Lakers, Celtics, the two winningnest teams in NBA history get it on for all the marbles in a pivotal Game 7 in the NBA Finals.

Boy, it doesn’t get any better than that. But for some reason, even when Lamar Odom was a kid with limitless imagination growing up on New York’s playground courts, he thinks he might have dismissed Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals as a bit too extravagant.

When the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the NBA finals, Odom realizes it’s a fantasy come true for any basketball player with the audacity to dream this big. “It’s historic, especially when you talk about these teams and what they stand for, the pride,” the Lakers forward said Wednesday. “This is what you envision when you’re a kid in your backyard. Counting down, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…”

Another memorable chapter in the NBA’s best rivalry will end with a coronation at Staples Center, where the defending champion Lakers will try to earn their 16th banner while denying the Boston Celtics their unprecedented 18th title in the clubs’ second finals meeting in three years.

For the fifth time in their 12 finals meetings, Boston and Los Angeles need all seven games to decide it. Each previous time it went to Game 7, the Celtics won — but when the current Lakers and Celtics take the court for the NBA finals’ first Game 7 since 2005 and just its second in the past 16 years, most will try awfully hard not to think about the history and pressure heaped on their shoulders.

It’s fine for kids and historians to savor this scenario, but Kobe Bryant knows…

The Celtics only need one more win. The Lakers can’t afford another loss.

The Boston Celtics took Game 5 with a 92 – 86 win in the 2010 NBA Finals and in doing so they have given themselves two chances to win the NBA championship. It still will not be easy as both games 6 and 7 will be played at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. And for sure, the defending champs would give the Celtics hell before they relinquish the crown.

That is the situation as we head to Game 6 in LA. The Boston Celtics lead the best-of-seven series 3-2. Game 6 is Tuesday night, and a victory then would give Boston an unprecedented 18th NBA title.

Kevin Garnett scored 18 points with 10 rebounds and Rajon Rondo had 18 points, eight assists and five rebounds to help Boston become the first team in the series to win two games in a row.

If the Los Angeles Lakers can’t do the same at home, the Celtics will improve to 10-2 against them in the finals, from a 4-0 sweep over the Minneapolis Lakers in 1959 through the Bird-and-Magic era of the ’80s and Boston’s win in ’08.

The story surrounding Game 5 was whether or not Andrew Bynum would log big minutes with his knee problem. He did play a ton, 32 minutes in fact, but unfortunately for the Lakers Bynum was very ineffective.

He scored just 6 points, had no blocked shots, and grabbed just…

Can the Celtics tie the series again?

The Boston Celtics look to rebound in Game 4 of the 2010 NBA Finals as they play once again the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday night at TD Garden.

The Los Angeles Lakers won with a 91 – 84 Game 3 seizing home court advantage. Lakers guard Derek Fisher was instrumental with the win as he scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to propel the victory. Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 29 points, who had 25 points after three quarters, but he did not score for the first 10 minutes of the fourth.

A Lakers victory on Thursday night would put them within one win of avenging the loss to their longtime rivals in the 2008 finals — not to mention the eight other times the Boston Celtics have won an NBA title at the Lakers’ expense.

“Our thoughts are really just still on how disappointed we are, or were, losing that second game on our home court. I think that had more of our attention and focus than what happened in ’08,” Fisher said. “We didn’t doubt our ability to win here. We understand when you want to be the best, you have to win wherever, whenever.”

Kevin Garnett, who had just six points in Boston’s victory Sunday, had 25 in Game 3. But Allen, who had 32 points in Game 2, missed all 13 field goal attempts—one shy of the NBA finals futility record—many of them while Fisher was guarding him.

“It’s a hell of a swing, I’ll tell you that,” Rivers said. “It’s basketball. That’s why you can’t worry about it. He’ll be back in the gym tomorrow and getting ready for the next game. It happens to the best of us.”

The Celtics had high hopes after splitting the opening…

Lakers were the more physical team in their Game 1 victory.

Yep, that was as clear as crystal after the Lakers dismantled the Celtics to start the 2010 NBA Finals, but Coach Doc Rivers’ Boston team vows to play with renewed urgency Sunday, and Lakers are trying to prepare for it. Adding fuel to the fire: Lakers’ Pau Gasol suggests Celtics’ Kevin Garnett has lost a step.

