The Best NBA Finals Matchup (not Lakers vs. Heat)
D-Wade (photo. Jeffery Salter)
Just admit it: You want to see the Lakers and Heat in the NBA Finals. Nothing against your favorite team, doesn’t matter if you secretly or openly hate Kobe or LeBron, collateral damage if it means Eddie House ends up with two more championships than John Stockton or Sasha Vujacic gets three more rings than Elgin Baylor.
Lakers/Heat is the matchup that generates the most interest and intrigue League-wide. It’s Kobe and crew going for the three-peat while LeBron and crew going for their first of the potential dynasty. It’s Pat Riley and Phil Jackson flexing their brain and ego muscles for ultimate supremacy … it’s only a minor detail that this “rivalry” technically doesn’t exist yet.
Last night was a good night for those anticipating the NBA’s ideal Finals matchup. The Lakers pushed their record to 4-0 on the young season by destroying the Memphis Grizzlies, while the Heat improved to 4-1 with another blowout of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In L.A., Kobe eviscerated O.J. Mayo, dropping 23 points in the first half and making O.J. a non-factor on offense. Pau Gasol hung 21 points and 13 boards on younger brother Marc Gasol. Lamar Odom scored on step-back threes and aggressive drives. Shannon Brown did his Kobe impersonation in the second half with slashes and threes, and Matt Barnes was like a skinny Dennis Rodman, making defensive plays all over the court and pulling down 14 rebounds.
In Miami, LeBron looked like the best point guard in the League, scoring an easy 20 and handing out 12 assists. Dwyane Wade was in constant attack-mode with 26 points, Chris Bosh filled in the gaps with a quiet 13 and 6 boards, and James Jones found open spaces and knocking down open threes.
Both powerhouse teams were clicking on all cylinders and looked every bit like championship favorites.
But don’t count out the rest of the League yet. It’s a long time between now and June — lots of time for injuries, for infighting, for loss of focus, for other teams to find their rhythm, for other teams to devise game plans, and for a handful of other contenders to rise and make the playoffs real interesting.
Outside of the Lakers vs. Heat, which NBA Finals matchup would you want to see?
Tell us in the comments and we’ll print some of the best responses in an upcoming issue of Dime.
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November 3rd, 2010 at 10:39 am
drew says:
lakeshow vs celts. and i have feeling that’s probably the matchup we will be seeing.. not miami repping the east.
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:40 am
netstar says:
Boston vs. LA
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:43 am
CTP says:
Jazz VS. Hawks
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:43 am
ENEW says:
I think the team that rocks the green is going to have something to say about that. Lebron no doubt is going to be distributing the ball and last night he looked like “the best point guard in the league”, but it was against the T-Wolves. A week from tomorrow the Celtics visit the Heat, that will be quite interesting to say the least…
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:44 am
Ariel says:
Celtics vs Mavs
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:46 am
Steve Nash says:
NY Knicks vs Houston Rockets!!!
November 3rd, 2010 at 10:52 am
Kermit The Washington says:
Boston vs LA. As a Laker fan, I’m more afraid of facing the Celtics in the finals (especially with the Shaq implications; dude just won’t go AWAY!!). It’s almost guaranteed to go 7 games again. We’re gonna need that homecourt advantage.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:07 am
drew says:
@ kermit
+1. the celts’ frontline is much more of a concern to me than wade and co.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:08 am
the_don_mega says:
Boston vs LA… better make it a trilogy… best of three… rubber match… celts win they get #18… lakeshow wins, they on same footing as the celts… shaq vs kobe… surely a dream match up…
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:18 am
ab40 says:
Lakers Celtics.. DUH? and it’s gonna be just that. the rest of the east plays crappy ball miami plays so so and so does orlando. all the others are 8th seed or lower in the west.
Maybe Portland Orlando. Portland is the only team who when healthy has a chance of knocking of the lakers in the west and orlando isnt’gonna win the east but they’re the best of the rest in the east and it would be fun if they’d survive and make it to the finals. Houston vs Washington with both yao and yi starting would give the nba in china a huge impuls promptly making it the biggest sport in china thus making tons of money.
Portland – Miami would be cool to.. greg oden could get used to his new teammates.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:21 am
Money says:
If it’s a finals without either lakers or heat, I want to see Thunder v Celtics, or Magic v Mavs
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:24 am
ab40 says:
oh and the guy who looks like the best point in the leauge played with boston. 9 points, 17 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and to top it of 0 turnovers.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:26 am
karizmatic says:
Actually right now I’d rather see Boston and LA….both teams healthy. To settle it once and for all which one of those teams is better. Boston beat LA when Bynum was out…LA beat Boston with an injured Bynum and Kendrick was out for game 7. Shaq is on Boston now…this one I think would decide which franchise would have the all time lead in rings. Win or Lose it would be a fitting way to cap a lot of players and coaches careers for both franchises and a way to set the stage for Miami next year.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:29 am
rapTOr says:
it will be a travesty if the finals matchup is anything OTHER than Lakers vs Celtics…the storylines that can come to define that matchup this year are insane!
