Kobe Bryant (photo. Chris Sembrot)

The Dime crew’s picks and predictions for this year’s NBA Finals…

Christian Grant-Fields, Lifestyle Editor
Although Kobe is playing like Michael Jordan right now, KG will dominate Pau in their head-to-head matchup, and Ray Allen will get off on Sasha Vujacic or whoever they put on him. I think now is where we will see why the Celtics signed Sam Cassell. He will definitely step up.

PREDICTION: Celtics in 7
FINALS MVP: Kevin Garnett

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LeKeith Taylor, Online Marketing Director
Rondo will lose focus as the series shifts to L.A. Most NBA teams only spend one, maybe two nights in a given city on road trips, so as the Celts head out to L.A. for three games, Rondo will get a “crook” in his neck by snapping to look at all the HOT MODELS walking around. Once the pain wears off, he will follow-up by partying himself into obscurity. His rationale: He doesn’t get to see models like this in Boston. (ADVANTAGE: LAKERS)

Kevin Garnett will do his pre-game warmup of head-butting the “padded” basket support and accidentally knock himself out right before the game. (ADVANTAGE: LAKERS)

Jack Nicholson will whisper one of his famous lines in Ray Allen’s ear — sending him into a state of self-worthlessness and insecurity while buried on the bench like in the Cleveland series. (ADVANTAGE: LAKERS)

On the L.A. swing, Kendrick Perkins and Glen “Big Baby” Davis will hit Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles and eat themselves into oblivion. (ADVANTAGE: LAKERS)

Jordan Farmar will get so wrapped up in trying to get Finals tickets for his UCLA buddies that he stresses himself out and loses focus. (ADVANTAGE: CELTICS)

Both L.A. and Boston will have to conform to the NBA’s “Where Amazing Happens” campaign and David Stern’s plea that they wear vintage uniforms from 1987 — yes, the short-shorts. Remember, the Lakers pulled this earlier this year. (ADVANTAGE: NBA)

PREDICTION: Lakers in 6
FINALS MVP: Sasha Vujacic (just kidding…but how boring would it be to hear Kobe Bryant again?)

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Andrew Katz, Editorial Assistant
Headed into this season, we asked the NBA’s equivalent of Miss Cleo, Gilbert Arenas, for his Eastern Conference predictions. Gil went with the safe pick at the time, tabbing the revamped Celtics to represent the East in the Finals. It wasn’t just that he made the right call choosing the Celtics, Arenas also correctly identified what would make them tick — and what would limit their success: point guard play.

To this point, Rajon Rondo has outplayed his counterparts over the course of each series the Celtics have played. When he kept Mike Bibby under wraps (7-for-28, 6.3 points per game in the Hawks’ four losses), Boston won. He handled Delonte West, and remarkably was able to get the better of a hobbled Chauncey Billups (39% FG’s) in Boston’s victory over Detroit.

However, Rondo’s got his toughest test coming up with Derek Fisher. Fish has been at the top of his game, especially on defense. Deron Williams said after the Jazz/Lakers series that it felt like Fish, “knew where I was going before I went there” — a testament to his defensive skill as well as his knowledge of the Jazz’s system. Will the Celtics be able to get the most out of Rondo with Fisher on him? Over the course of this series, Rondo will be exposed by the vet. That’ll be more than enough with the Best Player on the Planet putting in work for the Lakers to take the series.

PREDICTION: Lakers in 6
FINALS MVP: Kobe Bryant

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Naomi Jefferson, Marketing and Operations Manager
Sorry to be lukewarm, but I’m torn because I love KG. He deserves a ring. He plays his heart out and I’ve loved him as a ballplayer for years. Ray was a Seattle Supersonic, and Rondo, that kid is nice! But I loathe Boston teams. Nor do I wanna hear gloating from Josh or Jed if the Celtics win. And for storied matchups like Lakers/Celts, I gotta rock with the my Westside connection.

PREDICTION: Lakers in 7
FINALS MVP: ????

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Jed Berger, Executive Publisher
Did you really think I’d take the Lakers? I just like the Celtics’ big three better than the Lakers, and I like their parts better. I do worry about the matchups and think Posey is going to have to play a huge role. I also really believe Cassell will step in and put them over the hump in one game — a big shot, calming things down in a game where Rondo looks like a first-year starter — it’s just a gut feeling. I just think it’s our time. Maybe next year’s an option, and it’s not now or never, but we’re united, we’re healthy, and the opportunity may never be this strong.

