Where Silly Predictions Happen

It's been almost 24 hours since Paul Pierce limped back onto the New Garden* floor, and sank two threes that sent the Boston faithful into a frenzy.** I'm still amazed at what I saw, it was the kind of basketball that people read about in the past tense, the kind of basketball that supposedly died years ago, and yet here I was, in the age of big-money, big-ego players, watching two old-school rivals play old-school ball (minus the physical contact***).

*I hate when people say "New Garden". The Boston Garden was a one-of-a-kind place, you don't just build a new building and slap the name on, it's not the same. It's like driving around in a Jaguar, wrecking it, then buying an Altima, but stenciling "Jaguar" on the car. Just because you call it "New Garden" doesn't mean it is. The Garden is long gone, in it's place is a nice building, but it is not the Garden, you can't replicate the history of that place, so don't try.

**I can only assume it was a frenzy, as I had to watch most of the 3rd and 4th quarters in a dual-screen setup, due to the local news station breaking in with a tornado warning in Kansas. I'm not trivializing tornadoes, but they were in Kansas, as in not Missouri. In today's world can we not make it so that those people not in the path of a killer storm can watch the Finals go from a forgone Lakers victory to a competitive series with sound? C'mon.

***Thanks NBA rules committee. Even during the most exciting and retro-feeling playoff game I have ever seen, there was still that "I'll break you" demeanor missing. But hey, at least you finally acknowledged the flopping issue. The NBA: Where overdue corrections happen.

My favorite part about Boston coming to life in the second half? Bill Plaschke* having to shelf his "The Series is Over!" column, perhaps permanently. Even more so, this was the kind of game that we as fans wanted. A back and forth slug fest, clashing of stars, and a bit of drama. When Pierce went down, you could see 18,000 future Prozac users in the arena. When Pierce came back and hit those shots, you could see the relief in those faces, sound not needed. If Pierce didn't come back, the Lakers win, and probably take the series in four or five. Yeah, that return and those shots mattered that much. They single-handedly turned this from a Lakers romp into a probable seven-game classic.

*I wish I had the time and space to express my dislike for Plaschke, but I'll keep it simple. As a sports editor and writer, if I ever ran into someone my age who wrote like that man, I would hurl them into traffic. He isn't a professional writer, he is an elitist who thinks that making one-sentence paragraphs is cool. Ugh, let's move on.

What I didn't understand is that before Game 1 even tipped off, people were calling this series for the Lakers in five games. Five. As in between four and six. That's not insane, that's stupid.

The Western Conference is better top-to-bottom, but I am a firm believer that once you get down to the Finals, you are dealing with two good teams. Very few teams luck into the finals (last year's Cavaliers are an exception).

Is the East weaker then the West in overall strength? Duh. But for people to foolishly claim that the Lakers were going to run over the Celtics need to wear tinfoil, so I know who they are. This series is going to go six, probably seven. I could see Boston winning Game 2, followed by the Lakers winning Games 3 and 4, the Celtics stealing Game 5, and the Lakers responding by winning Game 6. As for Game 7, I have no idea what would happen, Game 7s are magical for a reason, the outcome usually isn't known until the very end.

Don't get me wrong, this loss could fire-up Kobe and the Lakers, and they certainly could run off four straight wins, or four wins in five games, but I can't see that happening.

The Celtics have a closing window. Garnett and Allen are on the downsides of their careers, and Pierce isn't getting any younger. Meanwhile the Lakers have a scary good young core, and Kobe is approaching top-10 all time levels of greatness.*

*But not MJ-level. Please, please, please Jim Rome, let this one go. Kobe is certainly capable of impersonating MJ for a series or even and entire playoffs, but he is not MJ. Not by a long shot. He will definitely be top 10, but until he wins 6 out of 8 championships, while taking a few years off to try out for the Dodgers, I'm going to give MJ the edge (be it slight) here. Call me crazy.

However, in this scenario, I think that Garnett's and Allen's "I gotta get a ring to validate my career" urgency trumps Kobe's "I gotta get a ring to prove I didn't need Shaq" motivation. Kobe will get his ring, maybe even next year, but I can't say the same for Garnett and Allen, I think they know that this is their best chance, and I wouldn't be suprised to see them play out of their minds to get it.

I made a prediction with some friends at the beginning of this series. I told them that if LA took game one, the series would go 6 games max. If Boston won, then we were heading towards a seven game showdown.

Lakers-Celtics, the first punches have been landed, and it was exactly as good as we were told it would be. Game 2 can't come fast enough.