Lakers, Celtics Again on Track to Meet in NBA Finals
Sean Deveney - SportingNews.com
Apr 14, 2011
At this time last year, it wasn't easy to envision a replay of what remains the most storied interconference rivalry in sports. The Lakers were dragging into the playoffs on a 4-7 stumble, while Boston was looking similarly lost, closing the season with a 3-7 stretch. But in early June, there we were again, with another Celtics-Lakers championship series.
And now, a chorus of skeptics is again singing the demise of the Celtics and Lakers after watching both flail late in the season. Boston went 10-11 since March 9, while the Lakers endured a five-game April losing streak before beating the Spurs on Tuesday -- former Boston great Kevin McHale called the Celtics "Sybil" because of their multiple personalities, and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley (again) is saying the Lakers are too old for another trip to the Finals.
P'shaw. With these two teams, be fooled by early-spring struggles at your own peril. Both the Celtics and Lakers have very tangible problems heading into the postseason, but no two teams in the league have more know-how when it comes to pushing problems aside when it counts most. "We know we have things we need to work out," Celtics guard Ray Allen said. "But we also have confidence that we will be able to work them out."
Age certainly is a concern for both teams, especially with young, athletic and hungry threats lurking in both the East (Chicago, Miami) and West (Oklahoma City, Denver). The Celtics are crossing their fingers that the oldest guy in the league -- center Shaquille O'Neal -- will be able to return from Achilles' tendon and calf injuries that have limited him to a little more than five minutes of action in the last 2 1/2 months. Without production from O'Neal, the Celtics don't figure to get very deep into May.
The Lakers, meanwhile, start four guys who are over 30, including 36-year-old point guard Derek Fisher. They'll be trying to wring as much postseason glory out of 32-year-old Kobe Bryant as they can, while again dealing with an Andrew Bynum knee injury. The Lakers' focus, especially defensively, has waxed and waned this season, which has been the source of most of their problems.
But this is the playoffs. For both the Celtics and Lakers, the focus will be there, and the problems will be minimized. For the third time in four years and for the 13th time overall, expect a Boston-L.A. Finals.
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