NBA Finals match-up.

[Jeff Scott]

People (National media) are finally giving the Celtics their due in these playoffs. I understand why there was doubt, but I also think they got too caught up in the "sexy" teams.

I know this is putting the cart before the horse, but I imagine if a person is simply a fan of basketball, they want to see a Celtics/Lakers match-up for the NBA Finals. As a fan of the Boston Celtics, I'm not sure that facing the Lakers gives them the best chance at winning a title, but I'm hoping these two teams meet up anyways. When they met in '08, we all talked about the rivalry being renewed. We said it, but I'm not sure it really felt like it. I mean, the Lakers have been dominant for the past 10 years and the Celtics were terrible for most of that time. Then in '08 the C's beat the Lakers for the title. In '09 the Lakers won it. Now it's looking like the past two Champions will meet in the finals. THIS time it really feels like a rivalry. The Lakers will be looking to defend their title and avenge their loss in '08 and the Celtics will be looking to prove they can still be Champions. It really seems like the perfect set-up for a real battle in the finals. Even if I wasn't a Boston fan, I'd be looking forward to it. Is it just my bias, or could this be one of the best finals in a long time?

Then I'm hoping that Boston sweeps, by an average of 1 point!

[Ryan Plott]

It's a good storyline but if the teams meet Bynum will be playing in these finals, he did not in '08. Neither did Ron Artest. I think it will be a much better finals than the '08 one, granted that the nucleus players of both teams remain healthy.

[Ryan Scott]

We'll see if the Celtics can redeem themselves from losing the 1980's to the Lakers. So far it's 1-1 in this generation.

[Jeff Scott]

It's a good storyline but if the teams meet Bynum will be playing in these finals, he did not in '08. Neither did Ron Artest. I think it will be a much better finals than the '08 one, granted that the nucleus players of both teams remain healthy.

I agree. I think both teams are better. I think the Lakers are much better. Unfortunately!

[Greg Farra]

luv them lakers!

[Scott Moseley]

I guess the NBA would luv another LA / Boston match up. Look for officiating to steer it that way. But I too given the choice, would like to see the two teams got at it again even though i think its entirely unfair for a major market to have so much success in pro sports. I mean what season do u guys in Boston not look forward too?

[Ryan Plott]

I agree. I think both teams are better. I think the Lakers are much better. Unfortunately!

Yes, the Lakers definitely have the edge in talent but Boston just keeps surprising me in these playoffs. I think it will be interesting to see the strategy Boston employs in attacking the Lakers.

[Jeremy D. Scott]

So far it's 1-1 in this generation.

Can you explain this? If you mean head-to-head, it's 1-0 Celtics. If you mean like with this cropping of players, it's more difficult to say, but I'd have to put it at 4-1 Lakers.

[Jeff Scott]

I mean what season do u guys in Boston not look forward too?

Hockey. Although I think that too is beginning to change.

This was once a hockey town. Hockey fans say that it still is. It's probably more like a hockey front running town.

[Ryan Scott]

Can you explain this? If you mean head-to-head, it's 1-0 Celtics. If you mean like with this cropping of players, it's more difficult to say, but I'd have to put it at 4-1 Lakers.

Celtics won two years ago, Lakers won last year. It's not about head-to-head, it's just the number of championships. Just like how the 1986 Celtics' title counted even though the Lakers got upset in the West.

The Shaq Lakers were too long ago. This is Kobe-Gasol vs the new look Celtics. I'm only counting the time when both teams are good.

[John Brickley]

Hockey. Although I think that too is beginning to change.

This was once a hockey town. Hockey fans say that it still is. It's probably more like a hockey front running town.

Maybe in the 70's Boston was a hockey town but it has definitely been a baseball town since then. I would dare say that even in the 80's with the Celtics greatness, it was still at heart a Red Sox town. The truth is that Boston is an incredible sports town (the greatest sports town in the country IMHO) and they support all of their teams well and they are LOYAL. But in the end of the day our first love is the Sox.

