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Spurs vs Celtics....its gonna happen....book it
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/8...s-no-guarantee
Lakers-Celtics Final is no guarantee
by Mike Kahn
As we approach the midway point of the 2008 NBA Conference finals, the good news is both series are still up for grabs.
No offense to what the New Orleans Hornets accomplished this season, finishing with the second seed in the West, but there is no doubt the top four teams have made it to the dance and there are four very different possible combinations for the Finals, with each of them interesting in their own right.
Sure, the Los Angeles Lakers jumped out to a 2-1 lead on the defending champion San Antonio Spurs, but is anybody crazy enough to rule out the Spurs — winners of three of the last five les? But the Spurs surely need to win Game 4 or the Lakers go home for Game 5 with a chance to clinch.
And yes, the Boston Celtics finally won on the road after a record-tying six straight losses until Saturday at the Palace of Auburn Hills, taking a 2-1 lead over the Detroit Pistons. But you all know the Pistons ... bad game, good game, bad game, good game. In this case, like the Spurs, the Pistons have to win Game 4 or the Celtics go home with the opportunity to wrap up the series.
So that sets all the utensils out on the table, with four possible combinations for the Finals. If majority rules, the Celtics and Lakers will meet, rekindling a historic Finals rivalry that has occurred nine times, dating back to 1959, when the Lakers still played in Minneapolis. And let's not forget the Lakers' Phil Jackson, he of nine NBA les as coach (six in Chicago and three in L.A.), in a tie with Celtics legend Red Auerbach for the most rings in coaching history. One thing to consider is Jackson's teams have never lost a playoff series (40-0) when they win Game 1, as they did against the Spurs. With MVP Kobe Bryant leading the way and the home court, they are favored.
But that's not a guarantee.
The Spurs have the opportunity to win their fourth le in six years, something that nobody has done since the Celtics had their spectacular run of 11 les in 13 years from 1957-69 . There is no trio in the league that has won as consistently as Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. You can knock them down, but knocking them out is an entirely different cir stance.
The Celtics triumvirate of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen has had more than their share of success during their respective careers. And during the regular season, they put together the best record in the NBA. It's different now, though, considering this is the first season the three All-Stars have played together on the Celtics.
Meanwhile, the hard-to-figure Pistons have shown the ability to come back in any series and have been to the Conference finals six years in a row, so they have the experience to bounce back against the Celtics. It's just always hard to figure what we will see from the Pistons, who have greatness but too often inexplicably lapse into a lifeless bunch during select games in the postseason.
So as we consider all of the above, let's look at the matchups to decide which one we'd like to see going forward:
Spurs vs. Pistons
The good: These two teams already had a great series in 2005, with the Spurs barely winning in seven games, thwarting the Pistons' attempt to repeat after taking out the Lakers in five the year before. Both teams are predicated by defense and consistent team execution at both ends of the floor.
The bad: When these two teams meet, the scores tend to look more like college games than the NBA. In this fast-paced basketball frenzy of the 21st century, they'll still slow it down. In 2005, the Pistons were the only team to score 100 points in the series, and it happened in a 102-71 blowout in Game 4. On the other hand, the Pistons also lost, 84-69, in Game 1. A thing of beauty, it was not.
Conclusion: These two teams have garnered an enormous amount of respect this decade and rightfully so. They have been consistently solid year in and year out, which is why this matchup would be no surprise and intense. The only problem is that nobody but the fans of the two teams has any interest in seeing them slug it out again.
Lakers vs. Pistons
The good: There is history here, too, with the 2004 Finals the most recent — signaling the end of the Shaquille O'Neal-Kobe Bryant-Phil Jackson era for the Lake Show. All three proved to be amazingly selfish in the end, with Shaq getting dealt to Miami, Phil taking a year off for a "tell-all" book and Kobe suffering the brunt of the blame, when in retrospect it seems to be equal parts of blame to go around. There also were the 1988 and 1989 meetings that began with Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas exchanging kisses on the cheek and ended with their public friendship becoming a personal feud. The Lakers won in 1988, but the Pistons won in 1989 when Johnson and Byron Scott both suffered hamstring injuries that made it impossible for the Lakers to compete.
The bad: Chauncey Billups has the hamstring in question for the Pistons. The way he looked in Games 1 and 3, it's hard to fathom the Pistons getting there now. Sure, rookie Rodney Stuckey has been surprisingly stellar and growing in confidence in his place. But if they can't get more dependable play from Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince, it won't matter. They won't get there.