PREDICTON: Celtics in 7
FINALS MVP: Paul Pierce. Garnett might be the soul of the Celtics, but Pierce has been the MVP of the playoffs for Boston on both ends of the court.

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Patrick Cassidy, Editorial Director
You can go through all of the on-court reason why the Lakers will win this series:

- They’ve been playing at a high level for the entire playoffs, while the Celtics have been inconsistent.

- They’ve rolled through much, much better teams in the playoffs than have the Celtics, who were taken to seven games twice by vastly inferior opponents

- The Lakers have twice the depth with a far superior bench, while the Celtics don’t know what they’re going to get from some of their starters every night (Rondo and Ray have been all over the place in the playoffs), let alone a shaky bench.

- The matchups, especially in the post, are bad for Boston. KG can only guard one guy at a time, leaving James Posey or Kendrick Perkins to deal with Lamar Odom or Pau Gasol. Any combo of those matchups is a loss for Boston.

- I’m pretty sure there isn’t a basketball player, fan, or “expert” out there who wouldn’t agree that the coaching matchup isn’t even close.

But beyond those reasons, beyond any strategy or who is calling the plays, it’s all about Kobe. The Kobe you will see in the series will be a BEAST and there’s nothing Boston will be able to do to stop him. And we’re not just talking about him getting loads of buckets - we’re talking about him getting his guys wide open looks on offense and being everywhere on defense. I just can’t see him letting his team lose this series.

PREDICTION: Lakers in 6
FINALS MVP: Kobe Bryant

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Austin Burton, Associate Editor
Yesterday I read an interview with Magic Johnson. “You know Kobe is going to play well and you know Paul Pierce is going to play well,” Magic said. “It’s going to come down to Garnett and Allen and Gasol and Odom. Those four guys, whoever wins the battle on their side, and the bench. You got two different scenarios: those two guys (Kobe and Pierce) and the benches. So whoever wins those battles I think is gonna end up winning because it’s always the other guys.”

Magic kinda lost me in the middle of that quote, but the important part to me was that he referred to KG as one of the “other guys.” Think back to August, when the KG trade had just gone down. What was everyone talking about then? How this was KG’s opportunity to finally get that championship ring. Despite ring-less vets Pierce and Ray flanking him, KG was the focal point. He was the one sitting in the middle during the press conference. He was the one Bill Russell took under his wing. This was his show. This still is his show. And that’s the problem. We’re down to the Finals now, four wins away, and KG has become one of the “other guys” while Pierce has taken over as The Man.

For over a decade, while he racked up first-round postseason exits, everyone’s been saying KG would win multiple rings if he only had an adequate supporting cast. He’s got that now — a prime-time scorer in Pierce and a lethal shooter in Allen, a quality point guard in Rondo, a space-eater in Kendrick Perkins who allows KG to do his thing on the perimeter and not have to guard the other team’s best post scorer all game long, an experienced bench with above-average talent — and to date I still haven’t seen that game where KG steps up and proves how great he is, how great he could have been. Yes, he had a 30-point game here and there against Atlanta and Detroit, and his Game 1 performance against Cleveland was special. But there still hasn’t been that dominant, I will NOT be denied game so far, those games we’ve seen from Kobe, Duncan, LeBron, even Chris Paul and Joe Johnson recently.

It’s because of that — because KG isn’t delivering those kind of games and Kobe is — that I have to go with the Lakers in this series. Pierce will get his points, but if the C’s are going to win this series, they need Garnett to play like a legend. And I don’t know if he can do it.

One of Boston’s biggest advantages is the fact that they have home court, but the Lakers have already gone into Utah and San Antonio, two of the toughest buildings in the League, and picked up W’s in this postseason. And yes, Boston won the regular season series, but this L.A. team isn’t the same team they were back then. I see them splitting the two games in Boston, the Lakers taking two of the three at their place, then eventually closing it out in the Garden. The only blemish on Kobe’s storybook season is that he won’t get to hug the championship trophy on his home floor.

PREDICTION: Lakers in 6
FINALS MVP: Kobe Bryant