John

[Jeremy D. Scott]

Maybe in the 70's Boston was a hockey town but it has definitely been a baseball town since then. I would dare say that even in the 80's with the Celtics greatness, it was still at heart a Red Sox town. The truth is that Boston is an incredible sports town (the greatest sports town in the country IMHO) and they support all of their teams well and they are LOYAL. But in the end of the day our first love is the Sox.

John

John - You are absolutely right that Boston is not primarily a hockey town. It is indeed more of a hockey town than most others, but it is not a hockey town primarily.

However, I disagree with the whole Red Sox thing. This has been true for the vast majority of history and may return to being true, but it's not right now. The Patriots are on par if not having already surpassed the Red Sox, even with the first World Series trophy in a long, long time. Some have even said that it's because the Red Sox won that interest has waned.

The Red Sox are indeed the "cool thing to do" in town. But the fan base has grown increasingly unknowledgeable about baseball, the Red Sox, or the history.

[John Brickley]

Yeah I can certainly see (even from a distance) that there has been a shift among Red Sox fans. However, that image of the crowd at the first Patriots Super Bowl rally chanting "Yankees suck" is pretty hard to get out of my mind, while the fan base has certainly seen a change over the last few years, I still think that the Sox are the first love for most of us Boston fans, and this present team is doing a pretty good job of breaking our hearts so maybe these new fans will begin to understand just a little bit of what being a true Sox fan is all about.

[John Brickley]

To get this thread back on track, I am going to officially say I was completely wrong (I did not think the Celts would get past Cleveland and I thought Orlando was going to win the whole thing) and pick the Celtics to win the Championship in 6. I am amazed at how they have turned it on at the right time and I don't think the Lakers (as good as they are) have an answer for the balance that the Celtics will through at them. The Lakers seem a lot like Orlando to me, an easy road through the playoffs thus far but about to run into a team that offers depth and balance the likes of which they have not yet encountered in the playoffs. I think the Lakers are to good to not win one or two games in a series with the Celtics, but I do not see it going seven.

[Greg Farra]

To get this thread back on track, I am going to officially say I was completely wrong (I did not think the Celts would get past Cleveland and I thought Orlando was going to win the whole thing) and pick the Celtics to win the Championship in 6. I am amazed at how they have turned it on at the right time and I don't think the Lakers (as good as they are) have an answer for the balance that the Celtics will through at them. The Lakers seem a lot like Orlando to me, an easy road through the playoffs thus far but about to run into a team that offers depth and balance the likes of which they have not yet encountered in the playoffs. I think the Lakers are to good to not win one or two games in a series with the Celtics, but I do not see it going seven.

I sure hope you're wrong again!!!!

[John Brickley]

Well we will see but for sure the Lakers have yet to face anyone of the caliber of the Celtics yet.

[Jeremy D. Scott]

Dear NBA:

May we introduce you to something? It's called defense. In most any game (football, baseball, basketball), it has often been tried to show that good defense wins over good offense. I know that this is hard to understand with puppet commercials, sports drinks, slam dunks, all-star games, shoe endorsements, and other individualistic-leaning understandings of the game. But if you want to see it in action, feel free to watch the 2010 Boston Celtics: a team on which the leading scorer might be one of seven or eight individuals on any given night, where hustle and sacrifice of the body take the place of assumption and complacency, and where a team championship is all that matters (you can keep your individual season awards, MVPs, and highlight reels).

Sincerely,

Old School Basketball

[Jeremy D. Scott]

Dear NBA:

May we introduce you to something? It's called defense. In most any game (football, baseball, basketball), it has often been tried to show that good defense wins over good offense. I know that this is hard to understand with puppet commercials, sports drinks, slam dunks, all-star games, shoe endorsements, and other individualistic-leaning understandings of the game. But if you want to see it in action, feel free to watch the 2010 Boston Celtics: a team on which the leading scorer might be one of seven or eight individuals on any given night, where hustle and sacrifice of the body take the place of assumption and complacency, and where a team championship is all that matters (you can keep your individual season awards, MVPs, and highlight reels).

