The 2010 NBA Finals (and yes, I am preemptively giving the Western Conference Finals to LA.) is neither a rematch of the Celtics and Lakers from the 2008 season nor a series between the 2008 NBA Champion Boston Celtics and the 2009 NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers. This may seem perfectly obvious to many, but pundits are sure to compare a Celtics team with a healthy Garnett to the championship team two years ago and a Lakers team with a healthy Andrew Bynum to the championship team from last season. This could conveniently by billed as a battle between the optimal incarnation of both storied franchises in the 21st century, especially as the NBA tries to steal attention from the LeBron watch.

Rather, this is an NBA Finals between a Lakers team with two and a half seasons of chemistry under its belt and a Celtics team with the Big Three finally ready to pass the torch to Rajon Rondo. This could also be a much better series to watch than the 2008 series in which the Lakers quite obviously were ill-equipped to handle the Big Three at the end of their collective prime.

Rondo, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce are going to be a difficult trio for Jackson to contain. Typically, the opposition has at least one weak link on the perimeter and Derek Fisher is hidden away guarding that player.

The Celtics do not have a weak link for Fisher to guard, so then what is the plan, put Fisher on the player having the worst night? Fisher cannot keep up with Allen around screens, Fisher cannot handle Pierce in the post, and Fisher cannot stay in front of Rondo.

The Lakers have their own troublesome triumvirate. Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, and Lamar Odom can be taken out of the game individually by Kevin Garnett, but considering the Lakers will be playing at least two of these players at a time, the Celtics have no answer for the length and skill of this group.

Gasol can do everything. Bynum is beast five feet in, and Odom is a terrific passer with a decent midrange jump shot and the ability to move like a ninja without the ball. Kendrick Perkins and Glen Davis are not the answer, they are just 12 fouls. Rasheed Wallace is not an all-world defender. What are the Celtics to do?

The Celtics still have hope, as long as Wallace and Garnett can continue to draw defenders out of the lane on offense, allowing Rondo free reign to drive to the basket or Allen and Pierce to make cuts to the basket. The Lakers have an answer if they bring in Odom at small forward though.

Boston and Los Angeles seem to compliment each other, meaning this series could be the best since the Celtics and Lakers were great teams in the 1980s. I am definitely looking forward to this series and wish I had season Celtics tickets for TD Garden or Lakers tickets for the Staples Center.