LIKE IT IS: No drumbeater needed for Lakers-Celtics

— It has been a good try, an All-American effort by the TV folks.

Yet, the current Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers series has nothing to do with the 1980s and those epic showdowns between Magic and Bird.

It is widely believed those two people, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, did more to save the NBA than anybody in the history of the league.

However, it was not a series of 1-on-1 games.

Johnson’s Lakers had guys such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and Michael Cooper to name a few.

Bird had great help from Robert Parrish and Kevin McHale.

Magic and Bird were each three-time MVPs of the NBA and should be on everyone’s top-10 list of all-time greatest professional basketball players.

And the Celtics and Lakers are the two most storied franchises in league history. The Celtics have won 17 championships, the Lakers 15 and their combined 32 titles is more than half of the 63 total.

This series, though, stands on its own merits.

No one expected the Celtics to win in 2008. The Eastern Conference of the NBA was believed to be soft, but with a smothering and physical defense, they beat the Lakers.

The Lakers beat Orlando last season, but last year and this year, most seemed to want a Los Angeles-Cleveland championship, which no doubt would have come close to rivaling the Magic-Bird shows.

Kobe (Bryant) and LeBron (James) are considered the two best individual players in the game right now.

Unfortunately, James didn’t have the same supporting cast as Bryant, and the Cavaliers were dispatched by Boston early and easily.

Which after Sunday night’s victory by Boston looks like it might have been a good thing for the ratings and the championship.

The series now stands 1-1, and the fact the Celtics won in Los Angeles on Sunday night after getting blown out 102-89 in the opening game proved their was no quit in them.

From the end of last Thursday’s game until the end of Sunday night’s game, the most heard phrase about the Celtics was they looked old.

After a 103-94 victory, they are being called “experienced.”

Now, the experts are saying, “All you have to do to beat the Lakers is hold them to less than 105 points.”

It was more simple than that.

Game 1 seemed more like a mixed martial arts battle than a basketball game. It was as if the Celtics were going to prove their reputation of being physical was true and the Lakers wanted to show they could take whatever was dished out.

The problem for the Celtics was while they appeared to be looking for takedowns, they forgot to play defense.

Sunday night, they got after the Lakers, especially Bryant, who was 8 of 20 from the floor, had 5 turnovers and more important played the final 11:15 with five fouls, which took away much of his aggressiveness.

Bryant, the highest paid player in the playoffs at $23,034,375, was not as effective as Ray Allen, who makes $18,776,860. Allen, a 13-year veteran, hit 8 of 11 three pointers. The Lakers made a combined five three-pointers on 22 attempts, with Bryant hitting 2 of 7.

Now, the series is tied and headed to Beantown.

This championship might not have the aura of Magic vs. Bird, and all the dynamics that went into the two guys who probably did save the NBA.

What it has is the beasts of the East against the best of the West, and another classic championship series.

Sports, Pages 15 on 06/08/2010