It's Official: Lakers vs Celtics

Lakers Vs. Celtics
Thursday June 5, 2008 at 8:30pm

This will be a good series. Sweet Baby Ray has found his jumper. KG is yelling at himself and banging his chest like King Kong. Pierce is Pierce. And how about the Rondo Floater, that is the pass or the shot. Then there is first time MVP Kobe Bean Bryant and the FIBA allstars. With International connections Pau Gasol, Vujacic, Radmonivic, Ariza (he's gotta be from somewhere), Turiaf, and Mbenga, the Lakers are deeper than....well let's just say they are deep. Throw in Odom (can he guard KG?), Fisher, and Jordan "The Poor Man's Mike Bibby" Farmar and this should be a great series.

Things that could kill the series:
1. The refs. Let's face it, Kobe took 100 ft's vs the Jazz and maybe 20 vs the Spurs. Coincidence...maybe. Throw in the fact that this series has betters going wild from coast to coast, the tradition of the franchises, and the ratings sure to hit the roof, the refs gotta keep it interesting.
2. Kobe. He is either going to be great or god awful. He is a NBA Finals Virgin. Sure he has been there, but never was he driving. He has road shotgun for the first 3 and now he has the shiny new car. His first chance out on his own will he try to be a one-man wrecking crew or play consistently team friendly.
3. Doc Rivers. Enough said.

My prediction.
Lakers 4 Celtics 2.
I really would love to see the Celtics pull this off but in the end I just think LA is too deep. Add their depth with the most potent offensive player in the game (see point 2 above), I don't see how they could blow this one. Pau/Odom can match up with KG, with a little Turiaf for a breather. They have a ton of wing players to throw at Allen and Pierce. Plus Kobe is guaranteed 25 ppg. Don't forget Ray Allen always add a little fire under Kobe with the strange fued that they have. If Ray Allen carries his flame throwing jumper over to the next series and Kobe returns to 2006 status of "I'm not passing the ball to anybody unless 3 people are guarding me mode", then it will be a Celtics runaway. I don't see that happening, so Lakers will take it.