Who Wants It More? Celtics Or Lakers?
Unsung heroes are aplenty in the NBA Finals.
There was Glen “Baby” Davis scoring at will during a pivotal fourth-quarter run for Boston, as well as Nate Robinson adding more bench depth with his own scoring burst that allowed the Celtics to runaway with a 96-89 Game 4 win that tied up the championship series anew at two games apiece.
Davis played well too in Game 3, though his off-the-bench effort went for naught after Los Angeles veteran playmaker Derek Fisher stole the limelight in the final period after scoring 11 big points that gave the Lakers a 91-84 escape act.
Game 5 will still be at the TD Banknorth Garden, where the Boston fans are expected to come in droves to cheer their Celtics on with the hope of taking the series lead with a win.
It seems like Los Angeles have matured a lot since the 2008 Finals tussle it had with Boston. Of course, the Celtics were the better team that season, beating the Lakers in six games, including the title-clinching 39-point victory over their counterparts in Game 6.
The Lakers gained some measure of pride after capturing the NBA title last season, blasting the Orlando Magic in six games. And now, they are back in the Finals for the third straight season.
Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and the rest of the Laker gang are out to prove that gold-and-purple would paint the NBA town by season’s end. Though the green-and-white of Boston remains a team to reckon with.
Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and even Ray Allen are no longer the dominant figures in Boston’s second attempt for a title this year. But off-the-bench players like Davis, Robinson and even Tony Allen are providing the much-needed scoring and hustling for the 2008 champions.
Now that the series has been reduced to a best-of-three affair, whichever team wants the title more, and whichever team displays composure under pressure would end up champion.
Will it be the Lakers or the Celtics?
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Lakers’ Gold Outshines Celtics Green
A lot of my friends have said that green will be the color of the NBA Finals.
I’ve been a Laker fan since I was a boy, and the way the LA Lakers took Game One with authority (103-89), it sure looks like the purple-and-gold squad of coach Phil Jackson have learned their Finals debacle well from 2008.
Kobe Bryant, as usual, was his old, devastating self–finishing Game One with a monster game of 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists. He reached his 30th point after punctuating the game with a top-of-the-key three-pointer over Paul Pierce that brought the Staples Center crowd up on their feet.
Here are some post-game scenes I just noticed after the final buzzer sounded in Game One–Kevin Garnett scratched his head on his way out of the court, perhaps, wondering what went wrong even though the Celtics had a monstrous playoff run in their Eastern Conference series against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic.
Celtics players went back straight to their locker room heads bowed after being taught a neat lesson in basketball by the defending NBA champions.
Ron Artest sat at the bench as he waits for his turn to be interviewed by some court-side reporters on his first-ever Finals appearance in his career. He finished with 15 points, four rebounds, three assists and one shot block, while more importantly, shadowing Paul Pierce throughout the match.
Of course, the Staples Center crowd played a huge role in the Lakers’ 9-0 home playoff record this year.
Well, knowing the Celtics, I’m pretty sure they’d be coming back strong in Game Two. They’ve got the experience, they’ve got the heart and this series-opening defeat won’t be a damper to their title-reclaiming bid.
However, I just have a gut feel the Lakers are not gonna be surrendering their title, especially against their decades-long basketball nemesis.
The 2008 Finals Game 6 massacre doesn’t appear to bother the Lakers, but that may have been a motivating factor for them coming into the 2010 championship series.
The Celtics are probably “green” with envy as they watched the Lakers take Game One. Kobe and Co. now have a little momentum going for them as they go to Game Two.
Consistency on both the offensive and defensive end are keys for the Lakers in their title-retention bid. One down, three more and the NBA title is theirs.
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Gold Or Green In NBA 2010 Championship?
I know that a Boston Celtics-Los Angeles Lakers Finals clash in the NBA is quite thinking ahead. But unless the Phoenix Suns does something spectacular defensively against LA in Game 3, then the Celtics and the Lakers’ legendary Finals date would be a sealed deal already.
Boston holds a commanding 3-0 bulge against the listless Orlando five, which the Celtics completely outplayed and outhustled as evidenced in their 94-71 win before a wildly-cheering home crowd at the TD Banknorth in Boston.
If there’s anything, the Magic will only try to win at least one game to prevent an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Celtics, who are looking for their 18th league championship in a possible 21st Finals appearance.
But with the way Boston is playing in the Playoffs, it’s pretty obvious the Celtics will try to finish off the Magic, whose playoff luster completely vanished in the face of the resurgent defense of the green-and-white squad mentored by Doc Rivers.
In Game 3, the Magic were held to a woeful 39 percent shooting from the field. Dwight Howard, who scored 30 points in a Game 2 losing effort, was held down to just seven points and seven rebounds.
