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In order to the Celtics to win it all the big three must:

Pierce:Shoot the ball,and lead like he's never led before,this team is on his shoulders

KG-Play defense like he has been,swarming to the ball and making harder shots and getting hands in people's faces.

Allen:You've gotta shoot it,and you've gotta make it.

Streaker alert!!! *runs through the room naked*

STREAKER ALERT!!!!!! *runs into room, look at all the jealous faces*

Yeah, an elite team that needed 1 game short of the maximum possible just to get to the finals.

The Lakers are the team that has played like an elite team, (i.e. champion) in the playoffs, not the Celtics. The swept the 1st round, like a 1 seed is supposed to do, while Boston was pushed to game 7 be a team EIGHT games below 500. Not really a sign of an elite team. Then, the Lakers beat Utah, the Western Conference runner-up in 6, in a series that really was never in question, while the Celts again get pushed to a tight game 7 by the Cavs, who let's face it, are only slightly above average. Then, the Lakers, in their quest to "be the man", the Lakers "beat the man" by easily handling the defending champs in 5. At the same time, Boston finally ends a series in less than the max, but loses their first home game and gets the first road win of the playoffs. So, it's the Lakers playing like an elite team against BETTER competition.

As for relying on Kobe, I guess you haven't watched much of the Lakers of late. They're a deep team that gets contributions from Gasol, Odom, Fisher, not to mention a deep bench with Vujavich, Walton, Turiaf and Farmer. Sure, there's no denying that Kobe's a big factor in their success, but if the Celtics focus all their energy on stopping Kobe, they're in trouble.

As for your "Baby Jordan" credentials, not to knock you, but there's a kid in almost every town whose friends pump him up as the local Jordan, so it really doesn't mean much as far as your ability to analyze the NBA objectively and accurately.

The Celtics are in for a fight, and likely will be underdogs, so I'm guessing the experts will not agree with your Celtics will win easily prediction.

looking forward to a great series...
Go Celts !

If people want to say that the Lakers are better (after the beatdown the Celtics gave them twice in the regular season) because they picked up Pau Gasol... They are idiots!!! One man can't change the team that dramatically. They probably got more familiar with each other and know each others tendencies; The same can be said about the Celtics after acquiring P.J. Brown and Cassell. The Lakers know that the Celtics are a force... That's why Odom tried to take out Ray Allen earlier on in the season with that tackle.