By MATT "MONEY" SMITH
FOXSportsWest.com | PRIME TICKET
Jan. 28, 2011
First thing I want to get out of the way when talking about the rivalry that will resume this weekend here in Los Angeles, is that we call it Lakers vs. Celtics.
Don't let any of the Boston folk try to dump "Celtics vs. Lakers" on you because of their 17 championships to the Lakers' 16, or thanks to their 9-3 record in the NBA Finals when the two teams met in seasons past. Electronic Arts (now EA Sports) determined the order in which it would be announced when it released the video game "Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs" back in 1991 for the Sega Genesis that knocked Double Dribble off snatching the claim to best cyber basketball experience.
Some rivalries are forced and don't have the emotions involved that franchises so desperately want. Others have died off with the passage of time. Some are alive, but just in a dormant stage, much like this one was for more than a decade with the Celtics experiencing a lull in performance starting in 1993 as they posted just three winning seasons over the course of 14 years. But thankfully, with the acquisitions of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in one offseason, Danny Ainge reignited a flame that apparently was still flickering, and has now turned into a raging fire.
With the Celtics coming to Los Angeles for the team's first of two meetings against the Lakers this season, there is that requisite palpable buzz throughout the fan population. Yes, the arrival of Miami on Christmas Day was viewed with great anticipation, but it felt more like what LeBron James described when hanging the "Heatles" tag on the team's travels from one town to another. Fans didn't so much want to see how the Lakers and Heat would fare against one another in a basketball sense, but instead needed to see James actually wearing that Heat uniform, to have some sort of closure to the idea he really turned down the New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls to play basketball in . . . Miami?
Come Sunday, the feelings will be totally different. There was little hate directed toward the Heat, but instead a tiny bit of anger aimed in James' direction. Because he's the one guy that most often is cited as the best player in the game ahead of Kobe Bryant, that doesn't go over too well with the most myopic of Lakers fans. But outside of that one argument, there is little ill will directed at the actual organization. And remember, this is a Miami team that provided a home for Shaquille O'Neal to gain his fourth NBA Championship when he was sent on his way in 2004 after eight seasons with the Lakers.
There are a lot of teams that consider the Lakers to be their primary rivals. You have the chorus of "Beat LA" chants up in Portland, flaming hot rhetoric and colorful vernacular used by fans when the Lakers roll into Salt Lake City, manufactured anger from the Phoenix Suns in an effort to temper the enthusiasm of a healthy contingency of Lakers fans that go to every game played in the desert, and of course the Sacramento Kings try to keep the playoff memories alive from nearly a decade ago.
While it might work for those teams, understand the Lakers have just one true enemy. Nothing against the Golden State Warriors or San Antonio Spurs, but when you're talking about a 1-4 record in NBA Finals Game 7s, there's a lot to be upset over. I mentioned the series was nearly dead and buried thanks to the Celtics' struggles through the 90's and early 2000's, but a 131-92 Game 6 victory in 2008 that included a Gatorade bath on the court for head coach Doc Rivers set the rivalry to Zombie status.
As in, it will never be killed.
Even after the Lakers managed to steal Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals, Celtics fans, God bless them, kept the anger alive by pointing out the Finals MVP, Bryant, was just 6 of 24 in the contest and needed Ron Artest to carry him over the finish line. They of course conveniently forgot Paul Pierce, your 2008 NBA Finals MVP, was 4 of 13 in that Game 6 closeout and had a whopper of a Game 3 with his 2-for-14 shooting and six-turnover performance.
So with the first of two regular-season games against the Celtics here in Los Angeles on Sunday, and their second one coming just 11 days later, there is almost a playoff-like feel to the two matchups. Boston is 35-10 and has won seven of its past eight, while the Lakers have kept pace with their 33-13 record, having won 10 of their past 12. The "Big 3" are playing the best basketball in the month of January that they have all season, and in just his second game back, Kendrick Perkins reminded us how important he is to the Celtics' success by going for 10 points and nine rebounds in a win at Portland in which the Celtics held the Blazers to just 37 percent shooting.
In an era of NBA basketball when it's all about the individual and barely about the team, the most refreshing part of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry is the small amount of attention the return of O'Neal has gained. While Shaq has been a solid contributor for the Celtics, after being humiliated by Joakim Noah in the first round of last year's playoffs, followed by an ineffective series against Boston where the James brand was scarred forever, most fans realize he's not a major factor to the success or failure of the Celtics.
Sure it's the Sabbath, and we're supposed to be in the frame of mind to love our fellow man. But when that ball is thrown up in the air at 12:30 p.m. PT, you can bet the crushing defeat in 1969, the first ever finals victory over Boston in 1985, and the most recent win, the one that has the Lakers carrying the title of "Current NBA Champions," will come rushing back to many of the Lakers fans in attendance.
All this for nothing more than a contest that counts just the same as the other games they play over the course of the regular season. But because this is a true rivalry, one with history and a mountain of emotions, each of the upcoming two games between the Lakers and Celtics will feel like it's so much bigger than the other 80 they play all year.
