NBA Finals Preview

Every morning, I wake up and pick a quote of the day. I try to pick from a person who embodies all the intangible quality that I look for in a person. While searching I ran across a quote from the late John Wooden.

“The people who turn out best are those people who make the best out of the way things turn out.”

There it is. That’s what I was looking for. It sums up the way I will tackle today and how either the Los Angeles Lakers or Boston Celtics will go into things tonight. How they overcome injuries will decide the outcome of  tonight’s game come out at the Staples Center floor tonight at 9 p.m. EST.

Both teams have ailing centers. At 80 percent, Andrew Bynum can make a big difference for his team instead of being a big body clogging the middle. The Celtics go into tonight without their starting center, Kendrick Perkins. He was diagnosed with a knee injury suffered in the 1st quarter of game six. The Celtics missed his toughness and defense. Without him, Boston has no true low post defender.

Whoever didn’t see a game seven coming when the series started has not watched these teams closely. Let me be emphatic — your oblivious to basketball.  These teams are a microcosm of each other and have played that way this series. Until game four and five in Boston, no team had won a back to back game this series. When a team has won they have looked like a championship team and when they have lost they have looked like the back of a milk carton with a headline saying , ” Have you seen me ?”

There are three significant things to look for with tonight.

1. Who will step up and step out?

Ray Allen had a record-setting shooting night for Boston in game two.  He hasn’t been heard from since. Same goes for Derek Fisher, who saved game three but that’s it. Queensbridge natives Lamar Odom and Ron Artest has been inconsistent the entire series. Both played well in game six but need to be better in game seven which I don’t see happening because they are playing to their capabilities now. Someone out of this group has to be a big time scorer and contributor to push his team over the top out of this group.

2. Boston’s interior defense

When Perkins went down, so did their interior defense. Shannon Brown looked like Lebron James in the 2005 Eastern Conference Finals going to the cup. It got easier and easier for him and his teammates to get to the basket and unless Rasheed Wallace — who played in the game against James — will have to remember he is a post player and stay away from the three-point line and fouls. Glen”Shrek” Davis and Sheldon Williams will have to collectively bring energy and rebounding to the post or the Celtics will lose again.

3. Coaching/History/Legacy

Suffices to popular belief, Bryant’s legacy does not ride on game seven.

Should they lose, he will still be the games best closer and the best player.  If LA triumphs, he will have won another championship and presumably a series MVP. Things he has already done.

Paul Pierce on the other hand, can join the pantheon of Celtic greats. They all have won more than one championship. If teh Truth wins this one, he would get two. Hello retired jersey, Hall of Fame, Boston Immortality.

The same can be said for coaches Phil Jackson and Doc Rivers. Doc Rivers has won more elimination games than any coach in history and has in some cases out coached Jackson this series. Jackson has never coached a game seven but he wants to win this one bad. This is the real story of tonight’s game.

As the saying goes, this is where the rubber meets the road tonight. These questions must be answered for one of these teams championship aspirations. Whoever it is will cap an amazing NBA Finals series that’s has been suspenseful, entertaining and great.