BOSTON — The end of a title chase always comes with uniquely somber imagery. It's not just the long faces and empty gazes. It's the industrial-size trash bags that fill the losing locker room.

One by one, the Boston Celtics filled those bags with their personal belongings late Thursday, like a group of kids at summer camp, quietly packing up the happy memories before trudging back to reality.

The Celtics were good enough to win 53 games, good enough to snatch the East's top perch in the...

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