To completely understand how great this battle between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers and eventually to give my prediction for this year’s edition of the NBA Finals we will take a look and analyze each head-to-head matchups of the starting line up and compare the bench and the coaches of each team.
Let the battle begin!
CENTER
VS. 
Kendrick Perkins vs. Pau Gasol:
Without looking into any statistics, hands-down Pau Gasol wins this match-up. Perkins is just raw to stop Pau Gasol one-on-one. Perkins is also incapable of scoring heavily over Gasol. Perkins will be most effective helping on defense, denying Pau Gasol the ball and grabbing the loose balls. Pau Gasol on the other just need to get the ball in his hands and beat Perkins one-on-one. If help defense comes (ie: Garnett) it won’t be a problem for Gasol because he has good court vision (3.2 AST season average) that will allow him to elude his defender and make a great pass to Mr. MVP Kobe Bryant.
- CELTICS – 0
- LAKERS – 1
POWER FORWARD
VS. 
Kevin Garnett vs. Lamar Odom:
Just like the first match-up, this one is also a landslide win. Garnett is just superior over Odom in all aspects. Garnett is also the heart and soul of this Celtics team. You can see in his eyes that he has complete disregard of human life when he gets into the zone. Lamar Odom is just to inconsistent to be able to make a difference in this series most specially that he will have the task to stop Garnett. For Lamar to be effective, he needs to coordinate with Gasol for the help defense. A few switching of assignments between Odom and Gasol can help distract Garnett and prevent him getting comfortable over his defense. What does Garnett need to do? He just needs to be himself
- CELTICS – 1
- LAKERS – 1
SMALL FORWARD
VS. 
Paul Pierce vs. Vladimir Radmanovic:
Radmanovic has been playing great lately that I predict Phil Jackson will most likely continue to start him. Radmanovic going head-to-head with Pierce seems to be odd but if he is going to start I doubt he will be tasked to defend Perkins or Garnett. Maybe at some points he will defend Ray Allen and Kobe will take on Pierce. With Radmanovic defending Pierce, I give this match-up to Pierce. Pierce is just to dominant for Radmanovic to stop him. Pierce have a wide array of arsenal that Radmanovic will literally be brought into school. For Radmanovic to be able to help the Lakers, he should try to deny Pierce the ball or make Pierce work hard for his shots and him drilling those 3 point shots he is know for.
- CELTICS – 2
- LAKERS – 1
SHOOTING GUARD
VS. 
Ray Allen vs. Kobe Bryant:
Need I to say more? Ray Allen is the best shooting guard in the NBA! Just kidding.. Of Course, 2008 NBA Season MVP Kobe Bryant wins this one. Kobe Bryant is arguably the best player in the planet right now. I just have no confidence that Ray Allen can stop Kobe. Like Garnett, Kobe Bryant just needs to be himself for him to dominate the series. As for Ray Allen, he should ask Doc Rivers to design a play for help defense against Kobe. If they can afford to switch assignment between Pierce and Allen on defense then that will be better. Ray Allen also needs to come alive all throughout the series. He can’t fizzle out the way he did early in the playoffs. If he can’t stop Kobe, he should at least match Kobe’s output.
- Celtics – 2
- Lakers – 2
POINT GUARD
VS. 
Rajon Rondo vs. Derek Fisher:
For me, this is the most interesting match-up in the starting line-up. The other four positions are all lopsided wins. Here, Rondo or Fisher can come up on top. Rondo has the better stats over Fisher but Fisher is the veteran and knows how to win championships. The key to this match-up is whether Rondo will allow Fisher to bully him on the court. Both players are capable on the offensive and defensive of the game. Practically, this is a tie. A wait and see match-up.
- CELTICS – 2.5 (.5 [DRAW])
- LAKERS – 2.5 (.5 [DRAW])
COACH
VS. 
Doc Rivers vs. Phil Jackson:
The battle between this two coaches does not only involve winning the championship for the Celtics or the Lakers. This also a battle for legitimacy. Doc Rivers has been regarded as one of the worst coaches in the NBA before Celtics formed the new Big 3 and winning the championship is in some way his vindication. If Doc Rivers and the Boston Celtics win the championship, Rivers will finally earn respect as a coach. Phil Jackson on the other hand is chasing Red Auerbach’s record. If Phil Jackson notches his 10th NBA title then he can claim that maybe he is the greatest coach that ever lived. Coincidentally, Red Auerback was the mastermind of the numerous championships of the Boston Celtics. Phil Jackson can claim his 10th while beating Auerbach’s former team.
