NBA Most Valuable Player Kobe Bryant and the NBA’s winningest team, the Boston Celtics, are on a collision course for a championship that only one can claim.
When the Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers meet in the best-of-seven showdown starting in Boston today, the NBA’s most historic rivalry will add another epic chapter and produce the 31st title between the two clubs from among 62 in all.
“Hopefully we continue to perform well as the years go on and continue the legacy of the Lakers and Celtics, but it’s kind of a fresh start,” Bryant said.
The Celtics have won an NBA record 16 titles, eight of them by defeating the Lakers in the finals. The Lakers have won 14 crowns, finally beating Boston in the 1985 final and repeating the feat in 1987, Boston’s last prior appearance.
“I grew up watching the Lakers and Boston. That’s what got me interested in basketball,” Celtics star Paul Pierce said. “Now I’m going to be part of history. It’s going to be great.”
Spirits of past glory will provide an emotional backdrop for the series, but Celtics stars Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen seek their first title and Bryant, who wanted a trade when the season began, still has something to prove.
“When it comes down to it, it’s just an opportunity to win a championship — for us to achieve our ultimate dream, our ultimate goal,” Lakers star big man Pau Gasol of Spain said.
“We live in the present. This is our finals. It doesn’t matter who we play. We have one goal — win it.”
The Celtics went 24-58 last season — Pierce calling it “like the bottom of the ocean” — but Boston obtained Garnett and Allen, both 32, and went from second-worst to first with an NBA-best 66-16 mark to claim a home-court playoff edge.
After years of frustration for Garnett at Minnesota and 20 years of futility in Boston, “KG” is living his boyhood dream.
“I used to watch on Sunday with a big plate of food in front of me, watching the Lakers and Celtics play,” Garnett said. “I remember like it was yesterday, mom telling me, ‘Don’t get too close to the TV. It’ll kill your eyes.’”
“I’m looking forward to this,” he said.
Garnett has averaged 21.1 points and 9.8 rebounds to lead the Celtics while Pierce adds 19.0 points and Allen contributes 14.2 points a game with Rajon Rondo producing 10.5 points and 6.6 assists.
Bryant, who won three titles with the Lakers starting in 2000, ripped team officials and pushed to be traded before the season began, earning a chorus of boos at the Lakers opener.
But he won the MVP award for the first time and showed he could make the Lakers a contender even after star center Shaquille O’Neal’s departure for Miami, thanks in part to Gasol’s arrival in February.
“Last summer was a tough time. He’s probably happy nobody got traded,” said Lakers legend Magic Johnson. “Kobe was right in airing he was disappointed we weren’t headed in a championship direction. He had to be patient.”
“Kobe got that feeling once Gasol got here he could win that championship. He’s on fire. He’s focused and determined,” he said.
Bryant has averaged 31.9 points and 5.8 assists in the playoffs to lead the Lakers, plus 6.1 rebounds a game. Gasol has contributed 17.7 points and 8.9 rebounds while Lamar Odom averages 14.7 points and a team-best 10.3 rebounds.
Boston won both regular-season meetings with the Lakers, 107-94 at home in November and 110-91 at Los Angeles in December. But both games came before Gasol joined the Lakers on Feb. 1 in a deal, some say steal, from Memphis.
“What Pau gives them is the Shaq effect,” San Antonio guard Bruce Bowen said. “It’s a missing piece Kobe hasn’t had the last few years. It gives him the freedom to do what he does. Pau gives them that chance.”
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