NBA Finals Boston vs LA

If you would have asked me Monday I would have said Boston wins in 5 no doubt. Neither LA or Phoenix was playing defense and like all sports defense wins championships in the NBA. However after Monday a funny thing happened Boston stopped playing defense and both LA and Phoenix started defending much better. I will say there is no reason to fear LA's home court. Boston has already won 2 series with out home court in places much tougher to win than Staples. Staples is not that tough of a place to play especially in the finals when the celebrities suddenly seem to give a shit again. The celebrities show up in the second quarter sign their contracts for their next film make sure they are seen and do an interview to pimp the current film and then it's time to hit the club.

Boston is hurt LA is tired this happens in long playoff series. Neither team is as deep or quite frankly as good as most of their other finals teams. There is nothing about this match-up that scares me as a Boston fan. I think Orlando matched-up better than LA does Of course this doesn't guarantee a victory for Boston. LA has the best player on the court BUT he could score 40 points a game and still watch his team lose. IF Kobe's teammates get frustrated like they did in 2008 Kobe will start to ignore them and play 5-1 if and when he does LA will lose. However Gasol, Odom, Fisher somebody has to give him a choice.

Boston is not as deep as they were in 2008. Perk is one technical away from being suspended, Rasheed Wallace is injured and a head case. Sheed can be very good he can kill you. He needs to keep his head out of his ass every game. If Perk, Sheed and Big Baby Davis can hold their own or get the best of LA's bigs it will be huge.

LA has to win both of the first two games with the 2-3-2 Finals format. If Boston gets one of the first two they are set. If they somehow get both then it's all over. If LA wins both games then the pressure is really on Boston in the next 3. If it's 3-2 LA going back to LA for games 6 and 7 then they'll win.

I listen to Boston's announcers on XM during the games and Sean Grande kept saying that not only would a Celtics-Lakers series decide who was the best team this year it would decide who had the best franchise. For the life of me I can't see how he figures that. They have played 11 times before in the finals Boston is 9-2. Boston has 17 rings LA 15. If LA wins they now are down 9-3 all time in NBA finals only in LA could you lose 9 out of 12 and proclaim yourself the best.

Like I said earlier if you asked me Monday I would have said Boston in 5. Now I am not nearly as certain about that pick. I do know this I don't fear LA or Staples center. But then again I didn't see anyway Boston could get to this point. I thought they would lose to Cleveland and I even told Jonathan I thought Orlando was playing too well to see much hope of winning that series either. LA is not as good as either of those two teams. So maybe it's a bad thing that I am not pessimistic about this series.