Celtics, Lakers Rekindling Dynasties; Don't Just Brush Off Detroit Yet

For two consecutive days, NBA fans have been treated to excellent games with all the drama and thrills of real playoff basketball.

Too bad for San Antonio for that no-call on Brent Barry on a foul by Derek Fisher in the final seconds. Too bad for Richard Hamilton to get poked in the eye through his mask and suffer an elbow strain of some sort in the closing minute of the fourth quarter.

The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers are a win each from earning the right to take on each other in the NBA Final.

(N.B. This was written when the Lakers-Spurs series was still 3-1 in favor of LA; it's 4-1 now.)

Not in a thousand (OK, a hundred, perhaps, if the Apocalypse doesn't fall on a Sunday in this century) years did I ever think I would be rooting for the Los Angeles Lakers.

From 'Big-Shot Bob' to 'Cheap-Shot Bob'

Well, not really rooting as in Go! Lakers! It's like: I don't give a panda's thumb who wins in the Western Conference; the Phoenix Suns disappointed and the Spurs didn't deserve to beat the Suns on Robert “Cheap-Shot Bob” Horry's sacrifice bump on Steve Nash in Game 5 of last year's West semis, the Suns losing Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw for entering the court from the bench during the scuffle. This year, the former “Big-Shot Bob,” again did his thuggish thing on David West in the Spurs' second-round match-up against the New Orleans Hornets.

In the sunset of his NBA journey, with his statistics all down, his usefulness mainly bench-based, Horry has taken a career decision to be a hitman with the motto: If you can't beat them, beat them.

In Game 5 of this year's second round match-up with the Hornets, Horry made a nasty pick on West with a little over a minute into the fourth quarter. As Manu Ginobili slashed towards the basket on the left wing, West backtracked, looking to double team on Ginobili, not seeing Horry behind him, waiting, bracing for impact. The replay clearly shows Horry leaning in to make contact with West, particularly to hurt his back – an injury that was and still is public knowledge. Knowledge is power and by sapping someone's power, you take it for yourself.

West fell face first unto the floor in a world of hurt. Mission accomplished for Cheap-Shot Bob hoary Horry. With seven NBA rings, what frontiers are left for Horry to conquer? If he can't hit those clutch threes with regularity anymore, hurting opposing stars and possibly taking them out of the game is just as vital a factor in winning or losing. Nash survived the shoulder-check by Horry to play in Game 6, but Stoudemire and Diaw didn't, both suspended for Game 7; West didn't survive this Game 6, and the Hornets lost the game, and the next one, and the series. Good nasty job, Cheap-Shot Bob.

Safe lead

The Spurs were leading, 84-63, 10:46 left in the 4th quarter, when Horry fouled West. It was safe lead even by the NBA's make-a-run-in-minutes standards, but Horry just had to make sure. His coach, the venerable Gregg Popovich may or may not have ordered Robert The Enforcer Horry to do the dirty deed. Horry, in his mercenary best, may have decided on his own to make himself important.

Judging by the chanting of the bloodthirsty SBC Center home crowd of “HORRY! HORRY! HORRY! HORRY!” Mr. Cheap Shot still gets a lot of love for hateful action.

By the same token, I don't mind who wins in the East, I'm a fan of both the Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons.

But for the sake of the NBA, and longtime fans who still remember the joy and drama brought on by the rivalry of Larry Bird's unexpected court brilliance for someone so white and can't-jump-can't-run physical no-gifts, and Magic Johnson's, OK, can-do-anything-because-ball-players-of-his-race-are-expected-to-be-that-athletic, the anticipation of a Celtics-Lakers dynastic encounter is just too exhilirating.

So, Spurs are down, 1-3. No tears here. It's only history (stick to odd-numbered years, Mister Duncan, Signore Ginobili and Monsieur Parker) repeating a pattern, while the Celtics-Pistons series has the Celtics ahead, 3-2. This one is far from over, unlike the West series. The Celtics and Pistons have demonstrated that they are fully capable of winning in hostile arenas. And if the Pistons tie it up at 3-3, Game 7 is anybody's ballgame.

The real fun has only begun. It would be a lot more fun if it's the Celtics taking on the Lakers in the NBA Finals. By then, it will be Go! Celtics! from this end all the way.

Suns down

Phoenix 0, San Antonio 3.

There is still a measure of justice in this world.

Now that the Suns are just a game away from going on a fishing trip, it would be nice to know what Shawn Marion (who is already holding a fishing reel along with the rest of the Miami Heat) could be thinking right now.

I have a few conjectures. Marion is thinking: Serves you right for trading me...The Suns could have been 2-1 ahead in the series if I was still with them...In recent memory, the only time that a team won the NBA Finals because it added an aging All-Star to its lineup was when the Houston Rockets won in 1995 after it acquired Clyde Drexler...Charles Barkley tried to win a Finals ring with the Rockets and so did Karl Malone with the Lakers after making sudden jumps from their previous teams, but they all failed...

Something vital is lost when you tamper with the chemistry of a team that had gelled after years of playing together. There are hardly any instant solutions in the NBA where a long regular season is the battle field where team work and bonding are developed not just in a single season. Look what happened to the Sacramento Kings of Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic, and Doug Christie, which almost knocked out the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2002 Western Conference Finals. Kings management gradually chopped off the top players from the roster until only Bibby was left, until even Bibby was out. Head coach Rick Adelman was fired in 2006, after nine seasons where he took the Kings with him to the playoffs every year of his tenure. The Kings never made it far in the playoffs after that particular player and coaching roster got broken up.

A team might be shaken up with good results when management dips its dirty fingers into a well-baked pie. But bad results are the norm.

When loyalty and hard work are rewarded with an axing, there will be consequences, because justice, unlike apple pie, is best served cold.

Reel it in, Mr. Marion. You caught one.

Looks like good fishing post-season.