Who is the better coach? if we base it on championships won then Phil Jackson will win it 9-0. Is there anyway Doc Rivers can out coach Phil Jackson? I doubt it. What should Doc Rivers do? He should just work and improve their defense with the help of his assistant coach Tom Thibodeau. Who wins this one? Phil Jackson
- CELTICS – 2.5 (.5 [DRAW])
- LAKERS – 3.5 (.5 [DRAW])
BENCH
VERSUS
CELTICS BENCH: Tony Allen, Sam Cassell, Glen Davis, Eddie House, James Posey, Leon Powe, PJ Brown
VERSUS
LAKERS BENCH: Trevor Ariza, Jordan Farmar, Ronny Turiaf, Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton, DJ Mbenga, Chris Mihm
This one is also tough to call. Both benches have delivered for their respective team. In the front line, Davis, Posey and Powe came up for the Celtices while Walton and Turiaf did the same for the Lakers. At the back court, Allen and Cassell has delivered for the Celtics so as Farmar and Vujacic. Which bench will come on top? It will depend on how the coaches will rotate their line-up. Another crucial part in this series is the first substitution for both teams in all games to be played. This will actually show how the coaches can adjust and match-up the opponent. The clear contrast between the the benches is that Celtics’s bench is more defense oriented while the Lakers bench is comprised of offensive players. On how this will play out, your guess is as good as mine. Virtually it’s a tie once again. But I have to give a little more edge to the Celtics because I believe that defense wins championships.
- CELTICS – 3.25 (.5 [DRAW] + .75)
- LAKERS – 3.75 (.5 [DRAW] + .25)
CONCLUSION
As my scoring shows, the Los Angeles Lakers have the slight edge over the Boston Celtics. If my scoring is consistent then I expect a Game 7 with the Lakers winning by virtue of a great 4th quarter play.
MY PREDICTION
Although the Lakers have won this head-to-head match-up scoring, I still pick the Boston Celtics to win six games or less. I just feel that the Celtics is hungrier with three aging future hall of famers raring to have a championship ring. Neither of the Big 3 ever came close to winning the championship before and they know that this might be the only year tghat they can take it. The Lakers on the other hand is also hungry to win as Pau Gasol is yet to have one and Kobe wanting to prove he can win a championship without Shaq (but with Gasol) but I still pick the Celtics because I believe, as I have written above, that defense win championships and Celtics is one of the most underrated defensive team. This will be a battle of heart and who wants it more. Truly a making of an epic battle that will forever be etched in the history of the NBA.
VERSUS 
witnessed their greatness. NBA’s biggest stage has waited for 21 years to once again witness a battle between two teams who have so much pride and tradition in them
Faces that somehow spelled D-O-O-M for the Lakers. For three consecutive seasons, Kobe has the face of frustration. No one knew how frustrated Kobe was until his recorded conversation dissing his teammates were leaked out last year during off-season. Everybody was expecting to see Kobe Bryant in a different uniform this season but that did not happen. Kobe played his best and played hurt. What kept Kobe Bryant from playing is that he saw his teammates, the same ones who he ripped, heeded to his call and are playing better. 
Then one day, Lady Luck or any other mystical being has smiled and Kobe and delivered him Pau Gasol. The Lakers got Pau Gasol by trading loose change. It can be considered a freebie. It could have been an orchestrated trade putting all the other teams at a disadvantage but I still give props to Mitch Kupchak for making this trade happen. After the season has ended, after all the drama and issues that has happened, the Lakers came out on top of the Western Conference.
A few days later, Danny Ainge made another big trade by trading seven of their players for one man. That one man is Kevin Garnett. All those supporters of the Celtics who were in hibernation suddenly came out of their caves and are ecstatic for having a new Big Three wearing the Celtics uniform. Some doubted that their chemistry will be off and they will be only competitive next season but the Big Three composed of Garnett, Allen and Pierce prove them wrong and snatched the NBA best record this season.
The series seem to be a photocopy of the first round. The series could have gone both ways. LeBron James could have beaten the Boston Celtics had the rest of the Cavaliers played their hearts out. Boston once again won this series but sports a 0-6 record on the road. This seem to be a lethal info as they face next the Detroit Pistons. In this series, the Celtics lost for the first time at home but they also won their first road game and owned the Detroit Pistons 4 games to 2.
Flip Saunders sacked by Joe Dumars
Joe Dumars gave Flip Saunders his walking papers after losing to the Boston
Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. This marks the third straight year that Saunders has failed to lead the Pistons to the NBA Finals. Saunders replaced Larry Brown in 2005.
Changes in Detroit doesn’t stop with Saunders as Joe Dumars intends to make big changes and placed his whole line-up in the trading block. Expect some changes soon and most likely a new Detroit Pistons next season.
Detroit did the right thing here. Obviously, Flip Saunders system is not working for them as they miss the bus to the NBA Finals for the third straight year. What I don’t like about Dumars’s statement is that he placed his entire team on the trading block. Is he okay letting go of Maxiel and Stuckey? These two players are their future. They can start rebuilding around these two excellent players.
I expect Wallace to go (so as every analyst) because he has hurt his team with unnecessary actions on the court when they needed him to focus the most. Rip Hamilton might be the next starter to be traded. He is already 32 years old but still plays like a mid-20s player and that makes him a great trade bait to acquire a legit mid-20s player. I say keep Tayshaun Prince and Chauncey Billups. Prince is a great defender while Billups can continue to mentor Stuckey. My last piece of advice for Dumars is that he should hire a coach immediately and acquire players fit for the system of his new coach. Sometimes it is the system that can win championships.
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Tagged as Billups, Dumars, Hamilton, Pistons, Prince, Saunders, Wallace