NBA FINALS PREVIEW

                             






















The NBA Finals are here and the  #1 seed in the Western conference, the Los Angeles Lakers, face off against the #4 of the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics. The series is one that is exciting to many because of the teams involved as well as the matchup sounding so classic. When you think of the NBA at it's greatest you think of the 80's when the Lakers & Celtics seemed to meet in the Finals for what felt like every year.

The Lakers are the Lakers and we all know what that means; KOBE! The Lakers have their defensive issues where they go into long slums and look almost lost on the defensive end. The biggest discrepancy that the Lakers have defensively is that they simply cannot guard the backcourt of other teams. If Fisher and the Laker guards cannot keep up with the young Boston point-guard and backups then it is going to be a long series. They have to stay out of foul trouble and play team defense in order to rectify the problem. This has been an issue all season and even the Zen-Master, in his 13th Finals Series,  recognizes it but simply tries to overlook it and coach harder on the offensive end of the court. When the Lakers are on offense they have three to four formidable weapons in Bryant, Gasol, Artest and Fisher. Fisher can be a great closer when he is able to knock down the long-windup jumper that he has been known for in his last 4 Finals Series wins. Gasol has an array of post moves and a very high basketball IQ. Artest has started to show his old offensive form but he is still not the player that he was in his prime. If the knee problems that Andrew Bynum has been enduring don't get any better then that will cost the Lakers down in the post in the worst way.

The Celtics are an older more experienced team that has bought into coach Doc Rivers plan of playing together and playing intelligently. Basketball brains will beat basketball speed all day long and they know this. Led by the "Big-Three plus One", the Celtics have become healthy at just the right time and have caught fire this year in the playoffs looking much like the team that brought home the Finals trophy in 2008. With Rajon Rondo running the show Boston has saw this young Kentucky guard bloom into a superstar. He has to be able to run the floor once he receives the ball on the rebound or from the out of bounds play and then scan the floor the way that he has all post season. Failure to do that will put pressure on Pierce and Allen to knock down shots and with Pierce more likely to draw the defensive assignment on Bryant it may all fall on the shoulders of Jesus Shuttlesworth.  Garnett has to keep that fire burning and play intense and stretch the floor by knocking down the long range jumper because he will keep Pau away from the rim and cheap easy rebounds that could lead to quick breaks down to the other end. The size of Boston will play a major key as they have more large bodies than the Lakers do so therefore they have more fouls to use and more of a chance to rest their starters when they can. The defense of the Celtics is their staple and has carried them throughout this years playoffs. Typically if Boston keeps their opponent under 90 pts. they win, so keep an eye on the scores when the second and third quarters end. Anything over 90 pts. and it is a crapshoot to see who comes out on top because the Celtic legs are either tired at that point or they have conceded defeat, one or the either. It is and has been an ominous sign and if your a Celtic fan you have to notice this and hope that true Boston defense slows the Lakers down and allows the offense to do their job.

I like the Celtics in 7 and only because I know that Phil Jackson is going to irk the refs about fouls, Artest is going to play NY street ball and again, KOBE.  Both teams have a lot of fight in them so I cannot even fathom that there will be a sweep or even a 4-2 win by either. There is too much pride on both benches and too much history for either to roll over and play dead when the chips get down.
Celtics champs again!!!

The series schedule is shown below.

• Game 1 Thursday, June 3 Boston at LAL 9 p.m. ABC/R/TSN
• Game 2 Sunday, June 6 Boston at LAL 8 p.m. ABC/R/TSN
• Game 3 Tuesday, June 8 LAL at Boston 9 p.m. ABC/R/TSN
• Game 4 Thursday, June 10 LAL at Boston 9 p.m. ABC/R/TSN
• Game 5 * Sunday, June 13 LAL at Boston 8 p.m. ABC/R/TSN
• Game 6 * Tuesday, June 15 Boston at LAL 9 p.m. ABC/R/TSN
• Game 7 * Thursday, June 17 Boston at LAL 9 p.m. ABC/R/TSN
(courtesy gather.com)