NBA Finals means FINAL!

Ok, now this is getting ridiculous.

As if these games didn’t need any more significance. Now we have this.

Paul Pierce being carried off the court like a soldier shot in a war and being taken by his comrades to a safe clearing. Being taken in a wheelchair while some guy is carting him off and trying to stiff arm the camera man all at the same time like a TMZ moment with a drunk celeb.

Ten minutes later, out comes our hero, to save the day. The wave of noise begins to captivate the audience and suddenly the Celtics have new life.

Ladies and gentleman, if you were to tell me that there would be a Willis Reed moment in the NBA Finals and you asked me who it would be that would be playing the Willis role, I would’ve guessed Sam Cassel because he forgot to take his old guy medicine and he passed out from sheer age.

But Paul Pierce? This guy has barely been on the injury sheet in the ten years he’s played. So now he’s supposed to have been magically healed after he was taken out like that? Boy, and here I thought I’d seen everything.

So you’re probably thinking that I’m going to take the Lakers side and say that it was all staged. No, I’m not. This coming from the guy who saw the greatest catch in NFL history happen just this past February. Folks I’m a believer in miracles. I’m a believer that anything can happen when the stage is at its highest.

I believe that the same kind of hyper excitement that caused Kobe to brick his first 6 or 7 shots so bad that the clang sound that the Boston rim was making seems to still be permeating around my house (thanks Sony surround sound) is what caused Paul Pierce to believe that he heard a pop and believe the worst and not want to put any pressure on the leg.

Folks these things can happen. I also believe that when Paul got over the initial hype and realized that perhaps he was ok, and he got on his feet and realized it wasn’t that bad he wanted to come back to the game. You don’t become the longest tenured Celtic to never have won a championship and come out of a game with a so so injury that you know you can play through. No, to be a Celtic and have never won a championship is almost a stain on your record that most teams and players will never know.

The Celtics have won so much that the real reason they closed down the Boston Garden was that they needed more room for championship banners and retired jersey numbers because the rafters were getting filled.

So now that Game 1 is over and the newest chapter of this great American rivalry is being played out, perhaps now we can look at some of the major storylines that will play out.

Kobe- This guy is a storyline all unto himself. He’s the best player on the court, and the only one that can truly take over a game and have that killer instinct. At some point in the fourth quarter, when the Lakers have a lead, Kobe’s eyes usually turn this very dark red and he sees victory in his grasp and usually he tells his teammates to just back off. That’s the Kobe that we want. Not the one that came out looking so overwhelmed by the enormity of this situation. After his first few misses he had this look on his face like, wait Shaq ISN’t on the court right now? Yeah Kobe, this is what you wanted and you’re almost there. So what now? Time to play like you have all season and lead your team to victory. If you ever want to be compared to MJ now’s the time to start racking your own personal collection of championships.

Celtics team defense- Tom Thibodeau’s theory on defense is simple: contest shots, rotate accordingly and play physical. That’s how the Celtics have shot up the ranks in almost every defensive category. Nate McMillan couldn’t believe how Ray Allen was playing defense when he was watching the playoffs, saying he used to get overwhelmed by a pick and roll and now he’s rotating and playing help defense. Is it a miracle or a product of just good old fashioned instruction. Thibodeau’s stock is rising and he could be in line for a head coaching gig and if the Celts win, expect Thibodeau to be on Chicago’s speed dial. The Celtics defense is also what made Kobe’s shots horrible. Ray Allen played good defense when he was singled out on Kobe. Those misses won’t happen from now on so expect more help defense and doubling of him and Pau Gasol when either get the ball and making Sasha Vujucic, Radmanovic and co. make open jumpers. Kobe is right now praying that the game does not come down to a Luke Walton open 17 footer.

Head coaching disparity- This is such a huge mismatch its almost unfair to write about. Comparing these two is like having the choice to ask for financial advice from a lottery winner or Warren Buffett. The lottery winner theory works out on so many fronts with Doc Rivers because he was given the best team in the East to begin with and was told to just let them play and not mess things up. His assistant Tom Thibodeau is the one that installed the defensive system that is now earning rave reviews and he’s done nothing but call some timeouts and do some yelling from courtside. Actually I can’t figure out the difference between him and a courtside seat having fan except that he’s usually dressed in a suit and the referees actually acknowledge his presence. Meanwhile the Zen Master is now trying to win his tenth championship and being one of his critics I must admit that he won huge brownie points when he was ready to go the entire season without Kobe on the roster. Instead he built up the Andrew Bynum fan machine and then was given Pau Gasol on his lap when Bynum went down. Look, he had Kobe playing out of his mind during the season yes, but he somehow got Kobe to accept into the whole team dynamic which was once thought of as impossible, so for that alone he deserves credit and I will give him just due.

Who’s first is it going to be? Will it be the Big Three’s first? Or will it be Kobe’s first without Shaq by his side. All are equally important when you consider that Kobe’s top 5 status all time will be cemented with this championship. Or will it be the Big Ticket, the Truth and Jesus Shuttlesworth’s first championship? To win a championship has been the goal of this team and they may have one or two more years to actually be a competitive force considering that good teams break up quicker than most would like to think. They are all in their 30’s so time is definitely not on their side. Their roster is filled with good role players who will assist them but it will be these three that the team will ride. The one thing holding them back is that out of the three that I see with any remote killer instinct is Paul Pierce. KG will not take the last shot for some reason, and Ray Allen has been MIA for most of these playoffs.

Who needs an away win more? If Game 1 was any indication, I would say the Lakers need it. The Boston Garden (I’m not saying the corporate sponsor name) was alive and full of so much life that it was impossible for Kobe not to feel nervous. They exploded at any and every time that the Celts gave them reason. I just can’t see the Forum getting that excited when people only show up by the second quarter and the whole aura of LA is so relaxed. Sorry, if ever the Lakers need to win a game its Game 2. They had Game 1 wrapped up but when Paul Pierce nailed those two threes after coming back on the court Willis Reed style, there was little chance the Lakers had of climbing back into it. Barring any miracles in Game 2 I see Kobe going off.

These are just some of the storylines that I could think of in an hour while writing this column. Perhaps new ones might come up but for now you’ll have to make do with this.

Enjoy the multiple day layoff between games and the even longer TV timeouts that seem to make a regular 2 hour basketball game three hours long. Enjoy the 9Pm starting time east coasters.

In the words of King Leonidas from 300 “if I’m off my guess, we’re in for some wild nights”.