Celtics versus Lakers. Lakers versus Celtics.
You couldn't begin to imagine the feeling of anger I had when the Lakers beat the Spurs in five games. Five finals appearances in nine years? MVP Kobe in line to be the next MJ? Say it isn't so!
Then it happened, one day later. The Celtics knocked the Pistons off on the road in a game six thriller. Well, it was a thriller if you were a Celtics fan. I guess you could say I was thrilled about a pretty one-sided win. Even better, With a game 6 win to clinch the series, the Celts had an extra two days to rest that they wouldn't have had if they went to a game 7. That was a breath of fresh air for a team that went through two straight game 7's, including that amazing shootout against Cleveland.
All this adds up to the two of the best teams in the regular season at 100%, going at it 100%. Add in the whole Finals rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics and you've got the best Finals matchup in recent memory.
But this series has a lot to live up to. Sportswriters across the nation can't get enough of comparing this series to the last ten LA/Boston Finals, which is somewhat of an unfair comparison since time has elevated every player in those games to legendary status. Should we really be putting Kobe, Pau, KG, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen alongside the likes of Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, Sam Jones, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, John Havlicek, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Kareem, Magic, and even James Worthy? There's still much to be proven by our 2008 superstars and people should really wait after at least one game to see who raises their status from star to legend.
Unlike the press, I'm putting this series side-to-side with with another Finals that had nothing to do with Celtics or Lakers. I'm hoping this series will be as good or exceed what I believe to be the best Finals of the decade--the 2005 NBA Finals between the Spurs and Pistons.
Aside from being a grueling, slow series (grueling to watch at times, too), it featured amazing performances from a great cast of characters. The Pistons played four all-stars on their starting five of Chauncey, Rip, Tayshaun, Sheed, and Big Ben Wallace. This series was also the first real appearance of the big three for the Spurs now that Speedy Claxton left and Tony Parker had to take the reins of the main playmaker for the entire Finals. Both teams had excellent jump shooting, suffocating defenses, and quick slashers (Rip for Detroit and Parker for the Spurs). This series also featured two excellent, destined-to-be-hall-of-famers coaches at the top of their game (Greg Popovich and Larry Brown). The teams traded back-and-forth blows until reaching a game seven in San Antonio where the Spurs held on for a 81-74 win. This series also featured an incredible game 5 that ended in overtime--and a road win for the Spurs.The 2005 finals was great for hardcore basketball fans who love watching a good defensive play as much as a dynamic dunk. But for casual fans, this game was a nightmare. Neither team was flashy or quick, and both teams resided in small markets. All in all it was an unpopular series, but it remains one of the most highly competitive finals of the decade.
At least it got to a game 7.
The one thing this year's Finals has done better than its 2005 iteration is pull in the casual fans. The press is doing whatever it can to hearken the public back to the league's glory days in the 80's by writing about and showing as many moments from the '84, '85, and '87 finals as they can. Fine with me. It's always good to see Kareem elbowing Bird or McHale clotheslining Kurt Rambis--more the latter for me--but I wish that I didn't have to see it for one week straight while we're waiting for the finals to begin. Whatever it takes to get the nation to tune in, I guess.
But can the 2008 Finals match up to the intense and hard-fought nature of the 2005 Finals? We'll have to wait and see. As for the series itself...
I think this series will depend on who will show up. For the Celtics, the focus is still on Ray Allen, who returned to proper form in the Conference Finals but has yet to prove he can be consistent. Paul Pierce is expected to play his best series against the Lakers as he's historically played better against the team that he once saw growing up near the old Forum. Garnett will be Garnett. But the rest of the starters will have something to prove--especially Rondo, who can join the level of Tony Parker if he makes it out of the series with the title. Doc Rivers picked the best time to narrow his rotation, and the five starters along with James Posey, P.J. Brown, Sam Cassell, Eddie House and Big Baby will need to share the load on defense and the bench guys will need to play smart defense as they rotate back and forth on Kobe.
Kobe will show up, but what about the rest of the Lakers? As the playoffs kept going, Derek Fisher got good (against Denver), then got really good (against Utah) then sort of faded back into the background (against San Antonio). It seems like his performance depends on the defense he's up against. If that's the case, he'll have a hard time with the quicker Rajon Rondo. Where the Celtics have a giant hole on defense against Kobe, you could say Vladi Radmanovic is the human hole since he's a poor defender on the far superior Paul Pierce. The RadMan will have to prove he isn't a defensive liability for the Lakers if he wants to stay in. If not, it'll be up to Luke Walton to post up The Truth--again not an ideal scenario for LA. Pau Gasol will need to exploit his size mismatch with Kendrick Perkins when he gets to the post since that will be his best position to score. Any jumpers he will attempt could get blocked from behind by KG if he isn't careful. The true X-Factor for the Lakers has to be Lamar Odom. He's been playing his best basketball in the past few weeks but curbed that trend in his last couple of games against the Spurs. He'll need to be the second-leading scorer if the Lakers want to win.
In past blogs I've said or made hints regarding who I think will win. I'm not going to give a prediction this time, because the matchup is so close. These are the top seeds, two of the top three teams in the regular season (Detroit was second), and the two teams that landed blockbuster trades before the playoffs. Neither team matches up particularly well with each other--another reason why it's so hard to figure out who will win.Rest assured, this will go down as the most anticipated Finals in ten years. And for once people will be watching.