Conclusion: All things being equal health-wise, this would be an excellent matchup, with Wallace and Antonio McDyess going against Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol up front and with Rip Hamilton and Bryant locking horns in the backcourt. But unless the Pistons rally quickly, it's not going to happen.
Spurs vs. Celtics
The good: There is the tradition of the Spurs now and the Celtics then that makes it intriguing. Even more special would be the matchup of Duncan and Garnett, Western Conference rivals for so many years, meeting in the Finals for the first time. Watching Bruce Bowen check Paul Pierce would be fun and the Ray Allen-Manu Ginobili lockup would also be great theater in so many ways. And that's not to mention the quickness of the Celtics young Rajon Rondo against the race car known as Tony Parker.
The bad: The scores will be in the 80's and low 90's featuring a bump-and-grind mode for both teams. These games could be excruciating to watch until the fourth quarter, which would finally offer some great basketball. In other words, the desire would be to see a best-of-seven, one quarter each. Otherwise, the non-diehards would find it to be unwatchable.
Conclusion: As a die-hard NBA fan, this would be a fabulous series. The matchups are terrific, even if Duncan and Garnett aren't head-to-head all the time. The alteration of defenses from the Spurs Gregg Popovich and Pistons coach Flip Saunders are continual, with the two having faced each other innumerable times in the Western Conference during Saunders' nine-plus seasons as coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. This is the second choice because of the possibilities.
Lakers vs. Celtics
The good: Unless you resent both franchises, there is nothing to dislike about this. Bryant making his first playoff appearance in Boston is reason enough to get excited. Even more so, there is the prospect of Jackson in search of his 10th le with the ghost of Auerbach looming overhead the Garden. There also is the desire to see Garnett, Pierce and Allen have a shot at their first le after all three superstars never having made it to the Finals before.
The bad: There will be the conspiracy theories if this happens. The NBA has been waiting for a return to the golden era ever since the lockout of 1998-99, when it lost a large chunk of audience and got lost in the hip hop, tattoo-infested youth of the 21st century. But in reality, if the worst matchup is the Spurs vs. the Pistons, there is no way the NBA can lose this time around.
Conclusion: Again, unless you just hate the NBA or the two franchises, how can you not want this to happen? This would be the greatest matchup, mostly because of the legacy of the Celtics and Auerbach vs. Bryant and Jackson. Just imagine if the Lakers were to clinch the series in Boston and Jackson gets to light up a stogie in the Garden to celebrate. Those would certainly be ingredients of his choice.
Spurs vs Celtics....its gonna happen....book it
Spurs and Pistons my dream.
We don't hate Boston or LA (we'll, mebbe LA some)...we hate the fact the media and NBA have been building these 2 teams up all year as some sort of savior for the NBA. As if the Spurs and the Pistons have destroyed the marketing hype surrounding the tatooed, hip hop, "superstars rule" image the NBA has been trying to create.
It's bull , and the media "journalists" who have gone along with it have been disgusting. "Sports journalists?"
Give me a ing break.
If it comes down to the Spurs and Detroit, I'd love to see Duncan and Sheed getting together at midcourt...and flipping off the camera's with a collective " you."
God, that would be sweet.
Then the media would find something to love about them again.
ing morons
Boy, yeah, those Celtics sure play some exciting basketball.
Actually, the Bulls did it in the '90's. (In fact they got 4 in 6, 5 in 7 and even 6 in 8 years.)
I don't really care who comes out of the East because they both barely score, but if the Spurs make it I'm boycotting the finals for the 2nd year in a row.
Um Doc Rivers is the coach of the Celtics last time I checked. How can you mix those two up?
Spurs vs. Celtics
...The alteration of defenses from the Spurs Gregg Popovich and Pistons coach Flip Saunders are continual, with the two having faced each other innumerable times in the Western Conference during Saunders' nine-plus seasons as coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves...
So you'll only watch the finals if the Spurs aren't in it.
lol...too funny.
Guess you'll just have to spend all your time continuing to troll SpursTalk telling us how you aren't watching.
Dude is covering his eyes as we speakGuess you'll just have to spend all your time continuing to troll SpursTalk telling us how you aren't watching.
Nah, I spend most of it posting on Spurstalk about how much I disagree with Joakim Noah getting arrested and the like. The Spurs hatred is just an added bonus for ya'll to enjoy. For about the 1000th time- I'm sorry this forum is so cool and I'm sorry that unlike most of you, I dislike the spurs. I didn't know that my membership here required me to stop disliking them. But again, I'm sorry- I know that facing the reality that many, many, many NBA fans really don't like your team must be awful for you.Guess you'll just have to spend all your time continuing to troll SpursTalk telling us how you aren't watching.