The aggressive tone in Game 1 surprised no one within the confines of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ locker room. They’d been taking a bellicose stance for several days. Their video coordinators inserted an inspirational speech from the war movie “Patton” into a team video session before Game 1 of the NBA Finals, joining the continual clips of “Inglourious Basterds” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson has insisted on including to foment an us-against-the-bad-guys mantra, a trend started by the team earlier in the playoffs with the Quentin Tarantino anti-Nazi movie.

Something’s obviously working. The Lakers stood strong against the ominous front line of the Boston Celtics, an event that was still the talk of the NBA Finals a day after the Lakers’ 102-89 victory.

“I thought one team was physical,” Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said, and he wasn’t talking about his own. The Lakers dominated all the power categories, winning points in the paint, rebounds and second-chance opportunities with ease, though they didn’t think it would be as simple in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series Sunday at Staples Center.

Their thinking: There’s no chance Kevin Garnett…

Here we go again.

Yep, in case you haven’t heard, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics will be playing once again for all the marbles as the 2010 NBA Finals will feature a rematch of 2008’s classic Lakers – Celtics series that saw Boston capture its 17^th championship by beating Los Angeles in six games.

This time though, it’ll be a little different as the Los Angeles Lakers will come in as the defending NBA champions after winning the championship last year by beating the Orlando Magic, the same team the Boston Celtics sent home in six games to return to the NBA Finals this year.

Can the Los Angeles Lakers beat their storied rivals this time around to win the Larry O’Brien trophy? They should. Because unlike two years ago, the Lakers now have the frontcourt to go toe to toe with Boston’s Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins and since the Celtics are starting to feel their age a little bit, there’s no reason why Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum can’t take advantage of Boston’s somewhat aging fort.

Of course, the Lakers still remember how they lost the championship to the Celtics two years ago. Boston put on quite a show in the clincher in Game 6 when they handed the Lakers a humiliating 131-92 loss, the biggest margin of victory in a Finals clincher, EVER. Not that it was a blowout already. THAT game was a close one until subs James Posey and Eddie House blew it open with three-point bombs from…

Whichever team wins Game 1 will take control of the series.

Although that is not necessarily the case since we saw quite a few Game 1 winners who have eventually lost their respective best of seven affairs in the 2010 NBA playoffs like the Portland Trail Blazers and just recently, the top seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, but STILL, winning Game 1 of a seven-game series is STILL huge, especially when you’re up against the Lakers.

On Monday night, the Phoenix Suns will try to take control of the Western Conference Finals by beating the Los Angeles Lakers on their home floor in Game 1. That is, of course, easier said than done since the Lakers are STILL the defending NBA champions and they are STILL a team built to win that very title again but if there’s a team that can dethrone the Lakers, it would have to be the Suns.

The Phoenix Suns are clicking at the right time after a regular season full of doubt. Hell, they came this close from dealing their franchise player, Amar’e Stoudemire before the trading deadline for crying out loud.

Who would’ve thought that Amar’e Stoudemire would still be a Sun playing this deep into the postseason with an opportunity to win the Western Conference and reach the NBA Finals again since Charles Barkley lost to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls back in 1993?

The Pacific Division rivals couldn’t wait to meet each other to play for the Western Conference championship. Both the Lakers and the Suns made quick work of their second round opponents, sweeping the Jazz and the Spurs respectively to face-off against each other in the playoffs again.

However, while the Suns should be the sentimental favorites in…

Ah, the Western Conference. Some people still say this is where it’s at.

And with good reason too because in the West, it doesn’t matter what seed you are because any one of these Western Conference teams can go on and win the NBA championship. In the 2010 NBA playoffs, it’s more or less the same story.

Heck, Kevin Durant, the youngest player ever to win the scoring title this season, will be playing from the no.8 seed with the rest of the Oklahoma City Thunder. You see, these guys could go on and advance to, probably the second round of the playoffs. The problem is, they will be on a head-on collision with the no.1 seed Los Angeles Lakers.