As the Celtics march into their second Finals appearance in three years, the Lakers (should they finally advance by beating the Suns in the West Finals) will face either one of the possibilities–get back at Boston, which humiliated them in six games, including the Game 6 clincher via a 131-92 victory, or allow the Celtics to bully them again in the Finals and let the season end in a green and white celebration.
Of course, if you ask Kobe Bryant and the rest of the Lakers, the 2008 Finals defeat would be their motivating factor as they try to make it back-to-back in their quest for NBA domination.
But with the rate the Celtics are playing, the NBA Finals will be one battle for the ages.
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Celtics and Lakers, Possible Renewal Of Rivalry
From the looks of it, the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers are on a collision course for the 2010 NBA Finals.
First, Lebron James and his souped-up Cleveland Cavaliers weren’t able to stop the rejuvenated Celtics five.
Second, after two exciting games in the Eastern Conference Finals, it appears that Orlando and its top center Dwight Howard just couldn’t find any answer against the rampaging Celtics.
With a commanding 2-0 lead in the series, Boston can finish off Orlando and make Howard’s team disappear via a sweep at the TD Banknorth in Boston where the green-and-white fans are expected to come in droves to cheer on their heroes for Games 3 and 4.
Over in the West, the Phoenix Suns are just another bunch of scorers incapable of playing tough defense. Just look over the Game 2 result, Lakers prevail again–124-112.
With Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and an injured Andrew Bynum doing much of the damage inside the paint, the Suns are just two games away from seeing their Finals hopes set.
The Lakers can sink the Suns’ dimming “lights” in Phoenix, Arizona when the series moves there for Games 3 and 4.
Boston is looking for its 18th league championship and a chance to re-establish its dominance in the NBA following its unceremonious loss to Orlando during last year’s playoffs match up.
But Los Angeles isn’t about to give up its crown that easy. Kobe Bryant, even with all his injuries in his finger and knees, remains a deadly scorer, facilitator and defender for the Lakers.
He issued his playoff-best 13 assists against the Suns in Game 2, allowing Gasol to dominate the paint and lead the Lakers in scoring as their dual efforts proved too much to overcome for Phoenix.
With two more wins to go before reaching the NBA Finals, Kobe and Co. sure have two birds to hit in one stone–defend their title successfully and avenge their 2008 Finals defeat against the Celtics–in case they meet again in the Finals.
A Celtics-Lakers Finals tussle isn’t a far-fetch idea by now. Just look at the eyes of Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant.
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Celtics & Magic: A Battle Of Two Beasts In The East
A lot has been said about Boston’s resurgence in the ongoing NBA Playoffs and how the Celtics bounced back from a 1-2 deficit to rout and eventually send Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to a long, hot summer in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
The series ended, 4-2 in the Celtics’ favor.
Everyone thought the Cavaliers are set to make the serious title run they’ve been dreaming all year long, especially since Cleveland added into its roster veterans like Shaquille O’Neal, Jamario Moon, Anthony Parker and the mid-season acquisition of Antawn Jamison.
But even with Shaq and Co. joining Lebron to give the Cavs the best regular season record, Cleveland rammed against a Boston five, determined to bring back the NBA championship to Beantown.
Now, the Celtics have one last hurdle to overcome in the East: the Magic.
When we talk of the Magic, the Celtics have to contend not just with the power-playing center Dwight Howard, who is Orlando’s double-double machine.
The Celtics also have to contend with outside threats like Rashard Lewis, Mikael Pietrus and the ageless Vince Carter, who at 33, has found some resurgence to his career.
Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are slowly finding their rhythm in the Playoffs, but the glue that brings the Celtic offense together is playmaker Rajon Rondo, who has added a character to the Boston Big Three as a member of the Green’s Fantastic Four.
Question is how the Celtics could keep pace with the Magic, who have great perimeter shooters. So even if they get to stop Howard inside the paint, the Magic can always rely on guys like Rashard Lewis, a vastly-improved Pietrus or even Carter.
Jameer Nelson has also regained his starting spot in the point guard position. He has directed the plays well for the Magic during their recent semifinals series against the Atlanta Hawks, whom they swept in four quick games.
Here are some puzzles Celtics coach Doc Rivers have to solve: Who would man Howard on the defensive end?
Can the Celtics react fluidly once the ball moves to the perimeter on the waiting hands of Lewis, Pietrus or Carter?
What adjustments will Rivers do should the series stretch beyond five games since Garnett, Pierce and Allen are now beyond age 33?
If Rivers can solve these Magic “puzzles”, the Celtics can step back in to the Finals, where the Los Angeles Lakers are expected to wait for them.
A Lakers-Magic rematch in the Finals would be an interesting series, though NBA fans surely would want a Lakers-Celtics rivalry. That would make David Stern grin from ear to ear and advertisers going crazy.
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