Celtics-Lakers: Is the Regular Season Significant?

The NBA, and the whole country, outside of Detroit and San Antonio, got its wish: Lakers and Celtics.

It’s been a long wait, 21 years, to be exact, but the dream matchup has arrived, with plenty of story lines to go along with it.

Kobe looks to become more like Mike by winning a fourth championship, this one without Shaq.  Phil looks to pass Red by winning his tenth championship as a head coach.  And Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen look to make the most of their first trip to the NBA Finals.

With the best record in the league this season, the Boston Celtics will have home court advantage.  They also hold bragging rights, as they beat the Lakers in both of their regular season matchups.

Boston took care of L.A., 107-94, at home in November.  A month later, the Celtics won at the Staples Center, 110-91.  Bryant had 22 points in that game, but went 6-25 from the field.

Still, I can promise that Lakers’ fans won’t be worried.  Now it’s the playoffs, so the regular season can be thrown out the window.  Since Phil Jackson has been in L.A., the Lakers have never cared how they’ve fared in the regular season as long as they've made the playoffs.  This year they actually won the West, but even if they had not won the conference it wouldn’t have made a difference.

Sure, the Lakers are young, but they’re built for the playoffs.  They have the best player in the league in Bryant, one of the most clutch shooters in Fisher, two of the best sidekicks in Gasol and Odom, and they play great defense.

Oh, and when they lost those two games to the Celtics, Los Angeles hadn’t picked up Pau Gasol yet. So I have a feeling that the complexion of this series will be a little different than it was during the regular season.

Let’s go through both teams by position:

Point Guard:
For the Celtics, Rajon Rondo had a solid season.  He didn’t do anything spectacular, but managed the team well and played good defense.  But, he’s young and has been very inconsistent in the playoffs.  Sam Cassell was acquired for his experience, but he has been more of a reliability than a help in the backcourt.

For the Lakers, Derek Fisher is clutch.  Plain and simple.  He knows how to win and Kobe trusts him.  Jordan Farmar is also pretty solid off the bench.  He can provide a young spark and is usually pretty smart in handling the ball.

Edge: Lakers

Shooting Guard: 
For the Celtics, Ray Allen has been a disappointment in the playoffs.  But Boston fans will be encouraged by his impressive performances in Games Five and Six against the Pistons.  In order for the Celtics to have a chance, Allen has to hit his shots from outside and be aggressive on offense.

For the Lakers, as I said earlier, Kobe Bryant is the best player in the NBA.  The playoffs are his time and he proved that in the Spurs series, putting up 39 points in Game Five to close it out.  He simply cannot be stopped, and will take a game over in the fourth quarter when his team needs him to.  He’s also an excellent defender.

Edge: Lakers

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