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:35 am
yoda says:
5.2 TO’s so far for lbj. yeah best pg in league…
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:36 am
rangerjohn says:
SA vs boston or SA vs orlando.
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:44 am
JA says:
I always like the old team vs the up-and-coming/young team match-ups
I tried to find out the avg team age in the L online and thought that with the addition of the O’neil boys, that Boston would have to have the oldest team by far. But I was suprised to see that they were only 4th on the list.
The oldest team on the list according to the site: (http://www.rpiratings.com/NBA.html)
Celtics 28.30
Mavs 28.87
Nuggets 28.88
Lakers 29.14
Heat 30.19
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:50 am
KB8toSG8 says:
Celtics vs Lakers…..KB vs Shaq, Pau vs KG, Artest vs Pierce, Lakers tying the Celts in the total trophy tally and Lakers having the final say over the Celts this decade. And the rivalry can live on even after both teams enter the rebuilding phase again…..face it, we need more traditional team rivalries. And Lakers meeting Celts in the Finals is the epitome of it…
November 3rd, 2010 at 11:52 am
QQ says:
Would freaking like to see Orlando vs Miami more than the Finals at this point.
But if I had to choose, My Magic versus the Lakers. OF COURSE.
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Tone says:
Bulls vs OKC
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:08 pm
Tone says:
They should get rid of conferences for the sake of the playoffs…let the 16 best records in.
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:35 pm
john says:
To the haters saying that the Celtics are in another level of my Miami Heat, I say : GTFOH … Miami will destroy Boston in the playoffs. Orlando already got a nice look , imagine after 82 games together, Mike Miller playing and home court adv.
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Citizen B. says:
I agree with John…..doesn’t really matter what you “hope” to see, Miami is smashing whoever to get there and whoever when they get there.
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:42 pm
DH says:
Thunder vs Magic – Highly athletic and entertaining. Celts won’t be there, they’re already tired.
November 3rd, 2010 at 12:45 pm
QQ says:
Oops here comes another ‘fan’ saying ‘his’ Miami’s gonna destroy another team.
2O dollars say he’s gonna reply by saying ‘I’ve been a fan FOREVER’.
Yes we all know FOREVER started when the Heat signed 3 superstars, cat.
November 3rd, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Joe's Momma says:
LA vs Boston
or
LA vs Cleveland
November 3rd, 2010 at 1:57 pm
(bobby) truthe revealed says:
C E L T I C S
VS
T H U N D E R
FINE WINE VS. YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
November 3rd, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Detroit Dave says:
OKC vs HAWKS
MAGIC vs TrailBlazers
Nuggets vs Hawks
Grizzles vs Hawks
November 3rd, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Duncanrules says:
Spurs vs. Celtics
November 3rd, 2010 at 2:38 pm
jowo says:
Hawks vs OKC sounds good.
November 3rd, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Ian says:
Spurs vs celts or vs orlando.
November 3rd, 2010 at 6:16 pm
kdeezy says:
OKC @ Boston. The Celtics last shot with their Big 3 and its just the beginning for the Thunder. Vets vs Young Guys.
November 3rd, 2010 at 7:58 pm
T-Pain says:
Weren’t the Heat just against the Timberwolves when LeBron got the 20 points and 12 assists?
November 4th, 2010 at 12:35 am
(bobby) truthe revealed says:
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
hey kdeezy, why not gander at comment number 27. jus perhaps …
November 4th, 2010 at 10:45 am
Fred says:
As a “fair weather Heat fan” (I only started rooting for the Heat mid 90s), I can easily understand why Celtics-Lakers is such an intriguing match-up. Besides Heat-Lakers, I don’t think there’s a better Finals match-up at this point. Right now it’s basically (Heat,Celtics,Magic)-Lakers. Obviously it’s a long season, but I can’t imagine at this point anyone beating the Lakers in the West.
One thing I really don’t understand is all these Celtics fans berating the Heat for two superstar acquisitions turning around a team immediately. Uh, ’08 guys? The Celts were TERRIBLE before KG and Ray. They had what, 24 wins in ’07? So give Heat fans a break, it’s not their fault the Heat are suddenly the greatest team ever.
November 4th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
JD says:
nothing wrong with another Lakers VS Celtics
November 8th, 2010 at 7:46 am
KB8toSG8 says:
@Fred….Showtime LA, Celtics of the old, Bulls and 3peat LA would like to talk with you