That’s right, it’s the defending champions for the Oklahoma City Thunder. That’s probably why NOBODY expects them to get past the Lakers in the first round other than them Thunder players and their mommas.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for Kevin Durant and the season he had but when you pit him against Kobe Bryant? They don’t call him the Black Mamba for nothing.

The no.2 seed Dallas Mavericks take on the no.7 seed San Antonio Spurs…

Well, in the regular season anyway.

With the 2010 NBA playoffs just around the corner, Ron Artest can still turn what has been a disappointing first season in Los Angeles around. Of course, if he continues to be passive as he has been this year, Laker fans will always remember that day when they traded a promising young talent in Trevor Ariza away for this moron.

And in case you haven’t noticed, yup, Ron Artest hasn’t really done shit since being traded from Houston to Tinseltown. Artest is averaging a career-low 11.4 points this season, which isn’t completely surprising because he never has played on a team with so many other offensive weapons.

However, it’s his drop in defensive success that has been unexpected.

He was the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2004. He was first-team All-Defense in 2004 and 2006. He was second team All-Defense in 2003 and 2009. But as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, he has been relegated to that guy with the stupid haircut for most of this year’s campaign.

Part of his struggles, he said, was because he had added weight in recent years trying to get stronger and more physical. The Lakers coaching staff asked him to lose a few pounds earlier this season, and he believes it has made him quicker again.

”Last couple years, I slacked off, but I’m back now, picking up people, taking the ball from them, locking them up,” Artest said. ”Anyone trying to attack me now is going to have problems.”

The Lakers were hoping the addition of Artest could…

Really? He is?

Yes, Ben Roethlisberger is once again making the headlines prior to the start of the football season. This time, it doesn’t involve motorcycle accidents, Super Bowl hangovers or any other shit Big Ben usually finds himself into. This time, coming to the 2010 NFL football season, Roethlisberger is trying to rebuild his image after sexually assaulting a 20 – year – old college student.

Wow. First it was Tiger Woods and now Ben Roethlisberger? Jeez… These guys who have these once squeaky clean reputations are really getting hammered these days huh? Who’s next? Jerry Sloan?

Roethlisberger, who luckily won’t be facing criminal charges after the 20 – year – old student gave up on the case since her accusations could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt, apologized to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the NFL, and more importantly, to football fans for the entire fiasco.

Oh yes, Roethlisberger will walk, just like Kobe Bryant did a few years ago after the alleged rape incident in Colorado. Huge stars like them usually get a free get – out – of – jail card.

”Here the overall circumstances do not lead to a viable prosecution. If they did, I would be pursuing it vigorously,” Ocmulgee Circuit District Attorney Fred Bright said. ”We do not prosecute…

As expected the Western Conference is having a dogfight for playoff positioning.

With merely days before the 2010 NBA playoffs get here, the Dallas Mavericks, the Denver Nuggets, the Utah Jazz and the Phoenix Suns are all battling for control of the 2nd through 4th seeds, each of which come with home-court advantage in the first round.

The only team that knows which seed will they be at are the defending NBA world champions Los Angeles Lakers, taking the number one spot in the Western Conference for the third straight year.

The San Antonio Spurs, the Oklahoma City Thunder or the Portland Trail Blazers could end up as the no.8 seed to face the Lakers and unfortunately for Laker fans, all three teams can upset this Lakers team that has been struggling recently. As for now, San Antonio, Oklahoma and Portland will continue to fight for playoff positioning as the no.6, no.7 and no.8 seeds are still up for grabs.

So which of these three teams should the Lakers hope they won’t have to face in the first round? That’s easy. That team would definitely have to be the San Antonio Spurs.

The Spurs are currently in the seventh spot and has a tough final day schedule when they face the surging Dallas Mavericks. If they lose they would most likely end up in the eight spot and play Kobe Bryant and his Lakers.

Facing the Lakers in the first round is not an easy task for Greg Popovich and the rest of the Spurs team. But they are a veteran team composed of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and the ever reliable Tim Duncan. They all know how to play in the playoffs. And with the addition of Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess, they can shock and beat the Lakers in the first round.

Hell, this Spurs team has been clicking at the right time…