Finally Wrapping Up Finals

With the NBA season in our rear view mirror and free agency the order of the day, I wanted to just quickly wrap up the finals and bring closure to another great season.

We finally got a seven game series—the first time since the Spurs beat the Pistons in 2005 and only the fourth time in twenty-six years—yet this Lakers-Celtics series really had no great or epic game.  Up until Game Seven each contest was essentially one-sided.  Even Game Seven was sloppy, feeling more like it simply ended with LA ahead rather than the Lakers truly snatching victory.

Both teams were playing through pain as well.  Andrew Bynum was banged up for the entire postseason, and Kendrick Perkins was famously unable to play Game Seven.  Kobe Bryant was hobbled throughout the year (finger, knee, ankle) and Kevin Garnett seemed to really only get healthy toward the end of the season.  I think what we saw in that Game Seven were the effects of three, long NBA seasons in a row for both the Lakers and Celtics.  The Celtics ran out of gas in the end, and the Lakers were darn near on empty, but just found a way to put the ball in a few times, and let their home crowd carry them to the championship.

The legacy of these finals will likely be that they signified Kobe's fifth and Phil Jackson's eleventh championship.  Kobe's bad seventh game will likely be lost in the mix of the overwhelming accomplishment of winning back-to-back titles and five overall.  For instance, most people don't recall Jordan shooting just 12-for-38 in Games Five and Six of the 1996 Finals as the Bulls closed out the SuperSonics.

These finals may also be marked as the end of the Celtics' mini dynasty.  It's fascinating what one game and four total points can mean to the history of the NBA.  If the Lakers lose, Kobe wins only four times in seven Finals appearances, twice bested by bitter rival Boston, and Phil Jackson cannot solve Doc Rivers.  If the Celtics had won, they would have a real dynasty winning two of the last three titles, Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce become unquestioned first ballot hall of famers, and Doc Rivers becomes the smartest man in hoops.

Perhaps these finals are an indication that the NBA season is a bit too long, or that at least the playoffs shouldn't have seven games in the first round.  It's almost impossible after all the basketball it requires to reach the Finals to be totally healthy and primed once you get there.  Basketball is perceived as a game of beauty and artful grace, yet it seems toughness, grit, and sheer will are the true components of today's champions.

These Finals also showed what it is going to take in today's NBA to reach the mountaintop.  A collection of good scorers will not be enough.  Winning the NBA is about the number of ways you can find to win, and the versatility/resourcefulness a team employs.  The Lakers could lean on their defense (best field goal percentage defense in the league).  The Lakers could also of course lean on Kobe to take over a game offensively, the inside trio of Bynum, Lamar Odom, and Pau Gasol, the occasional hot shooting of Ron Artest, and a consistent advantage on the boards.  Stars are what the NBA markets, but they are not necessarily what bring home titles (looking at you LeBron).

These finals may have taught us that stars win in the regular season, and teams win in the playoffs.  Boston and LA had plenty of talent, sure, but they were undeniably the best teams in the league.

These finals did not provide us with the stunning Jordan moment, or the Magic Johnson smile, or the Isaiah Thomas bum ankle performance (although Kobe's twenty-three straight points was pretty impressive).  What we did get was unquestionably the two best teams in basketball, who knew all each other's tricks, matching wills in a battle of endurance over skill.  It may not have been artistic, but it was competition in its most honest form.

--from Adam

(All images from nba.com)