Assasin’s Creed

And so it has come down to this.

The two teams most had expected to meet up in the NBA finals have finally secured the right to face each other in basketball’s biggest stage. One, having taken a longer than expected road after finishing the regular season with the best record in the league. The other, methodically, if not almost quietly, making their way through their side of the bracket.

Kobe Bryant’s Lakers became the fashionable pick to come out of the west after Pau Gasol fell into their laps earlier this year, regardless of the large number of loaded teams in their own conference. While the Boston Celtics rolled into the playoffs as the number one seed in the (L)east powered by the pick-your-poison trio of Garnett, Pierce, and Allen. Now, they get to prove who’s the best of the best in a weeks time. And even before it has started, the winner of this series already looks like a fairly easy call.
Phil and Kobe can practically start having their ring fingers measured. Because, if the rest of the playoffs are any indication, the Celtics won’t get the benefit of sleepwalking into a victory against these Lakers. Not like how they got strung out over 7 games against an Atlanta Hawks team who had no business being in the playoffs. Not like how they let Lebron James almost single-handedly carry his team past them into the second round despite routinely having four of the five best players on the floor in almost every game. Not like how an aging Pistons team fell to them in six games only because of Detroit’s own inability to make shots during crunch time.

Meanwhile, The Lakers swept the Denver Nuggets in the first round (anybody still remember that series?), breezed through the young but powerful Utah Jazz in five games, and then did the same thing in dispatching the mighty Spurs and sending Tim Duncan and his teammates into their customary non-defending champion status every other year.

So, aside from the Lakers being the fresher team due to having played less games, the talent disparity the Celtics enjoyed, which enabled them to overcome their opponents’ tenacity in the earlier rounds, has steadily been reduced. And most importantly, they now have to deal with the best clutch performer currently playing in the league.

If there’s one thing championship teams almost always have, it’s an assassin. It’s that cold-blooded shotmaker who has, not just the drive, but the ability, to will his team to victory during pressure situations. And there’s no bigger pressure-cooker than the Finals. Michael Jordan was probably considered one of the greatest of all time not only because of his gaudy statistics and breath-taking physical ability, but also because he was able to perform those feats when it mattered the most. Other recent examples include Larry Bird (arguably the best along with Jordan), Hakeem Olajuwon, and for a brief time, Dwyane Wade. Having such a player gives you the ability to overcome opponents with better overall talent in a series (As the 2006 Heat-Lakers series proves).

It’s this vital element that’s lacking with the Celtics. The closest thing they have is Pierce (displayed notably during Game 7 against a one-man Cavs team) as Allen and Garnett have proven (disproven?) their ability and willingness to fill this role. And now they’re going up against a team with someone who has probably been the best clutch player in the past five or six years. Which is why I’m picking Lakers in six.