Boston Celtics: Remember when Glen Davis and Nate Robinson won a Finals game?

On a Boston Celtics team with four All-Stars, role players Glen Davis and Nate Robinson led the way to a Game 4 win in the 2010 Finals.

The Boston Celtics presence in the 2010 NBA Finals was a surprise unto itself. Four All-Star caliber players — Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo — were on the roster, but a fourth-place Eastern Conference finish hardly yielded much confidence in a squad many started believing had passed its championship window.

A convincing five-game opening-round victory over the Miami Heat was a good place to start. Taking down LeBron James and the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference-semis shifted the perception quite a bit.

After avenging the previous year’s elimination to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals, Boston was suddenly set to add an unexpected chapter in its storied rivalry with the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals.

Come Game 4, however, their chance of two titles in three years was up in the air.

The Celtics had emerged from the first two games in LA with homecourt advantage but quickly squandered it in Game 3. Pierce had shot just 36.1 percent through the first three games. Allen was at 34.1, including a horrid Game 3 goose egg on 13 looks, including eight attempts from beyond the arc.

Already facing the prospect of having to clinch on the road, another loss would put the Cs in a hole no Finals team had come out of at that point.

Glen Davis was a rookie when the Celtics won the 2008 title, but he was more known for the origins behind his Big Baby nickname.

Before the 2009-10 season began, Davis broke his thumb amid an altercation, costing him the first two months of the season and the trust of head coach Doc Rivers. While he eventually made his way back into the rotation, a lack of maturity and conditioning threw his contributions up in the air on a nightly basis.

Nate Robinson had arrived in February as part of a cap-clearing deal by the New York Knicks. An inconsistent spark plug and at times headcase in New York, Boston’s Finals run had been his first taste of the postseason, and it showed with just under 24 total minutes through the first three games against LA.

Unsung heroes have emerged as characters to many championship stories. John Paxson and Steve Kerr hit respective title-clinching shots for the Chicago Bulls in 1993 and 1997. James Posey‘s 18 points helped Boston complete a series-altering comeback in Game 4 of the 2008 Finals.

On a team with Boston’s top-level talent, neither Davis nor Robinson would ideally be called upon for much at such a crucial point in the season, but some of the Celtics’ struggles had permeated into Game 4, where Allen, Garnett and Rondo combined to shoot 14-of-39 from the field, opening the door for the journeymen to form an unlikely duo.

The two started the final frame with Boston down two points. After subbing out at the 2:51 mark, the Cs held an eight-point lead they’d ride to a victory to tie up the series at two games apiece.

During that stretch, Davis played perhaps some of the best ball of his career, pacing the Celtics in fourth-quarter scoring with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting and 3-of-3 from the stripe.

He spun past Lamar Odom for a reverse layup and bodied through Pau Gasol for a physical finish. After scoring nine points through the first three quarters, Davis’ doubling of his points total shook the TD Garden crowd and sparked an early 9-0 run that proved all the difference.

Robinson was coming off a solid first half of six points on two 3-pointers in seven minutes. He’d double it, finishing third on Boston’s scoring chart in the quarter, with two assists and a steal in his nine minutes of fourth-quarter action.

With the likely fate of the season hanging in the balance, Rivers played three of his All-Stars less than three minutes each during that final frame. Allen spearheaded the unit alongside Davis, Robinson, Tony Allen and Rasheed Wallace.

Both Davis and Robinson were a plus-eight in helping Boston regain and stretch out a lead, diving on the parquet hardwood for loose balls that resulted in five huge points — a Davis layup and and-one finish.

Boston would, of course, lose the Finals to the Lakers in a brutal seventh game. Davis was a much-needed presence on the glass in the absence of Kendrick Perkins with nine rebounds in under 21 minutes. Robinson was scoreless in three and a half minutes in the 83-79 defeat.

The old sports cliche tells every role players and bench warmer to be prepared for the one chance they might have to make a significant impact.

We saw it when Mike Miller hit seven 3-pointers in Game 5 to help Miami secure the 2012 title. Robert Horry earned seven rings living by that motto.

Having their efforts result in a championship would’ve been nice, but by staying ready and pouncing at the opportunity, Davis and Robinson’s unexpected contributions carved out the smallest of spots in Celtics’ history.