NBA Finals Preview: The Matchups

The NBA Finals are only two days away, but it seems like forever since the last time the Lakers last played a game. They haven't played since last Thursday, where they defeated the San Antonio Spurs. That means that by the time the ball is tipped for the Finals, the Lakers will have had a whole week off. The Celtics on the other hand will have had one less day of rest, since they finished their series with Detroit on Friday. The days off won't have much of a factor in this series, other than it allows some of Boston's older players to rest (Cassell and P.J. Brown).

I don't want to focus on the past match-ups of these basketball juggernauts because ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNDEPORTES, AND ESPN CLASSIC will do it all for me. I mean seriously, when is the last time you watched T.V. without seeing a promo for the Finals? The NBA is trying to target the "glory days" audience of the BOS-LA rivalry by ending their Finals promo with the image of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird standing side-by-side. This series will definitely bring a lot of interest from the casual sports viewers as well as the old-timers who hope a new Celtics-Lakers rivalry can begin anew.

Okay, so let's forget about the past and talk about the present. These matchups in the NBA Finals will be the most interesting by far. There are so many different matchups that both teams can throw at each other, it's mind-boggling. All we know for certain that Fisher will guard Rondo and Kobe will guard Allen. The rest of the matchups mostly have to do with the versatility of both teams defensively, and how Game 1 plays out.

Kevin Garnett is the best defensive player on the Celtics. We all now how talented he is offensively, but his defense has gone largely unnoticed until this year, when he captured the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. He can guard any position on the court, and his ability to roam around defensively will surely cause the Lakers problems. If Garnett guards Pau Gasol, I expect Pau to eat him up inside because of the size difference, but I don't see Doc Rivers liking that matchup too much. Garnett will mostly likely be on Lamar Odom. Good luck Lamar...

However, Lamar Odom is versatile defensively as well. He could end up guarding Paul Pierce, or Kevin Garnett. It depends who Phil wants to throw at Celtics starting center Kendrick Perkins. He'll probably eat up Odom's lunch inside, so Phil will want to throw more bulk at him with Pau, and Turiaf coming off the bench to combat Leon Powe.

One of the most interesting matchups will be Kobe Bryant on Ray Allen. These two have a colorful history. It started in 2004 when Ray assessed Kobe's game post-Shaq trade:

"He's going to be very selfish," Allen said of Bryant. "And he feels like he needs to show this league and the people in this country that he is better without Shaq."

Allen went on to say:

"If Kobe doesn't see he needs two and a half good players to be a legitimate playoff contender or win a championship in about a year or two he'll be calling out to Jerry Buss that 'We need some help in here,' or 'Trade me,' " Allen said. "And we'll all be saying, 'I told you so,' when he says that."

Wow, I'm just gonna start calling him Ray "Nostradamus" Allen. That's pretty much exactly what happened when Kobe asked to be traded last summer. Apparently Kobe called Ray Allen up and told him that "I'm going to bust your ass," before an exhibition game. Yeah, this was before a PRE-SEASON Game! Kobe and Allen denied it, but Kobe did tell reporters to not mention his name in the same breath as Ray Allen. We will see if time heals all wounds...

We all know about Allen's struggles in the playoffs, but he has picked it up recently, and with Kobe's tendency to leave his man and roam around defensively, Allen will have some good looks at the basket. The only thing holding him back is his confidence, and who knows if he'll throw up more screwballs from 3-point land, like a common Stojakovic in a Game 7.

Coach Jackson knows that both teams will learn more about matchups during Game 1:

"We're going to move people around and find who's going to guard whom in this series. Those things will change dramatically as we go through the first game and the series."

The Celtics and Lakers can match each other's exuberance and tenacity to play basketball. They are rah-rah teams that have a lot of chemistry and it shows on the court. From Kevin Garnett screaming into his players' ears to stay motivated, to Ronny Turiaf's insane dancing on the bench.

The Lakers know they have the experience necessary with Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, and Luke Walton all having Finals experience. I expect Kobe and Derek to be very assertive offensively in order to dictate the tempo, and impose their will on a Boston starting lineup that lacks any NBA Finals experience.

Both these teams have reached their destination. Game 1 is the testing ground. It is the battle before the war.