His knees were bent, his elbow was locked and loaded, his wrist was cocked and the basket seemed five times the size of Jordan Farmar’s ears. When last night’s game was all over, Ray Allen had completed the best shooting performance in NBA Finals history. But he wasn’t the real story of the game. Not when all truths we Celtics fans consider self-evident again became, well, evident.

The Celtics made every play down the stretch, overcame everything the Lakers and three Hellen Keller-esque referees threw their way, and once again showed why all Kobe Bryant-Michael Jordan comparisons were proven false two seasons ago. 48 minutes of basketball later my fingernails are completely gone, my hair is partially gray and my neighbors are wondering who the hell Mike Callahan is — there is no way they didn’t hear my primal screams calling Callahan (the ref) a “blind, pussy-ass bitch.”

So, besides the blatant referee home cooking, what exactly did the Celtics overcome? Pau Gasol once again played like the best big man on the planet; Andrew Bynum played like the second-best; Kevin Garnett played even worse than he did in Game 1 — he regressed from Mikki Moore to Andrew DeClerq; the entire C’s frontcourt was in foul trouble; Paul Pierce’s shooting percentage was worse than Andy Garcia’s mustache; Sasha Vujacic pretended to be a reliable sub; and Shelden Williams spent his 4:13 of playing time either 1) trying his best to get cut, or 2) fully believing he was on the Lakers payroll.

All that, and the Celtics still won. They did it the same way they won the championship two seasons ago, the same way they took Orlando to seven games last season even without KG, and the same way they advanced to the NBA Finals this season — with lock-down defense, timely offense and an unwillingness to wilt down the stretch. Also, they even grabbed a few rebounds. More than LA, in fact. (Even Doc Rivers wanted it more than any Laker — didn’t you see him Usain Bolt his way onto the court to call timeout and save the C’s from an eight-second violation? And then Scal go give him what was almost a full-fledged man-hug? I damn near cried tears of joy; that shit was touching.)

Plus, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo were pretty decent. All Allen did in the first half was toss flames into the bucket, kind of like a Bizarro Ron Artest. And Rondo? He made every play down the stretch — too many offensive rebounds to explain, that ridiculous block of Derek Fisher, the wrap-around steal on Kobe, and buckets and dimes galore. Is there anything Rondo can’t do on the basketball court? You will probably immediately respond “shoot,” but when the Celtics desperately needed a jumper Rondo was right there with a clutch 17-footer. He was already an All-Star but has become a flat-out superstar, tonight outplaying the player everyone hailed as the world’s best only five days ago.

That’s right, Kobe Bryant was considered the best player in the world five days ago. Seems a little weird now. Now, he’s just the latest in a long line of superstars who appear dazed and confused after playing the Boston Celtics. I know he battled foul trouble last night, but if Kobe was really the world’s best player, if he should really be considered anywhere near Michael Jordan in the pantheon of NBA superstars, wouldn’t he be his team’s greatest strength? But he’s not — the Lakers’ frontcourt is. And if Kobe were anywhere near Michael, wouldn’t he undoubtedly be his team’s best option every single night come crunch-time? Tonight, he wasn’t. While Kobe forced some ugly jumpers that helped let the Celtics win the game, Gasol and Bynum stood five feet away from the hoop wishing they could get their hands on the goddamn ball. Kobe is great, amazing even, but he’s not the world’s best, and he still can’t figure out Tom Thibodeau’s defense.

But the Celtics wouldn’t have been in the position to hold Kobe off down the stretch if it weren’t for some key minutes from some reserves. Rasheed Wallace suddenly looks like a better player than Kevin Garnett, Tony Allen had some solid — if not great — minutes, Nate Robinson had two enormous buckets, and Glen Davis, despite seeing almost half his shots swallowed by Bynum, still managed to affect the game with his energy. (Davis also nearly caused two separate earthquakes by diving on the floor during the fourth quarter.)

Put it all together and the basketball world has been repaired to its rightful state. The Celtics are the most mentally-tough team in the universe and the Lakers squandered a winnable game down the stretch.

Sounds just right, doesn’t it?