September 14th, 2009 
Josh Dhani 
Posted in 
Everyone loves rivalries. Much goodness and excitement comes out of each rivalry game I see. There’s blood, hatred, and just downright craziness. But there is so much more to rivalries that just make these games so special. Right now, I am not here to rabble-rouse about rivalry games, because everyone knows how great the rivalry is between the Celtics and Lakers.
Also, as you can tell from the title, these two teams may have a shot at playing each other in this season’s NBA Finals. Hey, don’t blame me, it’s just a fact. With Kevin Garnett healthy and the smart decisions Boston made in the offseason, bloggers everywhere are predicting the Celtics are the team to beat.
Add to that the fact the Lakers have had their share of the fun in the offseason as well. Although losing Trevor Ariza was a disappointment, L.A. made one of the biggest moves of the NBA offseason this year by signing former Houston Rockets forward Ron Artest. Artest will be used a replacement to Ariza at the small forward spot. In addition to that, the Lakers resigned Lamar Odom. So it seems the Lakers also look like a team to beat.
It almost seems as if no other team can compete the way these two will this season. The Orlando Magic may be close for this year after trading for New Jersey Nets’ Vince Carter to fill in for Hedo Turkoglu. But they won’t pass by Boston this year in the Eastern Conference in my opinion. Why so? Well, last year’s playoffs explains it all.
In the Semifinals, Boston was facing Orlando without Kevin Garnett and Orlando barely overcame the Celtics, winning the series in a thrilling 4 games to three matchup. I believe that if KG were there, Boston probably would have won the series. With KG healthy this year, Big Baby resigned, and many other offseason moves, the Celtics are no doubt the team to beat in the Eastern Conference in my estimation.
The Cavaliers may not stand a chance. If they can’t beat the Magic, and the Magic can’t beat the Celtics, I think you know where I am going. Acquiring Shaq and Leon Powe doesn’t really help out all that much. The Celtics are the team to beat in the Eastern Conference, so, just live with it. Although I am a Pacers fan, come on, you’ve got to admit, they have no chance this year for a Finals shot, but a playoffs shot will do, right?
As for the Lakers, there really is no contender for them. The Hornets do have a good shot probably, with Emeka Okafor recently added in a trade. The Rockets do, too. But Houston may struggle trying to compete in the Western Conference after losing Ron Artest to L.A. and Yao Ming for this season after an injury. Trevor Ariza and Tracy McGrady are a good combo but I really don’t see any team being as good as the Lakers.
So you get my points? I really do see these two teams fighting in the Finals. I am not going to predict who wins, I don’t want to cause any conflict. But these two teams do look pretty evenly matched. It will look like a fun matchup to witness, so get ready.
I know I am.
The Celtics and Lakers are simply loaded and do seem destined to meet in the finals. The Spurs would have set themselves up better if they had signed Rasheed Wallace, instead he slipped away to the Celtics. Orlando got weaker losing Turkoglu and bringing in Carter. The Cav’s still have not found anyone to play with LeBron, unless aging Shaq puts together a year for the ages.
Nope. Celtics are way to old to be favorites of the East. Wallace has mailed it in the past two years. Garnetts a huge question mark with his knee. Do you honestly expect all these guys to stay healthy (especially KG) for 82 games, then another post season where they would have to potentially go up against Orlando or Cleveland or both for a seven game series?