Sincerely,

Old School Basketball

Doc Rivers deserves a lot of credit...he really does. (Tom Thibadeau, too.) When Doc insisted on playing Tony Allen when no one else trusted that he could do anything, we all whined. And now Tony Allen is for real - a GREAT role player. And Rivers has sold this team on defense (again).

[Jeff Scott]

Dear NBA:

May we introduce you to something? It's called defense. In most any game (football, baseball, basketball), it has often been tried to show that good defense wins over good offense. I know that this is hard to understand with puppet commercials, sports drinks, slam dunks, all-star games, shoe endorsements, and other individualistic-leaning understandings of the game. But if you want to see it in action, feel free to watch the 2010 Boston Celtics: a team on which the leading scorer might be one of seven or eight individuals on any given night, where hustle and sacrifice of the body take the place of assumption and complacency, and where a team championship is all that matters (you can keep your individual season awards, MVPs, and highlight reels).

Sincerely,

Old School Basketball

It's certainly telling when the highest scorer on the winning team of a blowout is a crazy (in a funny way) caboose bench player that has a 3 inch vertical leap.

[Scott Moseley]

hmmm not so fast Celts n Lakers... the NBA has more Ad space left to sell before the East Coast / West coast Main event.

[Jeremy D. Scott]

Last night's game was abysmal. WARNING: Homer Whining ahead

Okay, Kevin Garnett gets away with a lot of elbows, petty shoves, etc. But Dwight Howard is King of it. His cheap shots are different though: he continually follows through on fouls, pushing people to the floor. You might expect it to happen sometimes. But Howard seems to be intentionally trying to hurt people. His elbow that gave Glen Davis a concussion last night may have looked inadvertent, but after a while, multiple "inadvertent" elbows begin to imply that they aren't so accidental. The reffing last night was pathetic. The first technical on Perk was more of a foul on Howard when he elbowed Perk to get him out of the way. The second technical...I don't even know what to say about that. Perk whines a lot, but a ref has to know what's going on in the game better than that.

The Celtics did not lose last night just due to the refs. But the refs sure did what they could to make sure they didn't have a chance.

[Mike Schutz]

Nice game by the Cs to finish the series.

[Greg Farra]

Well, good start for the Lakers.

[Gina Stevenson]

Well, good start for the Lakers.

... and I was hoping, when hearing they were playing the Suns in the western division that the Suns might pull it off this time.

[Jeremy D. Scott]

Great game last night. Ray Allen was vintage, but Rajan Rondo was again the key.

Okay, rant ahead:

Acknowledgements:
1. Phil Jackson is one of the two best NBA coaches of all-time. He's obviously a great, great coach.
2. I complain quite a bit about the reffing in the NBA. I think it's horrible.

But...I don't think it's been horrible in either game this series so far. Phil Jackson spent almost his whole press conference complaining about the reffing last night. He does it a lot. And usually, we pass it off as a zen-like mindtrick to get calls his way. Well last night, he just sounded like a big whiner. I remember it two years ago, too, after the same exact game (Game 2) where Leon Powe contributed quite a bit. He said, "I've never seen a game like that in all these years I've coached the Finals. Unbelievable....I'm more struck at the fact that Leon Powe gets more foul shots than our whole team does in 14 minutes of play. That's ridiculous...I have no question about the fact that my players got fouled but didn't get to the line. It's the illusion that's created. The referees referee an illusion."

He should start paying attention to changing plays, making adjustments, and teaching his team what defense is (because frankly...while Ray Allen was hot, he should never have had that many easy opportunities, although the Lakers did a much better job in the second half mainly due to Kobe's defense...which took Kobe's offense away).

