NBA Playoffs 2011: Ranking the 5 Most Compelling Potential NBA Finals Matchups
If the first weekend of the 2011 NBA Playoffs showed anything, hopefully it was a precursor for the rest of the postseason.
The games were filled with masterful individual performance, such as Derrick Rose's 39-point effort, Chris Paul's 33-point and 14-assist game on Sunday afternoon and Dwight Howard's 46-point, 19-rebound game, albeit in a loss to an impressive Atlanta Hawks squad.
There were other great games as well in Boston, San Antonio and Oklahoma City.
But, as we look ahead toward the NBA Finals, there are certain matchups that, as basketball fans, we would like to see playing for the Larry O'Brien Trophy in June.
Here are the five best potential matchups for the NBA Finals.
5. Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Miami Heat
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This series would the fourth seed out of the Western Conference and the second seed from the Eastern Conference. Both teams entered the 2010-2011 NBA regular season with high aspirations and expectations, but the similarities just about end there.
The Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat contrast the most in the manners in which the teams were built.
The Miami Heat were built, in their entirety, from the free-agent frenzy that was the summer of 2010. Miami's night life and big-market scene fits their team's collective persona well.
On the other hand, Oklahoma City was built through the NBA Draft and a lopsided mid-season trade, where the Thunder acquired center, Kendrick Perkins from the Boston Celtics in February. Unlike Miami, who have almost all of their team's talent concentrated in the top fifth of their roster, OKC has a couple go-to scorers in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, as well as a collection of very competent role players.
The Heat are an experimental "Super Team" while the Thunder are built straight from the mold of a classic playoff contender.
In review, what makes this potential series so compelling is the major differences between the clubs. The winner of this series may in fact determine the future direction of the NBA.
4. Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics
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The most storied franchises in NBA history could square off once again for a third finals series in the past four seasons.
The deep and rich traditions of both teams are always put on the line in the playoffs. In 2008, the Celtics defeated the Lakers in the NBA Finals, then in 2010, Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson and company got the best of the Celtics to win the NBA Championship.
A potential 2011 matchup would be a perfect grudge match for the franchises. They have been the most dominating teams for the past four seasons, and it would be fitting for the NBA to usher in a new generation of stars and teams with two veteran teams squaring.
In what will most likely be Phil Jackson's last NBA Playoffs, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers will provide plenty of drama and great basketball if they were to face off in the 2011 NBA Finals.
3. Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Chicago Bulls
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Around the league it is widely thought that the young teams of the Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder are going to be the teams of the future in the NBA.
But fortunately, the future is now.
The Bulls finished the season as the top team record-wise in the NBA with a 62-20 mark. OKC is the fourth seed in the Western Conference and won 55 games in the regular season.
During the summer, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook all played in Europe for the United States men's basketball team, winning the FIBA World Championships. The three stars trained the throughout the summer together and became very close throughout June, July and August.
Along with the personal relationships, the two franchises have been very similar in recent years. The Thunder and their young star Kevin Durant proved their worth as last year's eighth seed in the Western Conference. They battled hard, showing their potential for greatness, as they fell in a tight series to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in six games.
The previous year, the Bulls and their Rookie of the Year, Derrick Rose, fell in seven games to the Boston Celtics in one of the greatest playoff series ever.
With these two teams facing off in the 2011 NBA Finals, they would usher in a new era of NBA basketball. An era filled with young stars and balanced teams with Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant leading the charge.
2. Los Angeles Lakers vs Miami Heat
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Five stars + two coaching legends = one unbelievable series.
With perennial All-Stars Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant, as well as all-time great coaches Phil Jackson, who roams the sidelines for the Lakers, and Pat Riley, who holds a front office position for the Heat, this series should be nothing short of legendary.
This series would also mark the first time Kobe Bryant and LeBron James would compete for an NBA Championship against each other.
This series, like many other potential Finals matchups, pits two contrasting teams together. In Miami's case, they are a new blend of superstars lacking experience when playing together. But with LA, they have been to three-straight NBA Finals, winning the previous two.
NBA Commissioner David Stern would be happily smiling in his office in New York with this masterful combination of star power and big markets, as well as the great basketball it will most likely provide.
1. Los Angeles Lakers vs. Chicago Bulls
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Back in 1991, 20 years ago, a young Phil Jackson led a Chicago Bulls team with Michael Jordan against Magic Johnson's Lakers.
Magic was the previous decade's premier player and "closer" come playoff time. And in a series where it was clear that the Chicago Bulls were willing and able to overtake the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s, they brought in the 1990s with a bang. Chicago dominated the series 4-1.
Fast forward 20 years. The Chicago Bulls are again led by a young star, Derrick Rose, and young head coach, Tom Thibodeau. The Lakers have an aging star in Kobe Bryant. The team of the 1990s, the Bulls, could face the team of the first decade of the 2000s in the Los Angeles Lakers.
Phil Jackson started his coaching career with Chicago, and in his last season, a Finals matchup against them as the head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers would be quite an end to an already Hall-of-Fame career.
Another subplot: Is Derrick Rose ready to take the torch from Kobe Bryant as the NBA's premier postseason "closer"? Or better yet, is Kobe Bryant ready to give his title up?
In the 20th anniversary of the Chicago Bulls first championship, it would be more than fitting for the Bulls to face the Lakers in the 2011 NBA Championship. That is not only for the dramatic and intense connections between the franchises but also for the tremendous basketball both teams play.
The Lakers kick into another gear come playoff time, which is something that we have come to expect from the two-time defending champs. But the Bulls, on the other hand, have yet to prove their worth by winning a playoff series. But as the favorites, their talent level and impeccable teamwork cannot be ignored.
As two storied franchises may meet up in a epic battle for the right to add yet another banner to the rafters of their respective arenas, the 2011 NBA Finals would come full circle with what transpired 20 years previous in 1991.
