting together with pals from his alma mater, Westfield State College, for a Celtics game. Now, he’s the Andover Planning Director — and with the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, heading to the new Garden has a whole new meaning. Game 4 of the NBA championship round will be tonight, Thursday in Los Angeles.

Sure, Materazzo may be too sleepy to talk about master planning on Friday thanks to the 9 p.m. start — but everybody else will be too. “Yeah, I’m tired, but so excited,” said Materazzo, who splits two coveted seats among five college pals. “We have been waiting for this. “For me, I remember Bill Walton coming to my school when I was a fourth-grader,” he said. “There’s that much more of a connection.”

Basketball fans know it’s been a long time coming. Andover High students — heck, most college students — who just graduated weren’t alive the last time the team was in the Finals, 1987.
While this is a new experience for them, for longtime Celtics season ticket holders, this is a return to glory, like the 1986 Championship team. They have been patiently waiting for a stab at the championship in this land of the repeat winners, the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots.

Howard Kessler is a self-described big basketball fan who is sitting pretty in the playoffs as he’s been a Celtics season ticket holder for 45 years. He, too, splits his tickets among friends.
“They have come back fast this year,” he said. “And I feel pretty darn good about it.” Kessler counts Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo as his No. 1 players. “I really like all of the guys,” he said. “It’s a great mix of veterans and young players. I also like Leon Powe and (Glen) Big Baby Davis.”