On a new parquet floor below ageing championship banners, the Celtics won their 17th National Basketball Association title with a 131-92 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6.

After 22 long years, the NBA has gone green again.

It was the first title - at last - for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, Boston's 'Big Three' for a new generation.

Garnett scored 26 points, with 14 rebounds.

Allen, who on Sunday learnt that his 17-month-old son had diabetes, also scored 26.

And Pierce, the Finals' Most Valuable Player who shook off a sprained right knee suffered in Game 1, added 17 as the Celtics wrapped up their first title since 1986.

Last season, they had the league's second-worst record of 24 wins.

Garnett, who was stuck in Minnesota, waited 13 years for the moment. Allen, from Seattle, 12.

Brought together in trades last summer by the Celtics general manager Danny Ainge, a member of the '86 championship-winning team, they joined Pierce, the captain for 10 years, to form a trio as tight as the club's lucky shamrock logo.

They all checked out of the game together, with 4min 1sec left. Along with coach Doc Rivers, who lost his father at the beginning of this remarkable run, they could not hug each other enough.

'Knowing that you were at rock bottom a year ago, and to climb all the way to the top, this is a dream come true,' said Pierce, who averaged 21.8 points in the Finals. 'I'm going to cherish this forever.'

They earned the moment with relentless defence that held Kobe Bryant, perhaps the game's premier scorer, to 40 per cent shooting in the series.

He had 22 points in the finale, but just 11 points in the final three quarters.

Boston's 39-point win surpassed the NBA record for the biggest margin of victory in a championship clincher; the Celtics beat the Lakers 129-96 in Game 5 of the 1965 NBA Finals.

Unbridled emotion came over the Celtics as the final buzzer sounded. Eddie House, the sharpshooting reserve, fell to his knees at one free-throw line. Garnett kneeled at centre court and kissed the Celtics logo.

'I just want to say, other than my kid being born, this has got to be the happiest day of my life right now,' said Garnett, one of the greatest power forwards of his era whose intensity helped transform the Celtics this season.

It was Boston's first title since the 2006 passing of coach Red Auerbach, whose presence was the only thing missing on this night. But even he got some satisfaction.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson failed to overtake him with a 10th championship.

Boston missed their first crack at closing out the series in Game 5, but they did not miss on their second, running the Lakers out of the gym.

Bryant started 4-of-5 from the field and seemed intent on forcing a Game 7. But he missed seven shots in a row and, everywhere he went, LA's No 24 ran smack into a wall of Boston defence.

'They were definitely the best defence I've seen the entire play-offs,' Bryant said. 'I've seen some pretty stiff ones and this was right up there with them.'

With Garnett scoring 17 points and Pierce 10, Boston built a 58-35 half-time lead.

And, unlike Game 2 when they let the Lakers trim a 24-point lead to two in the fourth quarter before recovering, they never stopped.

They pushed their lead to 31 in the third. And, with the lead at 29 after three, plastic sheets were placed in their locker room in preparation for a champagne celebration.

And, as they had while winning 66 games during the regular season, the Celtics got plenty of help from their bench.

P.J. Brown, James Posey, Leon Powe and rookie Glen 'Big Baby' Davis came in and contributed.

'They came in with no egos,' Brown said, referring to Grant and Allen. 'Everything was about one thing - winning a championship. Everybody bought in.'

ASSOCIATED PRESS, NEW YORK TIMES

EMULATING THE GREATS

'I got my own. I got my own. I hope we made you proud.'

KEVIN GARNETT, to Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell. He was referring to the NBA championship ring