Kevin Garnett whoops it up on the parquet floor in Tuesday's 131-92 Celtics win. (Charles Krupa/Associated Press)

The return of the Big Three heralded the return to championship form for the Boston Celtics, who annihilated Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers 131-92 in Game 6 of the NBA final on Tuesday night.

It was the biggest margin of victory in a championship clincher, surpassing Boston's 129-96 win over the Lakers in Game 5 of the 1965 NBA final.

"Defence," Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said. "I said, 'Defence.'

"We play defence, we're going to win the world championship and that is what they did. They were phenomenal all year."

Led by Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce — the Big Three for a new generation — the Celtics took the best-of-seven series 4-2 for their first title in 22 years and league record 17th overall — on June 17th, no less.

"It seems like everything has worked out all year," Allen said. "We respect each other and we're here sitting on championship No. 17."

"We said, 'This is the reason we came here, this is the reason we got together,'" Garnett told reporters. "This is the reason right here."

Garnett poured in 26 points, pulled down 14 rebounds and doled out four assists with three steals as Boston dominated Los Angeles at both ends of the parquet floor.

Allen matched Garnett with 26 points on eight-of-12 shooting, including a blistering seven-of-nine from beyond the arc.

Pierce had 17 points, 10 assists, three rebounds and two steals before the trio took a well-deserved seat on the bench with 4:01 remaining and Boston leading 116-81.

"They came in as a group and I thought we should take them out as a group," Rivers said. "They all said 'Thank you' and I said 'Thank you' back.

"Paul — it is just so sweet. He just kept saying 'Thank you, thank you. Thank you for sticking with me again,' and I kept saying the same thing to him. So it was really a nice moment."

As expected, Pierce, the sixth-leading scorer in franchise history, was named the most valuable player in the final.

He had competed in 63 playoff games before winning his first title — the longest drought in Celtics annals.

"It means everything," Pierce said. "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 banner. Today, we did that."

Rajon Rondo contributed 21 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and six steals in a balanced performance for Boston.

"He is the one pure point guard on our team that has the ability to make plays," Rivers said.

Boston went from worst to first this season, parlaying a record 42-win turnaround into the league's best record at 66-16.

Garnett and Allen sparked the transformation, combining with Pierce to ignite the offence and working with Kendrick Perkins and James Posey to form the NBA's stingiest defence.

The trio promptly restored the lustre to Boston basketball, earning the Big Three nickname given to Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish in the 1980s.

McHale, presently GM of the Minnesota Timberwolves, negotiated the trade with former Celtics teammate Danny Ainge that brought Garnett to Boston.

"I got my own, I got my own," Garnett told Celtics legend Bill Russell, owner of 11 championship rings. "I hope we made you proud."

"You sure did," Russell replied.

"Everybody stuck with me throughout all the hard times," Pierce told the 18,624 delirous fans on hand at TD Banknorth Garden. "I know we didn't have a lot of great years, but you guys stuck with me and now we bring home a championship to you."

Boston is the third team in 58 years to miss the playoffs one season and win it all the next.

The others were the Golden State Warriors in 1975 and the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977.

"We had bumps along the road," Allen said. "There was frustration.

"But we always came back to each other as a team and … everything we went through was definitely worth it. We know exactly what it takes to be the best."

Allen swatted in left eye

Allen had eight points in eight minutes when he was swatted in the left eye by Lakers forward Lamar Odom on a baseline drive.

Allen bolted for the locker-room, but he returned to the bench — and to a rousing ovation — with 6:05 left in the first half, and re-entered the contest with Boston leading 43-31 with 4:44 on the clock.

"I was wondering what happened to Ray," Pierce said. "When Ray got back out there, it kind of fueled us.

"We pushed the lead up to over 20 when he came back and it was just like, 'Hey, it is about to be lights out.'"

Allen tied a playoff record for three-point baskets in a championship game with seven, and set a record with 21 in the championship final.

Bryant led the Lakers with 22 points, but he was held to seven-of-22 shooting by Boston's tenacious team defence.

"I have seen some pretty stiff ones [defences] and this was right up there with them," he said. "They were the best defence … in the entire playoffs."

Odom had 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, followed by Jordan Farmar with 12 points and Pau Gasol with 11.

"We have to get some players if we're going to come back and repeat — to have that kind of aggressiveness that we need," said Lakers head coach Phil Jackson, who was denied a record 10th league title.

Jackson's nine titles — six with the Chicago Bulls and three with Los Angeles — matches the league record set by the late Red Auerbach, the most revered head coach in Celtics history.

"This win is for Red Auerbach," Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck said. "Red believed in our ownership group and got it done."

"Somewhere, Red is lighting up a cigar," NBA commissioner David Stern said.

Celtics took complete control

The Lakers were sparked early by a trio of three-point baskets from Bryant, who finished four-for-five for 11 points in the first quarter.

But he missed all six field-goal attempts in the second, settling for three points on free throws as the Celtics took complete control of the contest.

"He started out so strong and then, I think, he only made three field goals the rest of the game, so that really was a change," Jackson said. "I think one of the things they did is they really focused on him and made sure that he was not going to be the guy that hurt them and we did not have guys step up."

Eddie House and James Posey combined to score every point in a pivotal 11-0 run that put the Celtics ahead 43-29 with 5:20 left to the break.

After Posey capped the burst with Boston's fifth three-pointer of the opening half, Pierce hit two free throws to make it 49-34 with three minutes remaining.

Garnett then went to work, popping in a jumpshot, feeding Rondo in the key for a one-handed runner, stealing the ball and, on a pick 'n roll with Pierce, hit a one-handed bank shot as he was fouled by Odom.

Garnett swished the foul shot to complete the sequence, and put the Celtics up 56-35 with 47.3 seconds left.

With 22 seconds left, Perkins blocked a shot from Odom and ran the floor to score on a layin off the glass as Boston closed out the first half on a 26-6 run.

"They broke the game [open] when they got ahead by 23 points at halftime and we did not respond to it," Gasol said.

Boston has reached the NBA final 20 times, knocking off the Lakers in nine of 11.

The Celtics have won championships over the Lakers in 1959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1984 and 2008; Los Angeles won in 1985 and 1987 — both in six games.

The storied rivals have combined to win 31 of 62 league titles.

With files from the Associated Press