Melissa Rohlin
FOX Sports NBA Writer
It’s our favorite time of the year, when the NBA takes precedent over all sports, games are thrilling and guys named Jimmy Butler and Jamal Murray transform from mortals into basketball Gods.
It’s playoff time.
The two teams that I think are on a collision course to meet in the NBA Finals aren’t the top seeds in either conference. Rather, I think the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers will be the final teams standing.
Not only would that matchup be NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s dream come true, providing a massive TV boost, but it would pit the two most storied franchises in the league against one another, with the Celtics having won 18 championships and the Lakers 17.
Here’s why I think this will happen.
Things came together for the Celtics at the end of the season, with them winning 16 of their final 18 games. They have the second-best offensive rating and fifth-best defensive rating in the league. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have proven that they can win a championship together. And this team is deep. The Celtics’ only wild card is Brown’s lingering knee issue, which sidelined him for the final few games of the season, though he’s apparently going to be available this postseason.
Last year, the Celtics sailed through the playoffs, winning 16 of their 19 games. I think their path will be similarly breezy this time around — until the Eastern Conference Finals, where they’ll likely meet the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers and really be tested. But, I see them getting past Donovan Mitchell and Co., using their championship experience to smother a team that really just found their identity this season. Really, no other team in the East is a real threat to the Celtics.
Now, for the Lakers.
Are the Los Angeles Lakers the team to beat in the West? | Speak
Luka Doncic carried the Dallas Mavericks to the Finals last season and has some of the most eye-popping playoffs stats in the league, averaging 30.9 points, 9.4 rebounds and eight assists over four postseason appearances. Now, he’s going to be playing alongside LeBron James, who is somehow one of the top five MVP contenders at age 40, and who unfailingly takes his game to another level in the playoffs — wining four championships and making 10 Finals appearances over his 22-season career, including eight straight from 2011 to 2018.
Even though Doncic and James have only been playing together since February, they’ve already shown that they have a lot of chemistry. And when the stakes are highest, I think we’re going to see just how magnificent a pairing two of the top basketball minds in the league can be. And, let’s not forget that Austin Reaves has transformed this season from an undrafted player into a star. He’s all of a sudden part of a Big Three and has proven that he greatly complements Doncic’s game, despite detractors wondering if the addition of Doncic would render Reaves redundant. In reality, the opposite has happened, with Reaves, Doncic and James masterfully playing off of each other and creating nightmares for defenses.
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The West is much deeper than the East, so, let’s go through the Lakers’ potential path to the Finals, which should be much bumpier than the Celtics’ road.
I believe the Lakers’ greatest challenge in the West would be the Golden State Warriors, not the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. James, Doncic and Reaves vs. Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green would be wild, bringing out the best in all six players.
Even though Oklahoma City has had a season for the books, I don’t think they’re ready for the bright lights and extreme pressure that comes with winning on the biggest stage. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will get his points, but, in the playoffs, the team that has the most players playing well wins. And even though the Thunder are deep, it’s questionable whether guys not named Shai will rise to the necessary level for this team to go really far. As for the Nuggets, they’ve given the Lakers a lot of problems recently, knocking them out of the Conference Finals in 2023 and the first round of the playoffs last season, but I think the addition of Doncic will make things look very different this time around, with the Lakers finally getting the better of the Nuggets. Not to mention, the Nuggets are a bit rudderless after their longtime coach Michael Malone was recently fired.
So, Mr. Silver, here’s to hoping you get your TV ratings bonanza, and fans of basketball get a matchup that will breathe new life into one of the greatest sports rivalries of all time.
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