Tonight the 2010 NBA Finals begin with the two most storied franchises in NBA history going up against each other. Its the motherload of all motherloads when it comes to historic rivalries in sports and is easily the best rivalry in NBA History. The Celtics. The Lakers. Nuff said but Ill add some more. haha. There most recent meeting in June came back in 2008 where the Celtics prevailed by physically pummeling the Lakers and swarming Kobe Bryant and forcing others to beat them, which in the end we all know they did not. This years matchups are slightly different so will it change the outcome of the series? We will have to wait and see but until then I'm going to speculate to the best of my knowledge and give my prediction at the end of this blog. Here goes.
ADVANTAGES FOR LAKERS
* They are out for revenge and still have very bitter memories from 2008 so they will be on a mission and probably more focused then they have been in the playoffs in the past 2 years.
* They have Lamar Odom coming off the bench and "if" a big "if" he plays to his potential he is like a 6th starter for them out there
* They have a deeper bench overall. Farmar, Brown, Odom, and Sasha are better than the Celtics bench and the Celtics bench this year is weaker than in 2008
* They have Ron Artest who will guard Paul Pierce and make his world more difficult
* They have home court advantage this time around
* They have Kobe Bryant
ADVANTAGES FOR THE CELTICS
* Rajon Rondo is 100 times better than he was in 2008 (and he was pretty good back then too)
* The Celtics play a physical, mean, and nasty game inside and the Lakers don't like that and sometimes, notice I said "sometimes" falter with that kind of play
* The Lakers haven't faced a defensive minded team yet and haven't faced guys like Perkins, KG, and Big Bady Davis who will no doubt cause problems for their big men inside.
* 3 point shooting - Allen can get the shot off in 0.2 seconds if you give him room and he is known for running his defenders around screens all night long to get those shots and the Lakers are prone to struggle following him around
* The Celtics have come through the 2 teams with the best record in the NBA and teams who were head and shoulders better than Utah and Phoenix in the last 2 rounds. They also faced guys named Wade, James, and Howard so I'm sure the Celtics will have a plan to stop Kobe just like they did in 2008.
MY PREDICTION
I think this will be one of the most enjoyable NBA Finals in recent memories because I think it will be so closely played. I don't think one team has a "significant" edge over the other and you can come up with multiple reasons why one team will prevail over the other and vice versa but in the end we will all just have to sit back, relax, and enjoy what takes place but now back to my prediction.
I think Rondo's speed and effectiveness will surprise the Lakers initially but they will adjust and look for Kobe to defend at times. Fisher will try to post Rondo early in the series but will be unsuccessful. Kobe will have a good series, better than in 2008, but will still be limited due to Boston's swarm defense. Gasol will play well here and there but will be effected overall by the Celtics physical play. KG and Perkins will rack up fouls left and right and struggle to keep Gasol and Odom in check but will surprisingly out rebound the Lakers duo. Pierce will adjust to Artest's defense and get open for shots and drive the middle and allowing for open dunks by the Celtics bigs. Artest will struggle offensively as will Shannon Brown. Farmar will have a decent series but will struggle defensively whoever he has to guard. Sasha will come in just to pester the Celtics and get under their skin (which wont work). Odom will have great games at home but fizzle on the road. Bynum will be a non-factor throughout the entire series and if anything he will be a determent to the Lakers. Big Baby Davis will cause problems for the Lakers offensively but be detrimental to the Celtics defensively due to his size. Doc Rivers will again out coach Phil Jackson.
My prediction is that the Celtics will win the NBA Championship and do so by winning the 7th and deciding game on the Staples Center floor in Los Angeles, CA!
ADVANTAGES FOR LAKERS
* They are out for revenge and still have very bitter memories from 2008 so they will be on a mission and probably more focused then they have been in the playoffs in the past 2 years.
* They have Lamar Odom coming off the bench and "if" a big "if" he plays to his potential he is like a 6th starter for them out there
* They have a deeper bench overall. Farmar, Brown, Odom, and Sasha are better than the Celtics bench and the Celtics bench this year is weaker than in 2008
* They have Ron Artest who will guard Paul Pierce and make his world more difficult
* They have home court advantage this time around
* They have Kobe Bryant
ADVANTAGES FOR THE CELTICS
* Rajon Rondo is 100 times better than he was in 2008 (and he was pretty good back then too)
* The Celtics play a physical, mean, and nasty game inside and the Lakers don't like that and sometimes, notice I said "sometimes" falter with that kind of play
* The Lakers haven't faced a defensive minded team yet and haven't faced guys like Perkins, KG, and Big Bady Davis who will no doubt cause problems for their big men inside.
* 3 point shooting - Allen can get the shot off in 0.2 seconds if you give him room and he is known for running his defenders around screens all night long to get those shots and the Lakers are prone to struggle following him around
* The Celtics have come through the 2 teams with the best record in the NBA and teams who were head and shoulders better than Utah and Phoenix in the last 2 rounds. They also faced guys named Wade, James, and Howard so I'm sure the Celtics will have a plan to stop Kobe just like they did in 2008.
MY PREDICTION
I think this will be one of the most enjoyable NBA Finals in recent memories because I think it will be so closely played. I don't think one team has a "significant" edge over the other and you can come up with multiple reasons why one team will prevail over the other and vice versa but in the end we will all just have to sit back, relax, and enjoy what takes place but now back to my prediction.
I think Rondo's speed and effectiveness will surprise the Lakers initially but they will adjust and look for Kobe to defend at times. Fisher will try to post Rondo early in the series but will be unsuccessful. Kobe will have a good series, better than in 2008, but will still be limited due to Boston's swarm defense. Gasol will play well here and there but will be effected overall by the Celtics physical play. KG and Perkins will rack up fouls left and right and struggle to keep Gasol and Odom in check but will surprisingly out rebound the Lakers duo. Pierce will adjust to Artest's defense and get open for shots and drive the middle and allowing for open dunks by the Celtics bigs. Artest will struggle offensively as will Shannon Brown. Farmar will have a decent series but will struggle defensively whoever he has to guard. Sasha will come in just to pester the Celtics and get under their skin (which wont work). Odom will have great games at home but fizzle on the road. Bynum will be a non-factor throughout the entire series and if anything he will be a determent to the Lakers. Big Baby Davis will cause problems for the Lakers offensively but be detrimental to the Celtics defensively due to his size. Doc Rivers will again out coach Phil Jackson.
My prediction is that the Celtics will win the NBA Championship and do so by winning the 7th and deciding game on the Staples Center floor in Los Angeles, CA!
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