Celtics Lakers Predictions
Written May 31, 2008 by Jason Lowry
A dream matchup for anyone that is a basketball junkie, as you get the Boston Celtics vs. the Los Angeles Lakers in what should be one of the best NBA Finals the league has seen in years. If you take a look back to the end of the last season there are few that would have picked these two teams to be squaring off in the 2008 NBA Finals. Kobe Bryant demanded being traded before deciding to ride the ship and wound up with a new pal in Paul Gasol and the best record in the Western Conference. The Celtics had the worst record in the league, and it looked like long time Celtic Paul Pierce was running out of time, before he found two new running mates in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. All the Celtics did was have the best turnaround from one season to the next as they finished the season with the best record. This will be Kobe chance of proving he can win a title with Shaq and the Boston trio of Garnett, Pierce, and Allen to finally get a shot a putting the finishing touches to their great careers. Lets take a look at how each team got here and our predictions on who will come out as your 2008 NBA Champions.
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Los Angeles Lakers
In what many are calling the toughest road out of the Western Conference in years, the Lakers were able to find their way out of it with only 3 losses. They took care of Denver in 4 straight in the opening round, then took 6 tough games against the Jazz, before their latest dethroning of the Spurs in just 5 games. MVP Kobe Bryant has been unstoppable throughout the playoffs as he comes in averaging 31.9 ppg, 6.1rpg, and 5.8 apg. The Lakers continue to get great play from Gasol and Lamar Odom as they combine for nearly 32 points and 20 rebounds a game in the playoffs. The also continue to get excellent play from the bench when needed. It will be interesting to see if anyone can stop Bryant and keep him from scoring at will.
Boston Celtics
After finishing with the best record and the Eastern Conference having only a few good teams, many expected the Celtics to roll through the playoffs. Well that didn’t happen as they had trouble winning on the road to start the playoffs. They needed all 7 games to get past the Hawks in the first round and again to get past the Cavs in round 2. Things really started to come together against the Celtics as they took care of Detroit in 6 games, including two big wins on the road. While you can expect Kobe to guard Pierce, we aren’t really sure who the Lakers plan on using to stop Garnett and his 21 ppg. The Celtics are going to need Allen to find his shot or it might be a short series. Allen did show signs in the last 3 games against Detroit as he scored in double figures each game. The Celtics don’t have the bench players like the Lakers, but will need everything it can get from veterans Sam Cassell and James Posey.
Winner: Los Angeles Lakers
We picked them to win it all in our NBA playoff predictions when the playoffs started, and we aren’t going to change our minds now. Kobe looks like he is more determined than ever to win it all and prove that he is the best player in the game. The addition of Gasol pushed this team over the edge and they haven’t looked back since. While we might be getting a little ahead of ourselves, this just might be the beginning of something really good out in LA. If they can keep Gasol around for a while and Bynum can come back healthy and return to the level he was playing to start the season, then this team will be a force out West for some time to come.
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