Lakers vs. Celtics: This is personal
By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 06/03/2010
It was a long time ago, but the Boston Celtics started the season 27-3 and finished 50-32, good enough for fourth best in the Eastern Conference. They have found a way to peak at the right time, and that is in the playoffs. Now for the 21st time in their storied history, they have reached the NBA Finals.
Boston has won more titles (17) than any other franchise.
The Los Angeles Lakers amazingly have reached the NBA Finals for the 31st time and second year in a row — that’s more than any other franchise. Fifteen times the Lakers have won the title, and for decades they have been trying unsuccessfully to catch the Celtics.
They certainly have closed the gap: It’s 17-15 in favor of Boston as this rivalry continues with another championship at stake. As rivalries go in sports, in Major League Baseball you have the New York Yankees vs. the Boston Red Sox; in NFL football it’s Dallas vs. Washington, or Green Bay vs. Chicago, or Green Bay vs. Minnesota.
College basketball has the tobacco road showdown, Duke vs. North Carolina, which is by today’s standard comparable to Boston vs. Los Angeles. After all, North Carolina and Duke, although they are in the same state and conference (the ACC), they have won the last two NCAA basketball titles. This is similar to the Lakers and Celtics: The Celtics were the NBA champion in 2008 and Los Angeles in 2009 — they met two years ago with the Celtics prevailing and ending the Lakers’ plans of repeating.
Here we go again: The Lakers are the champs and the Celtics, with an aging-but-healthy cast of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, are primed to win again. The Celtics have guard Rojon Rondo, who has emerged as a big-time star in his own right and — other than Kobe Bryant — has been the dominant player in the 2010 playoffs. The Celtics also added Rasheed Wallace.
When the Celtics and Lakers meet, glory is at stake. This is the 12th time the Lakers and Celtics have met in the NBA Finals with a NBA Championship at stake. And usually the Celtics win. Boston has won nine of 11 times when these great franchises have met in the Finals.
Not until 1985, when Magic Johnson led the Lakers over Boston and Larry Bird to the title with Pat Riley as coach, did the Lakers win. In 1987, the Lakers beat the Celtics and Bird again.
These two giants did not meet in the Finals again until 2008, and the Celtics after a long, dry spell between titles of 22 years did beat LA and capture title number 17. That’s what’s at stake here: it’s East vs. West; it’s Bryant trying to do what only Magic Johnson did — beat Boston in the Finals.
Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor — three of the greatest Lakers of all time — never beat Boston in the Finals. Only Johnson can say he has, and he did it twice. Maybe that’s why Magic has a statue outside of Staples Center. The NBA Finals start on Thursday in LA with the Lakers holding the home court in the classic 2-3-2 home-road format.
The Lakers have the home court advantage. They added Ron Artest, and obviously they have the great Zen master coach Phil Jackson. The legendary coach has won 10 NBA titles, the most all-time. This is the 13th time Jackson has taken a team to the NBA Finals. He won six titles with Chicago (Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen) and four with Los Angeles (Shaq and Kobe). He has lost twice in the Finals to Detroit (Larry Brown) and Boston (Doc Rivers). Can Rivers beat Jackson again? That would be quite the achievement.
This Lakers team, in my view, is better than last year’s NBA title team. It’s stronger and longer and deeper; this will be a great Final because the Celtics are very good defensively and are strong in the half court. They beat Cleveland (LeBron James) and Orlando (Dwight Howard); Cleveland won 61 games and Orlando won 59 in the regular season.
The Lakers won 57 games in the stronger, rugged Western Conference — I’m picking the Lakers to repeat and win title number 16, number five for Kobe and number 11 for Jackson.
Larry Fitzgerald can be heard weekday mornings on KMOJ Radio 89.9 FM at 8:20 am, and on WDGY-AM 740 Monday & Saturday mornings at 7:50 am and Fridays at 3:50 pm; he also commentates on sports 7-8 pm on Almanac (TPT channel 2). Larry welcomes reader responses to lfitzgerald@spokesman-recorder.com , or visit www.Larry-Fitzgerald.com .
