NBA Finals - It's The Usual

The NBA Finals start this week and it shouldn't be a shock as to which teams are playing - Lakers vs. Celtics. This will be the 12th time the teams meet in the finals. It shouldn't be a shock either because the same teams to appear in the finals year after year. The NBA, unlike other major sports seems to thrive on dynasties.

The 1960's were dominated by the Celtics who won 10 of 11 championships, the 1980s the Magic Johnson led Lakers and the Larry Bird led Celtics again controlled the Larry O'Brien trophy. The 1990's were dominated by the Chicago Bulls led by none other than his airness Michael Jordan. If Jordan was retired, the Rockets took back to back championships and then in 2000's it was the David Robinson/Tim Duncan San Antonio Spurs who won four trophies.

So why can the NBA be dominated by one team. The simple answer is that one dynamic player can control the game. Everything that these dynasties had in common was the superstar. Whether it was Magic, Bird or Jordan - the one player could score, defend and bring home the championship.

The other thing these teams had in common were a great second fiddle - Worthy, McChale or Pippen. These players were able to bail their teams out if the star wasn't playing well and was the tie that bound the team together.

Unfortunately, some of today's biggest stars haven't been able to carry their teams to titles recently. DeWayne Wade managed the feat in 2006 and Kobe Bryant has carried the Lakers for the three seasons, so can he do it again.

Here is my two cents, breaking down the 2010 finals

Guard
Celtics have the best young PG in the game in Rajon Rondo, with the best pure shooter Ray Allan. The Lakers will counter with the the clutch shooting of Derek Fisher and the best player in the NBA, Kobe Bryant.
Edge - Lakers. When you have the best player, you get the edge.

Forward
The C's have Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. While the Lakers have Paul Gasol and Ron Artest. Pierce the leader of the Celtics, will be covered by Artest. Artest has become the defensive stopper that the Lakers envisioned and he'll be put to the test in this series. Pau Gasol is able to get his points and rebounds no matter what the scenario, while Garnett has turned into a reliable role player for the Celtics.
Edge - Lakers. Gasol and Artest are too much for Pierce and Garnett to handle.

Center
The Celtics have the defensive power of Kendric Perkins playing the post. He has really come into his own during the post-season, but he will be challenged by Andrew Bynum. As long as Bynum's knee holds up this will be an interesting match up.
Edge - Celtics. With Bynum's injury bug, Perkins gets the edge.

My prediction - Lakers in 6 games, with Pau Gasol winning the MVP.

Here are the list of the most common NBA Finals match-ups (courtesy Wikipedia)
* 11 times: Boston Celtics (9) vs. Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers (2)
* 6 times: Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers (5) vs. Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers (1)
* 5 times: Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers (3) vs. New York Knicks (2)
* 4 times: Boston Celtics (3) vs. St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks (1) (Such a meeting is now impossible due to current conference alignment.)
* 3 times: Detroit Pistons (2) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (1)
* 2 times: Seattle SuperSonics (1) vs. Washington Bullets/Wizards (1)
* 2 times: Boston Celtics (2) vs. Houston Rockets (0)
* 2 times: Chicago Bulls (2) vs. Utah Jazz (0)