Harold Wilson

Final exams ended this week and last for most students around the area, signaling the start of a much-anticipated summer break.

With the other 28 teams already on vacation, the NBA's two winningest franchises congregate today for the start of something special. Something that took a 21-year wait, a memorable offseason and regular season, to see fruition.

With the hype as ripe as ever, the championship series begins full of questions.

So while the fifth, sixth and seventh games may or not be necessary, a finals exam of seven questions is needed to determine if the Lakers or Celtics are more-prepared for the seven-game championship series.

Boston relishes the role as front-runner. The Celtics owned the league's best record from start-to-finish, and never trailed any of its three Eastern Conference playoff series.

Led by Defensive Player of the Year Kevin Garnett, Boston bleeds green and defense, allowing a playoff-low 87.3 points per game.

On the other hand, the Lakers like to score, and lead the playoffs in points per game at 105.9.

Although a young team, key veterans anchor the Lakers lineup. The Lakers starting five - thanks to Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher - alone holds a 6-0 advantage in titles over their Celtics counterparts.

Not much, considering the last meeting occurred in 2007, and before the Lakers acquired Pau Gasol. While Boston laid claim to the better record during the regular season (66-16), Los Angeles sports the best playoff mark (12-3).

Going up 1-0 or down 0-1 could likely determine the series, seeing that Phil Jackson-coached teams are 41-0 when winning Game 1.

It could mean a lot, seeing that Boston went 35-6 during the regular season at home and is 10-1 in Beantown during the playoffs.

Then again, location probably holds little weight since Los Angeles led the Western Conference with 27 road wins and has won four of seven away from Staples Center in the postseason - including close-out games at the league's toughest arena in Utah, and another in Denver.

Superstars tend to cancel out home-court advantages. If Los Angeles steals one of the first two games, the Lakers suddenly hold the upper hand, with the next three games at a home venue they are unbeaten at (8-0) in the playoffs.

Three is better that one, right? Truth is, both are deadly and the team that utilizes its weapon(s) best will win.

The Celtics and the Lakers thrived on great trios in the 1980s - Boston with Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish; and Los Angeles with Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, Magic Johnson and James Worthy.

But, Michael Jordan drove the Bulls dynasty to a pair of three-peats and Bryant plays a similar role. In crunch time the best individual player impacts the game the most usually, and the Lakers clearly have that solo star in Bryant, the playoff-leader in scoring at more than 31 points per game.

Much-like the Spurs, whom the Lakers dispatched in five games, the Celtics prefer to beat you in a low-scoring game. Boston outscored opponents in its first three playoff series on the average 92-87.

The Lakers, while not known as a defensive team, actually have shown the ability to get stingy when it matters. The Lakers ranked among the league's top six in steals and blocks per game during the regular season, and in the playoffs have ranked second in blocks per game (6.1) and third in steals (7.3).

The old saying suggests defenses win championships. Then again, another says the best defense is a good offense, and the latter should matter the most this go-round.

For the Celtics, a title would put Boston back on top of the league they dominated during the 1950s and 1960s. It would also stamp Garnett as one of the top five players of his era, and give the Celtics their ninth win in 11 championship battles with the Lakers.

For the Lakers, a championship would make Jackson the all-time leader with 10 titles - he is tied at nine with Celtics legend Red Auerbach - while giving the franchise its 15th title and bringing it within one crown of Boston's all-time mark. It would also give Bryant four titles, pulling him into a dead draw with Duncan and O'Neal.

With apologies to Allen Iverson, expect one Laker in particular to give an answer to the critics who said he couldn't win a title without O'Neal.

I'll stick to my pick at the start of the playoffs and take the Lakers - in five games - with Bryant adding a Finals MVP trophy to the regular season one.

And a final reply to a season-long question.

Harold Wilson
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