By the way, the Celtics were in foul trouble just as much as the Lakers last night. LA went to the line considerably more (41-26), though the actual fouls were exactly the same (29 each).

[Ryan Scott]

We do indeed have a series now. Boston is not likely to win more than 1 game in LA, so holding home court will be essential for them. Hopefully their old legs can handle the travel and short turnaround time. If LA wins even one in Boston, it will be tough for the Celtics to pull it out.

[David Troxler]

Series tied at 2 games. Looking more like a 7 game series. Go Celtics!

[Jeremy D. Scott]

Great game last night. I watched Phil Jackson's postgame interview out of curiosity to see what he'd say because he surely couldn't complain about the refs again (the Celtics only shot 13 FTs in the whole game). He didn't complain about the refs, but he was definitely in a sour mood. I would love for the Celtics to win this series for a number of reasons, but one of them is so that it can be said that though Phil Jackson has more championships than Red Auerbach, he never could beat the Celtics.

Again, if the Celtics win the series, I was pondering who the MVP would be, but it's not easy to say. There are obviously 1-2 more games to play, but if I had to guess, I would go with Rondo. It's a tough decision though because no one stands out. ...I guess that's what team basketball looks like.

[Ryan Plott]

Great game last night. I watched Phil Jackson's postgame interview out of curiosity to see what he'd say because he surely couldn't complain about the refs again (the Celtics only shot 13 FTs in the whole game). He didn't complain about the refs, but he was definitely in a sour mood. I would love for the Celtics to win this series for a number of reasons, but one of them is so that it can be said that though Phil Jackson has more championships than Red Auerbach, he never could beat the Celtics.

I would like to see Jackson and Auerbach coach head to head. Completely different coaching styles and offensive strategies. Of course, it's a pipe dream but I still think it would be a great battle. The triangle vs. the half court with the Zen Master and Auerbach at the reigns. That would be a thing of beauty.

If Bynum gets healthy(which probably won't happen) I could see the Lakers pulling it out but it's amazing that Boston has the lead in this series when the only game where Pierce, Allen, and Garnett all finally decided to show up. For that reason I'd definitely agree with your pick of Rondo if the Celt's win. He's the only Celt's starter who's been consistent.

[Jeremy D. Scott]

All right, props to the Lakers. Some early reflections:

1. The better team on the court won tonight.
2. I knew that Kendrick Perkins was valuable, but I didn't know he was that valuable.
3. Before tonight, I wanted the Celtics to sign Ray Allen. Now I'm not so sure. Well, I suppose I still do, but if anyone disappointed us the most tonight, I think it was him. His defense on Kobe was very good, but Ray missed too many shots.
4. I see that people on FB are already comparing the disappointment to the 2007 Super Bowl. No way...not in my book. The Celtics were a #4 seed, with an aged starting five, beat the two "best" teams in the NBA to make it to the Finals and then took the third "best" team six and seven-eighths games. The Pats should not have lost that game.
5. If the Celtics make the Finals next year, I will be very surprised.

[Ryan Scott]

I think the Lakers' MVP in this series was Ray Allen. I know he kept the Celtics in game 2 almost single-handedly, but his last four games were so abysmal on the offensive end, even a mediocre performance from him once might have made it more interesting.

[Shea Zellweger]

I think the Lakers' MVP in this series was Ray Allen. I know he kept the Celtics in game 2 almost single-handedly, but his last four games were so abysmal on the offensive end, even a mediocre performance from him once might have made it more interesting.

When it comes down to it, last night's game was decided by the Lakers' D, or the failure of the Celtics' O, depending how one wishes to see it. I think Allen is a great example of this. He went 3-14 last night. Pierce was thought to have a bad night in 5-15 shooting, and if that's the case, then Ray Allen could have also had a "bad night" and gone 5-15, and those 2 extra buckets at least force a tie, more likely a win given Allen's preference to shoot the 3. Really, if any Celtic other than Garnett had a good night shooting, Boston likely would have won.

