The NBA Finals: Celtics vs. Lakers

OK it's the match up we've all been waiting for. Well at least since Lebron fizzled out of the playoffs a couple of rounds ago much like he did last year. This match up is intriguing on so many levels.

Preface

First of all there is the history. This is the 12th time these two teams will meet up in the finals. That's more than any other match up in any other major professional sport. For the record Boston leads the series 9-2 at the moment. Boston dominated the series early on with Bill Russell against Wilt and Jerry West's Lakers, but Magic Johnson was able to take 2 out of the 3 show downs against Larry Bird and the Celtics in the 80's. These are also the two franchises with the most NBA rings. Boston has 17 and Los Angeles has 15.

Secondly because of "current" history. These are for the large part the same two teams that met up in 2008. Boston won in 6 games including a record breaking comeback at the Staples Center in the series as well as a record breaking blowout to finish the series in Boston. In 2009 it looked as though we were headed for a rematch before Kevin Garnett injured his knee. He missed most of the second half of the season as well as the playoffs. Boston ended up losing in 7 games to the Orlando Magic who ended up losing to the Lakers in the finals. Many believe that the Celtics would have won it if Kevin Garnett hadn't been injured. This was also Kobe's first ring without Shaq.

Breakdown

What makes this match up any different than the one in 2008? Let's start with Boston. They do start the same 5 (Perkins, KG, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Rondo) as they did in 2008. In 2008 their key players off the bench were Leon Powe and James Posey. This year they have Rasheed Wallace, Glen Davis, and Tony Allen. The bench is pretty much a wash. The starting 5 however have experienced pretty significant changes even if the players are the same. The Big 3 are all older and ate least a step slower, most notably Kevin Garnett. He was a dominant top 10 player in the league when these two met in 2008. Now after 2 years of injuries he is a shell of his former self and is more of a role player on this years team. To make up for that though is the emergence of Rondo. The Celtics won despite of him in 2008, but now he is an integral part of their offense. They count on him to make big plays and set up the other players as well as play tenacious D on opposing guards. The Celtics strength still remains their defense as it was in 2008, and Doc Rivers knows how to get the most out of his veteran players.

The Lakers are somewhat different than they were in 2008 as well. First of all they are more experienced now after 2008 and winning the ring in 2009. In 2008 the players other than Kobe were pretty inexperienced in the playoffs. Now they are all playoff tested so we will see if they look like deer in headlights like they did in 2008 when they got pushed around inside. They also have two major additions in Artest and Bynum who were not there in 2008. Bynum will be key because the Laker bigs were pushed around by Boston last time around, and Artest will be key because he will be guarding Paul Pierce who won the Finals MVP award compared to last time when he was guarded by Vladamir Radmonovich.

Prediction

Kobe looks like Kobe again after the OKC series and he will be gunning for revenge in this series for 2008. We all saw in the PHX series what Kobe can do when he's motivated. The key I believe will be whether or not Ron Artest will be able to slow down Paul Pierce. Artest is known for his defense and he's put it on display this offseason, but Paul Pierce has done well against him in the past so we will see. If Bynum can stay on the floor and avoid injury and fouls than that will also give huge help to Pau Gasol who would then be able to play the PF position instead of C.

In the end I'm picking the Celtics in 7 because I think they will give the Lakers problems downlow and because of how they defend. As Doc Rivers said this starting 5 is undefeated in the playoffs.

Here's to a hopefully great finals match up!