A Tale of Two Teams

Cleveland Cavaliers:

-61-21 regular season record

-2 time MVP Lebron James (age 25)

-Notable acquisitions: Shaquille O'Neal and Antawn Jamison

Boston Celtics:

-50-32 regular season record

-The Big Three: Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen (ages 32, 33, 34)

-1 MVP among them

-Notable acquisitions: Rasheed Wallace

Old age is associated with wisdom; young age is associated with inexperience. Why doesn't anyone make this connection with basketball? Experts, coworkers, your girlfriend, and even many Boston faithful did not see the Celtics over the Cavaliers, especially in under seven games. Why should they? Lebron James is reaching the peak of his greatness, and, with the Cavs new acquisitions, this was THEIR year. Boston, on the other hand, is getting old. The Big Three are approaching their mid 30s, and acquiring Rasheed Wallace (age 35) did not seem to help their case. The sports world didn't take into account that three veteran players, along with a dynamic youngster in Rajon Rondo, could handle the 'world's best player' in Lebron James with his share of good teammates. The Cavs came out of the gate winning two of the first three games, riding on Lebron James going for 35 and 38 points in their two wins. In the other four losses, Lebron James averaged 22 points including his horrendous 3-14 game 5. Anyone can put two and two together here. Lebron James doesn't score; Cleveland doesn't win. Sure blame it on his 'injured' elbow, but the Cavs don't have enough consistently productive players as a team to make a championship run. Their veterans (Shaquille O'Neal and Antawn Jamison) were far less productive. As for the Celtics, they look unstoppable after beating the Orlando Magic in game 1 on Sunday. Look out, the NBA's nursing home is running things around here.

As for Lebron, who knows what will become of the greatest player without a championship.

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