NBA Rambling

Celtics vs. Lakers. Boston vs. Los Angeles. East Coast vs. Left Coast.

Beantown vs. LaLa Land.

It has to be. If there is an NBA god, then that will be the championship series this season. Jack Nicholson is praying now. Me, too. As someone who grew up on that rivalry, I think of it as the best in league history.

From the ’60’s to the ‘80’s, the Celtics owned the Lakers in the finals with a 7-0 record until 1985 when Magic Johnson led Showtime over Bird and boys, still the most riveting basketball series that I’ve ever seen. Kurt Rambis, where are you?

Kobe vs. Garnett. Instant classic. Heavyweight class.

Of course there are 14 possible reasons why they won’t make it. That’s the rest of the field.

The most intriguing first round match-up in the West is Phoenix versus San Antonio. Either Shaq or Duncan goes out in the opening series. Each big man has four rings. At one point, they won five consecutive Finals MVP. For them, it’s one and done, baybee. Loser leaves.

Gilbert Arenas assured all that Cleveland versus Washington would be the most intriguing series in the East by insulting King James outlandishly. Go figure. Last two seasons Lebron kicked the Wizards out of the playoffs. Don’t piss off Superman. Arenas has a lot to prove this week by backing up what he said.

Toronto vs. Orlando is a wash. Chris Bosh vs. Dwight Howard. Oh, to be young, talented and big.

Denver vs.Lakers. Wake me when it’s over. The only way this is interesting is if Carmelo Anthony drives the team bus.

Atlanta vs. Boston. Josh Smith and Al Horford are the future. KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce are the present.

The Hornets are the most surprising team this season, coming out of nowhere to challenge for top seed, taking on underachieving Dallas. Chris Paul versus Jason Kidd in classic elite point guard exhibition. A Mav loss would be devastating to their franchise, a personal affront to Mark Cuban who will have wasted big bucks again trying to get a winning team.

The Jazz are my sleeper team to go all the way, my favorite dog. They face the Rockets who for a stretch late in the season were the hottest team in the league. T-Mac has never gotten the past the first round which is the same as saying Alex Rodriquez has never won a championship.

Philly vs. Motown. Pistons are the ultimate professional team. I remember seeing them win in Boston earlier this season, thinking this team always has a chance to beat the Celts. The No Names in Philadelphia play like they have to win to eat.

I’ll watch if I can. While MCV shows all the live NBA games on TNT and ESPN, ABC 7 has not this year shown all the ABC games live. Some of the playoff games are on ABC and it will be interesting to see if Saipan Fan gets them in his living room. And yes, it’s available to us on satellite. This morning, we should have gotten Suns/Spurs Game 1 and tomorrow morning Nuggets/Lakers on Channel 7. We’ll see (or not). Of course, the power has to be on too.