Spurs vs. Celtics
The good: There is the tradition of the Spurs now and the Celtics then that makes it intriguing. Even more special would be the matchup of Duncan and Garnett, Western Conference rivals for so many years, meeting in the Finals for the first time. Watching Bruce Bowen check Paul Pierce would be fun and the Ray Allen-Manu Ginobili lockup would also be great theater in so many ways. And that's not to mention the quickness of the Celtics young Rajon Rondo against the race car known as Tony Parker.
The bad: The scores will be in the 80's and low 90's featuring a bump-and-grind mode for both teams. These games could be excruciating to watch until the fourth quarter, which would finally offer some great basketball. In other words, the desire would be to see a best-of-seven, one quarter each. Otherwise, the non-diehards would find it to be unwatchable.
Conclusion: As a die-hard NBA fan, this would be a fabulous series. The matchups are terrific, even if Duncan and Garnett aren't head-to-head all the time. The alteration of defenses from the Spurs Gregg Popovich and Pistons coach Flip Saunders are continual, with the two having faced each other innumerable times in the Western Conference during Saunders' nine-plus seasons as coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. This is the second choice because of the possibilities.
Since when Saunders is coaching the Celtics ?
Yeah but those championships were kind of fake...the league was handed to MJ for a long time.
I am still laughing at all this it will be so exciting to have Boston and LA in the finals with so much history and tradition, blah, blah, these people are aware that Magic and Bird are retired right???
Spurs vs. Celtics
The good: There is the tradition of the Spurs now and the Celtics then that makes it intriguing. Even more special would be the matchup of Duncan and Garnett, Western Conference rivals for so many years, meeting in the Finals for the first time. Watching Bruce Bowen check Paul Pierce would be fun and the Ray Allen-Manu Ginobili lockup would also be great theater in so many ways. And that's not to mention the quickness of the Celtics young Rajon Rondo against the race car known as Tony Parker.
The bad: The scores will be in the 80's and low 90's featuring a bump-and-grind mode for both teams. These games could be excruciating to watch until the fourth quarter, which would finally offer some great basketball. In other words, the desire would be to see a best-of-seven, one quarter each. Otherwise, the non-diehards would find it to be unwatchable.
Conclusion: As a die-hard NBA fan, this would be a fabulous series. The matchups are terrific, even if Duncan and Garnett aren't head-to-head all the time. The alteration of defenses from the Spurs Gregg Popovich and Pistons coach Flip Saunders are continual, with the two having faced each other innumerable times in the Western Conference during Saunders' nine-plus seasons as coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. This is the second choice because of the possibilities.
Since when Saunders is coaching the Celtics ?
that would be priceless!!
because after Jordan retired, it could have been Malone's time to win one & dominate, then there's Duncan, then he retired, a new Jazz team last yr almost made it but, then there was Duncan again
awww the pot head is mad
- Mars
Straight up. What's wrong with being bitter over that? I wouldn't be a good Jazz fan otherwise. Especially considering the manner in which you managed to draft Duncan.because after Jordan retired, it could have been Malone's time to win one & dominate, then there's Duncan, then he retired, a new Jazz team last yr almost made it but, then there was Duncan again
And BTW, it was Stockton's time, not Malone's.
You really need to get over your irrational hatred of marijuana and those who choose to use it. If the subject ever comes up, you love to hate. Why don't you stick to criticizing things you actually have a clue about.awww the pot head is mad
- Mars
lmao, it's illegal, you just need to get over it and accept the law.
- Mars
That's all you ever say- "it's illegal"
And all I'm ever going to say is that I'm not a puppet. I don't follow laws- I speed when I want to, I run red lights when I want to, I forcibly break into mormon gyms to play basketball three nights a week, I smoke marijuana. Society is just lucky that I don't want to murder people, because buddy, it ain't the law that's ever stopping me from doing anything.
i suppose you're an anarchist too. have fun serving jail time one day, i hope one of my friends who's gonna be a cop busts your ass.
- Mars
Jail? Come at me with it. I've done plenty of time in jail and I'll do plenty more if it happens. I love being made into a martyr.
a martyr?
you don't even deserve to type that word in this situation. but we're getting terribly off topic, if you wanna bash the Spurs go to a Lakers forum, not here.
- Mars
at least you don't hate the Spurs just bitter over something.
Well, we won the lottery because we were lucky.
Memphis didn't care if Gasol went to LA for nothing might as well tanking their season but Chicago won this yr.
BTW, about last yr if only you made it, I would have been cheering behind Jazz over LeBron. I am a Deron Williams fan, you know
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