Breaking Down the Numbers:

• Boston won the regular season series 2-0 with victories of 107-94 and 110-91. Pau Gasol had not yet been acquired by the Lakers, but Andrew Bynum played a combined 49 minutes.
  
• In 20 games, Boston has averaged 91.6 points scored and 87.3 points allowed per game in the playoffs.
  
• In 15 games, Los Angeles has averaged 105.9 points scored and 99.5 allowed per game in the playoffs.
• Both teams have 4 players averaging double digits in points in the playoffs:
• Boston: Kevin Garnett (21.1), Paul Pierce (19.0), Ray Allen (14.2), Rajon Rondo (10.5)
  
• Los Angeles: Kobe Bryant (31.9), Pau Gasol (17.7), Lamar Odom (14.7), Derek Fisher (10.0)
  
• In 10 prior NBA Finals meetings, the Celtics hold an 8-2 advantage over the Lakers.
• Kendrick Perkins, whose performance on both ends will be pivotal to the Celtics' success in this series, averaged 9.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per game in the Eastern Conference Finals.
  

Matchups:
PG: Rajon Rondo vs. Derek Fisher (Advantage: Push)
SG: Ray Allen vs. Kobe Bryant (Advantage: Lakers)
SF: Paul Pierce vs. Lamar Odom (Advantage: Celtics)
PF: Kevin Garnett vs. Vlad Radmanovic (Advantage: Celtics)
C: Kendrick Perkins vs. Pau Gasol (Advantage: Lakers)
Bench: James Posey, Eddie House, Sam Cassell, Leon Powe, P.J. Brown vs. Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton, Ronny Turiaf, Trevor Ariza (Advantage: Celtics)

Fisher's faced the better opposing guards (Tony Parker, Deron Williams, Allen Iverson) and has far more experience than Rondo, but Rajon's had some brilliant games throughout these playoffs. He's quicker than Fisher and is 11 years his junior, so the Celts will take advantage of Rondo's speed. I'd also like him to take a few more of those open jumpers... You all know about Kobe Bryant - 2008 league MVP, owner of three championship rings (zero of them being from the PS [i.e. Post-Shaquille] Era), etc., etc. Ray isn't to be discounted here because he really found his shooting touch in the final two games of the Pistons series, but there's no doubt Kobe's the superior SG. It'll be interesting to see what matchups Doc and Phil come up with on the fly as Kobe will likely be on Pierce a good amount when the Celts are on offense... Pierce has the edge at SF because he's a better pure scorer and has stepped up his defense in the playoffs, but don't sleep on Odom; the guy's 6-10 and could be problematic for the Celts on both ends of the floor... Radmanovic started both regular season games on the bench. He's been consistent in the playoffs, but he's the one guy in the starting five the Celts can consistently cheat off of to apply a double team elsewhere. If Radmanovic has been good in the postseason, Garnett has been nothing short of stellar. He's 0.2 rebounds per game shy of averaging a double-double throughout the playoffs... Perk dazzled with games of 10 points, 12 rebounds and 18 points, 16 rebounds in Games 3 and 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals, but he's similar to Sox captain Jason Varitek in that anything above the norm offensively is considered a bonus. He must use his physicality to overpower Gasol (or at least keep him from getting into the paint at will) and remain aware of the fact that Pau is an above-average passer for a guy his size.

Prediction:
I keep on saying they'll win in 7 and all they do is win each respective series (sure, the Eastern Conference Finals only went 6, but is anyone complaining about that, besides seat-holders to a potential Game 7?). Let's keep the trend alive and hope it has the same effect on the final round of the playoffs - Celtics in 7.