It’s Sunday afternoon and the world is poised for one of the better days in recent NBA Playoffs memory.
Rockets/Lakers.
Celtics/Magicians.
All the garbage that’s been written so far is now meaningless. All the banter is worthless. Are the Lakers too soft? Are they too arrogant? Are they too lazy? Are the Rockets better without Tracy? Are they even good without Yao? Are Shane and Ron the worst match up for Kobe?
Your opinions on these questions no longer matter. In about an hour, fiction becomes fact.
Unfortunately, it’s really hard to see a rag-tag squad of over-achieving Rockets led by Ron Artest waltzing into Staples Center and beating a team with so much basketball talent. Kobe, Pau, Lamar, Trevor and (I guess) Bynum should really have no problems beating Ron, Von, Aaron, Shane and Scola. Generally, the NBA is the most just of all the sports leagues in that the best team almost always wins in a seven-game series. Injuries and momentum-fueled runs (e.g., the Warriors over the Mavs) do alter this on occassion, but the “better team” wins way more in the NBA than the NFL or MLB. Throw in the fact that the Lakers have the best two players in the series in Mamba and the Spaniard, and you have to expect LA to pull this one out at home — especially after Kobe refocused himself yesterday by spending his whole Saturday evening watching four straight airings of Kobe Doin’ Work.
Celtics/Magic is much more interesting (yet, paradoxically, the game that interests me less) in the sense that we really have no idea which team is better. With Paul, Ray and Rajon, the Cs have the pedigree of Playoff success while Orlando has exactly zero proven, ready-for-primetime players. Then again, Truth looks run down until the final five minutes of every game and the Boston frontcourt is shakier than Vin Baker in the morning. Will Dwight go 20/20 again? Will Rashard be aggressive? Will the Turkism Michael Jordan stick his patented dagger threes? Will Rafer slap or kiss anyone’s head?
In reality, none of us know what’s about to happen. And this is exactly what we’ve been hoping for while watching the NBA all year.
A Game 7 is the best thing in sports.
And, today, we get two.
Enjoy.
{ 0 comments… add your thoughts }