It doesn't get much better than Celtics vs. Lakers

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Finals Countdown: It doesn't get much better than Celtics vs. Lakers
May 30, 2008
Steve Greenberg

Let's be real: The NBA suits aren't the only ones clumsily high-fiving and mussing one another's thinning hair over a Celtics-Lakers Finals matchup, the first of its kind since the salad days of the 1980s.

Outside of Detroit and San Antonio, most of the league's fans -- hard-core and bandwagon -- have to be pretty stoked, as well.

It's the Celtics and Lakers, for crying out loud. And it's amazing how, 21 years since they last met for the title, both franchises still carry such gravitas.

It just feels important, doesn't it?

And, of course, there is the promise of a scintillating series, packed with superstars and intrigue. Boston has home-court advantage, but L.A. will be favored in every sports book. The Celtics have stalwart workers who must be admired in Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, but the Lakers have Kobe Bryant, who has done everything to answer the call for the next Michael Jordan except win a championship without Shaquille O'Neal.

If this isn't the birth of a new heyday for the NBA, then something must be broken that can't be fixed.

But it is a new heyday. It simply has to be.

Performer of the night: Pierce was heroic, with 27 points and eight rebounds. But let's give the nod this time to Doc Rivers. The Celtics coach was one of the toughest players of his era, but he has been cool and calm throughout a postseason in which his team has lost eight times but somehow have made the Finals anyway.

Some might say any halfway decent coach would thrive with Garnett, Pierce and Ray Allen, but that would be unfair to Rivers. He is strong-willed, an old-school guy who connects with insanely wealthy modern-day superstars, and he is devoted to his team's cause. One look at him as he stalks the sideline makes that obvious.

Goat of the night: Maybe the Pistons organization does need to break up this group of conference finals-then-bust, sort-of stars. It would be one of the stories of the offseason to be sure. But Rasheed Wallace, who is signed for one more season -- at a team-high $13.6 million -- absolutely has earned his banishment.

His too-cool-to-really-care ennui in Game 6 was offensive to the highest degree; no one on the Pistons is more skilled than Wallace (four points on 2-of-12 shooting), but the rest of them tried a whole lot harder, as they do routinely. If 'Sheed had come to play, we'd all be looking forward to a Game 7. Instead, he shrunk from the challenge because -- one way of seeing it -- his ego couldn't handle the challenge of going up against a clearly superior and more intense player in Garnett.

Can you believe this? Allen pretty much has his stroke back, which is surprising. But Boston fans have to be more excited by the play of Kendrick Perkins, who has gone from butt of a joke to firebrand rebounding machine in no time flat. Perkins never will be an All-Star -- probably won't ever average a double-double -- but he is no soft spot in the starting five. Good for him for writing the biggest individual breakout story of the playoffs.

A look ahead: There will be tons of speculation about which Finals team will better handle the long break before Thursday's Game 1, and that storyline is legitimate. But let's think glass-half-full: If both the Lakers and Celtics are ready to rock and roll, can the C's win both games at home and jumpstart a series upset?

One opinion: No. The Lakers are too good at this point to go down 2-0 to anybody. But the Celtics have proved they can win on the road -- two Ws in Detroit is very big-time -- so any thoughts about a quick Finals should be tossed out the window right now. It'll go six games, minimum, although L.A. is a deserving favorite and probably will raise the trophy.

Steve Greenberg is a staff writer for Sporting News. Email him at sgreenberg@sportingnews.com.