Boston restricts access near Garden after Celtics game first quarter

So you want to join the reveling crowd outside TD Garden should the Celtics win the NBA championship? You better head out early.

Boston police said it will cut off car and pedestrian access to several streets synonymous with Garden-area nightlife after the first quarter of Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Dallas Mavericks. That includes all of Causeway Street, and the streets between Causeway and New Chardon streets.

Even if you're in the area before the quarter ends, police won't allow you to just carouse along the streets either.

"There will also be no re-entry to any establishments w/in that area at halftime," police wrote in a post on X.com, formerly Twitter.

The clampdown comes as the Celtics sit one game away from clinching their 18th NBA championship. A less gracious reporter would note that a win makes Boston the team with the most league championships, one ahead of hated rival Los Angeles Lakers, who have collected a mere 17 Larry O'Brien trophies.

This is the C's second shot at winning this year's championship: The team was poised to sweep the series Friday night but lost in a blowout, just hours after The Boston Globe published an article speculating on the logistics of a post-sweep championship parade. These two facts are purely coincidental, of course.