12.02.2017

The Buzz is Back

11/24/2007

We have officially gone back to the future.

For the last 10 years or so, you could walk into The Four's, the landmark sports bar located a Ray Allen 3-pointer from the New Garden, two hours before game time and sit yourself down, no problema. Now, two hours before game time means an hour wait for a table. Perhaps Larry, Kevin, and Robert aren't walking through that door any time soon, but in the meantime, thank you, KG. The Buzz around North Station and its environs is back.

"You could see the difference right from the first preseason game," says Doc Rivers. "The atmosphere that night was better than we've had in three years."

And it all escalated from there.

"Every game seems like it's supposed to be a big game now," Rivers notes. "Miami - big game. Orlando - big game. And Lakers, of course - big game. So I tell my team they're all big games, and we just have to keep working and improving."

The truth is that while all games aren't created equal, some games really are big games if people say they are, and can there be any doubt that there was more interest in last night's clash with the Lakers than for any Boston-LA game in, say, the past 15 years? Maybe 20?

No, it's not Feb. 15, 1987, when they were clearly the league's two best teams and they met at The Forum on the first Sunday following the All-Star Game, each with a 37-12 record. (The Lakers prevailed, 106-103, with Magic Johnson taking over in the final two minutes.) That was a true heavyweight championship battle for the regular-season ages. I cannot suggest last night's game was going to be that good.

But after going through a long period in which the ancient rivals seldom matched up at anything approaching a mutual high level, it was both refreshing and exhilarating to contemplate a confrontation in which each team was feeling pretty good about itself, the Celtics because of a 9-1 start and the 7-4 Lakers because there appears to be a chance they might turn out to be a little more than just Kobe & Friends.

The Lakers were slowed a bit by a 110-103 loss in Milwaukee Wednesday. They were a very interesting team the night before in Indianapolis, when they blasted the Pacers, 134-114, with seven mates accompanying the estimable Mr. Bryant in double figures. They actually have won most of their games without the need for Kobe to score 40.

This is not to suggest that preparing for the Lakers doesn't mean beginning and ending with Kobe Bryant. The rest of the Lakers are very much a supporting cast. The difference is they do seem to have a few more lines in the nightly script than we may be used to hearing from them. But the nightly production will always revolve around Kobe, just as the vintage Bulls were all about Michael Jordan.

In case you're wondering, yes, Rivers says it most certainly is appropriate to utter those two names in the same breath.

"There's no difference," says Rivers. "There really isn't. What you have to do is not forget about defending the other guys. You can't let those other guys get off. But, having said that, clearly, you need to concentrate on Kobe. With guys like Kobe, Dwyane Wade, and Baron Davis, you need what we call five guys guarding the ball. Even when you're guarding your man, you have to keep an eye on Kobe. When he gets by the first man, somebody must meet him.

"You want to keep him out of the paint and, of course, you don't want to put him on the line. But that's become the hard part. In Michael's prime, you could touch him, anyway. That helped. But the way the rules are now, there's not much you can do, and he will get to the line. They [the Lakers] lead the league in free throw attempts, and, as far as I'm concerned, it's all due to him, even the foul shots the other guys get. Finally, he's going to make contested shots, but at least try to make sure they are contested shots."

Kobe is the league's No. 1 walking, talking soap opera. Something always seems to be swirling around the outrageously gifted, 6-foot-6-inch superstar. If it's not a battle for control of the team with Shaq, it's a controversial rape trial or a trade crisis. Through it all, his play never wavers.

"It's like he conjures up a crisis so he can have peace on the court," Rivers surmises.

Doc undoubtedly laid out his Stop Kobe plan to his team last season. Kobe had 43 and 38 in a pair of Laker wins.

But that was last season, and things do appear to be better this year. With Kevin Garnett on board, the Celtics have been transformed. The Lakers were up against the team that was No. 1 in a very meaningful defensive stat: field goal percentage (.401). And, by the way, guess who was No. 2 at .426? Yup, the Lakers.

What was once the league's premier high-level rivalry had deteriorated badly. You can put most of the blame on the Celtics, whose last truly great regular-season claim to fame was a 29-5 start in 1990-91. Then-CEO Dave Gavitt summoned the media to announce that Larry Bird's back was acting up, and things have never been the same around here.

Starting with the Laker victory Jan. 27, 1991, the teams had met 32 times (there were no matchups in the strike-reduced 1998-99 season), with LA winning 19. The Lakers have had a better regular-season record in 14 of those 17 seasons. Since the Celtics last won the championship in 1986, the Lakers have won five times, while advancing to the Finals on two other occasions. The Celtics have not reached the Finals since 1987 and have only advanced as far as the Eastern Conference championship once, with the "Bombs Away" team in 2002.

So you can't blame the Lakers for messing with the rivalry. Since that epic regular-season game 20-plus years ago, they have only had three losing seasons. They have had, starting with the 1987-88 season, four 60-win teams, in addition to eight 50-win teams. They have won five championships and have missed the playoffs only twice. The Celtics in that same span have had 11 losing seasons. They last won 50 games in 1991-92. They have missed the playoffs nine times. And, naturally, there have been zero championships.

Hence, no Buzz.

Now, The Four's (and everything else in the vicinity) is packed, and The Buzz is back. Time to resurrect the old "Beat LA!" chant, I'd say.

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