SPECIAL PLACES: BIG AL ON BOSTON AND LOS ANGELES

In baseball the Red Socks won it all; in football the Patriots almost repeated; and now in basketball the Celtics are back on top. Lots of folks were upset when, going against the grain of most expectations, I predicted that Boston would beat the Lakers. I thought they were a little better and with the help of the home court advantage would win in seven games. Events proved me right about victory for the Celtics, but I didn’t take sufficient account of the where in better.

Boston was considerably better on defense and just a little less able on offense than Los Angeles. That left the Celtics a little better overall but lots better where it counts in playoff games, the crucial element of stopping the other team in a series that entails many games in a row. Game six saw the Lakers crushed because the Celtics’ defense knew what it was facing from the Lakers’ offense. Knowing that is crucial, whereas knowing the defense you are facing doesn’t help if that defense is good enough. Everyone who faced Sandy Koufax during his brief stretch as the greatest pitcher who ever lived knew exactly what they were facing, a superlative fastball and a superlative curve ball, with every pitch in or near the strike zone; knowing didn’t help: Koufax was just too good. In this year’s basketball championship, the Lakers knew exactly what they were facing. Anyone except Kobe Bryant who entered the paint on offense could expect rough treatment, and Kobe could expect masses of bodies blocking his attempts to drive, forcing him to take difficult fall-away shots and limiting him to “low” scoring nights, in the 20s, which was the best that one or two of Boston’s big three managed most games. But scoring in the twenties is great offensive output for Boston, where fellow stars and role players pitch in big-time as well.

Lakers fans, keep your heads up. Your team won in the challenging West and made a series of the championship confrontation without Andrew Bynum, a most promising and physical big man. If he heals—and he’s young enough to heal well—the Los Angeles Lakers will be hard to match next season. Especially if they choose to keep Lamar as their power forward and switch Pau to shooting forward. Think of it: a seven foot “small” forward, and a wonderfully gifted but pressure shy power forward as fourth option, teaming up with a bulky seven foot center up front; Kobe as shooting guard on a team primed to make offensive and defensive rebounds; and the very gifted Jordan Farmar bringing the ball up the court. Boston’s big three--Kevin, Paul and Ray, all Hall of Famers—are in their thirties (age has a way of declaring itself through injuries and diminished skills), and central players on the Celtics’ mature bench will be older still next year. Look for the Lakers to take it all.