If I'm anything like the rest of Celtic Nation, Celtics fans didn't get much sleep during those six weeks either.
We'd all like to think those days are over, and the Boston Celtics who slaughtered the Lakers twice during the regular season will put them away in four easy games during the Finals.
Ain't gonna happen.
Nor will the Fakers run away with it.
Instead, I expect this to be a back and forth, up and down series between two pretty evenly matched teams.
Kind of like 1984.
Take a look at the 1984 Finals game log below.
If this series is anything like that one, we ain't seen nothing yet.
The Lakers led the Celtics during the final minute of the first four games.The Lakers won the first game so handily, there were whispers of "sweep" among the national media. So don't let the six point difference fool you.
Only a Gerald Henderson steal and overtime in game 2 saved the Celtics from being down 3-0, because the Lakeshow annihilated the Cs in game 3 by 33 points.
Stop for a moment and try to put yourself in that situation. By all rights, the Celtics should have been down three games to zip, and the next game was scheduled to be played in Los Angeles, where the green just got run out of the building.
I'm hoping the 2008 Celtics don't face any lows that are quite this dark, but you may want to keep some tranquilizers on hand.
It should also be comforting to know that a single blowout in the Finals doesn't mean much and must be taken with a grain of salt.
5 comments:
I agree that this will be a hard fought Finals. I would rather 4 Celtics blowouts because I don't know how much more my heart can take. I hate the 2-3-2 format for the finals because I think it negates the home court advantage. I do think that the Celtics are a better team than they were when they started the playoffs because of experience gained.
Somehow, someway I hope the Cs head to LA up 2-0
Lex, contact me at (matt@newenglandsportsblog.com) to further discuss NESB.
CELTICS IN 5!! Although I am a big fan of FlCeltsFan and her sentiment on the idea of 4 Celtic blowouts!
Forget about Kobe Bryant! If I am "Doc" Rivers, I put the focus on the match-ups of Rondo vs. Fisher and KP43 vs. Odom (Glenn should apply the same philosophies with Kobe as K.C. Jones did when facing the likes of Michael Jordan or Dominique Wilkins in playoff situations). In each game Fisher should get RONDO'D up and down the floor all night long due to constant East to West pushing on offense and end to end defensive pressure from the second year PG out of Kentucky.
If LA wants to get cute by having Odom guard Perk, then it's time to unleash and feed the beast! The more "Perkules" can bang with Lamar and pin him down under the basket exchanging physicality's the better . Speaking of post play, Kevin "The Ticket to Paradise" Garnett needs to establish inside dominance against Gasol. Kev needs to show the World why many teams weren't willing to give up much of anything to land Pau.
HIT THE ROAD JACK!...
HIT THE ROAD LA!...
Yeah, Odom on Perk should be intersting.
If I'm LA, I'm also worried about Fisher on Rondo.
One question that needs to be asked is how bad is LA's defense?
I'm pretty sure they're not as good as either Clev or Det.
If the Cs can get stops when they need to but not vice versa, that might be the difference in the series.
Matt, I'll send you an email later today.
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