It doesn’t get any better than this.
Harkening back to the Bird/Magic ’80′s or Russell/West ’60s, the Kobe Bryant Lakers meet the Kevin Garnett Celtics in the year of 2008 today at 5:00 p.m.
Most of your presents will have been opened by then, and meals will have been eaten. The last present for most East Coasters will be seeing the Celtics beat the Lakers, if they can as the evening unfurls.
It won’t be easy. The Lakers are stinging from their early exit from last year’s NBA Finals from these same Boson Celtics. They are on a mission to get back there and change the outcome this time.
It’s the Giving Season
Last year’s MVP against last year’s NBA Champion. The offensive machine (leading the NBA in scoring at 107 points per game) of the purple and gold Lakers against the defensive meatgrinder (leading the NBA in field goal defense at 42% pre game) of the green machine called the Celtics.
Something will give today. One team will give its fans a great Christmas present and the other team’s fans heartburn.
They both are expected to give the network a great rating. Ratings for the NBA are up since the re-emergence of this rivalry last season.
So far, the Los Angeles team is burning up the league to the tune of a 23-5 record. They have 7′ center Andrew Bynum for the whole season this time, and many think that addition will make big difference if these two teams lock in battle for a play-off series again. Like all NBA teams, they simply could not keep the Celtics out of the middle last year.
Kobe Bryant admits that today’s game is their measuring stick as to how much they have improved. He knows nothing matters unless they can beat the Celtics. This is their first test and first chance to do so since getting blown out in game six, the title clinching game last June.
But is even better than that. The Celtics haven’t “been asleep in the hay” themselves. The Celtic all star trio of long time Celtic Paul, his new team mates, sharp shooting Ray Allen, and defensive monster Kevin Garnett have gotten even more comfortable together this season.
Astoundingly, after that run to the title, the Celtics appear to have improved, if it is possible to improve on a 66-16 season. The Celtics are riding one of NBA’s longest winning streaks in its history at 19 straight games and are in the midst of the fastest start ever with two losses at 27-2. This is the best Celtic start in the this storied franchise’s history.
But the improvement includes the other two members of the Celtic starting five, center Kendrick Perkins and point guard Rajon Rondo.
Rondo is rounding out his game and maximizing his abilities on a team with three of the leagues top scorers. His new aggressiveness in driving to the hoop now draws defenders away from the other starters, making it even easier for them to score. He sees the floor so well now, that defenses must respond quickly or be beaten by wide open jump shots.
Kendrick Perkins has increased his scoring as a result of making quicker decisions with the ball when he receives it. Any of the starting five must be covered now, unlike last season.
If the Celtics have a weakness it would be their bench, and they have been playing well at times this year, too.
The Laker’s bench has its own problems. Even with their great start, the Lakers have stumbled a bit recently, losing 2 of their last 4 games and needing last second heroics to win two games against lesser teams (Indiana and New York), not that long ago.
Many of you will have memories of the Golden Years of the NBA. which decade is “Golden’ to you will depend on your age. I’m old enough to include both decades in my memory banks as to those Celtic/Laker rivalries.
This feels just like the old times. Both young and old will get a treat watching the competition between these two current teams as they battle for dominance of the league and of each other.
This is basketball played at its highest level. If you enjoy basketball, your final gift of the day just might be this game.
Sit back and enjoy, lest you be buried with a stake of holly through your heart.
Myself? I’ll be watching the game at a home full of Laker fans. Keeping in the Christmas spirit, I’ll be civilized, but all the better if the Celtics prevail.
In any event, have a wonderful holiday, and I hope you can catch this contest. I don’t think you will regret it.
