Mattie T’s Preview of the 2010 NBA Finals
Written by The Go-To-Man Mattie T. on June 2, 2010
The Los Angeles Lakers & Boston Celtics are set to meet in the NBA Finals for a 12th time, with Boston holding a 9-2 advantage.
Los Angeles will look to go back-to-back for the first time since 2001, while Boston is looking to win their 2nd championship in the past 3 years.
Since the Celtics beat the Lakers in 6 games during the 2008 NBA Finals, a few things have changed:
The Lakers now have Ron Artest, who is expected to guard Paul Pierce for a majority of the NBA Finals.
They also have a healthy Andrew Bynum, who was not available during their Finals duel from 2 years ago.
As for Boston, they have a much improved Rajon Rondo then the guard that Los Angeles saw in their previous Finals meeting. Rondo has improved in every major statisical category while nearly doubling his assists & led the NBA with 794 steals.
Mattie T’s Analysis:
While the Lakers boast the best player in the league with Kobe Bryant, the Celtics can counter this with a complete team effort. One thing Boston does have an advantage of over their 2008 championship-winning team is an improved bench.
Glen Davis & Tony Allen remain the only holdovers from that team, as Rasheed Wallace, Nate Robinson, Marquis Daniels & even Michael Finley will be expected to play significant roles at some point during the Finals.
They key player will be Rajon Rondo, as he’s been the best point guard in the playoffs whose speed & quickness will be a major problem for the Lakers to deal with.
The Celtics have already ousted three great players during this current run which includes Dwyane Wade, LeBron James & Dwight Howard.
If they’re able to defeat Kobe Bryant’s Lakers, this could be the best run ever for a team that many people did not take very seriously entering the playoffs.
I think they will get it done.
Mattie T’s Prediction for the 2010 NBA Finals: Celtics in six.