[Jeff Scott]

When it comes down to it, last night's game was decided by the Lakers' D, or the failure of the Celtics' O, depending how one wishes to see it. I think Allen is a great example of this. He went 3-14 last night. Pierce was thought to have a bad night in 5-15 shooting, and if that's the case, then Ray Allen could have also had a "bad night" and gone 5-15, and those 2 extra buckets at least force a tie, more likely a win given Allen's preference to shoot the 3. Really, if any Celtic other than Garnett had a good night shooting, Boston likely would have won.

I'd say it was the failure of the Celtics' O to even think about getting offensive rebounds. It was clear from the opening that this was going to be a problem. Ever heard of following a shot? Maybe I'm only used to it because I expect most of my shots to miss.

[Jeff Scott]

[*]I see that people on FB are already comparing the disappointment to the 2007 Super Bowl. No way...not in my book. The Celtics were a #4 seed, with an aged starting five, beat the two "best" teams in the NBA to make it to the Finals and then took the third "best" team six and seven-eighths games. The Pats should not have lost that game. [/LIST]

I made reference to 2007 on FB during the game- before the outcome. So let me clarify (assuming this might have been a lighthearted jab at your bro!)... The anticipation I felt during the game was the only thing I felt was comparable to the 2007 SB. The Pats should have won that game and I was angry when the Pats lost. I was sad, disappointed, but pleased to have even been watching the C's play in game 7 of the NBA Championship this year.

[Ryan Scott]

It's going to be impossible to beat the Lakers if all Kobe has to do is hit two shots in the final two minutes. They didn't need him the whole game (mostly because of Perkins' absence) and he was able to hit the daggers when they needed him.

[Ryan Plott]

I'd have to say it was the Laker's D since they were down 13 in the 3rd and won by 4. Once they made a little run and got the crowd into it, their defense was phenomenal. Yah, Allen didn't shoot well but being handed Kobe and having to deal with him all series long would put a great deal of mental stress on a shooter, regardless of who you are. It also helped to that Fisher was in his hip pocket and head almost the entire series after game 2. Artest did a great job on Pierce all told and the loss of Perkins was big, even though I don't think the addition of him automatically makes the C's the equals of the Lakers on the boards.

[Bob Hunter]

I can't even begin to express how disappointed I am in the outcome of the Finals. I never got tired of Micheal Jordan and the 6 championships he won, but I was tired of Kobe after the first. And I hate to say it, but I don't see their domination of the West being seriously challenged in the next couple of years. As long as Kobe, Gasol, and Bynum stay in the mix along with Phil Jackson's return, it will be hard to get past the Lakers in the playoffs. Gasol and Bynum are big and create huge match-up problems. Kobe has to be double teamed. It is just a nightmare. The Blazers played them really well this year and presented a real challenge for them, but injuries to Greg Oden and Brandon Roy pretty much ended that.

Anyway, I hated to see the Celtics blow it in the fourth. As much as Rasheed Wallace helped compensate for Perkins, getting 6 fouls and not moving into the paint just killed em. That is why we were so glad to see him leave Portland. No love lost there.

Okay, I'm done whining, thanks for listening.

[Steven Martinez]

Yup! Lakers win!

[Greg Farra]

Well, I'm more than happy with the results, and hope to get a few more titles.

[Bob Hunter]

Greg,

Enjoy it while you can, because in a couple of years there are some teams developing that are going to seriously challenge the Lakers. I would put Oklahoma City on that list. Kevin Durant is the next Kobe Bryant. I only wish that Portland would have picked him as #1 instead of the injury ridden Greg Oden that we will probably end up trading..(ugh!). Anyways, enjoy it while you can because Phil Jackson is going to retire after one more title and Kobe is on his way down, so there will not be the calibur of players to carry it. Bynum has too many inuries and the Odom and Fischer are too old to carry the torch.