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LOS ANGELES: It may be 2008, but the National Basketball Association
finals have a decided 1980’s feel this time around.
With a rich history to draw from, two of the
games’ greatest franchises, the Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers,
square off in the NBA finals which begin Thursday in Boston.
“The crazy thing is I grew up watching Boston
against Los Angeles playoff series,” said Boston forward Paul
Pierce.
“And it’s ironic, being a Celtic, now
you’re playing against the Lakers in the finals. As a kid, I hated
the Celtics.
“I’m going back home to play against my team
that I grew up watching. It’s a dream come true, man, just
thinking about it.
“I think that rivalry really revolutionized
the game of basketball, and now I’m a part of it.”
While it is not Magic versus Bird, each team has
its own cast of stars who will write new chapter in the renewed
rivalry.
Boston get most of its offence from their big
three—Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. They combined to score
60 points in the Celtics 89-81 series-clinching win over the Detroit
Pistons on Friday.
Allen had 17 points and Garnett added 16 points
for Boston who have not met the Lakers in the finals since their
last trip to the league’s showcase event in 1987.
“The Lakers won the west and we won the east
and now we get to play each other. That’s the way it should be,”
Boston coach Doc Rivers said.
The Celtics have gone 10-1 at home in the
playoffs but are just 2-7 away from the TD Banknorth Garden.
Home court advantage in the finals goes to the
Celtics who are 2-0 against the Lakers this season.
Boston will host the first two games before the
series shifts to Los Angeles for the next three and if necessary
Games 6 and 7 back in Boston.
Garnett is making his first appearance in the
finals in his 12th season.
“Right now, it’s a good feeling,” Garnett
said. “It probably hasn’t hit me yet.”
Detroit coach Flip Saunders coached Garnett when
the two were part of the Minnesota Timberwolves organization.
Saunders is happy for his former star player.
“I always said he happened to be a great
player that just never happened to have a ring,” Saunders said.
“To get to the finals, I’m sure it’s something that’s all he
ever talked about.
“But I’m sure he’s not satisfied with
that. He wants to win a championship, too.”
Garnett has fond memories of Celtics-Laker games
as a kid.
“I used to watch on Sunday with that big plate
of food in front of me, watching the Lakers and Celtics play on
Sunday,” Garnett said. “I remember it like it was yesterday.
“Mom telling me, ‘Don’t get too close to
the TV, it’ll kill your eyes.’ I’m looking forward to this.”
The Lakers, with a week off before the finals
start Thursday, will resume workouts on Sunday.
The Lakers advanced by beating the defending
champion San Antonio Spurs in five games in the semifinals.
If he was a betting man, which he is not, Spurs
Manu Ginobili might pick the Celtics to win the finals.
“They [Lakers] are a great team, but I don’t
have the feeling that they are way better—either than us, New
Orleans or Utah,” said Ginobili, who played with a sprained left
ankle in the semifinals.
“I mean, they made it to the finals because
they deserve it, but I don’t have that feeling that they were so
much superior.
“But we have to give them credit. They played
great, especially down the stretch, when we fell a couple times. And
so they are the ones that made it.”
-- AFP
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