Monday’s game one matchup of the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Championship marks the second straight post season that the big three of Miami has squared off against the big three of Boston.
Which is, of course, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh of Miami against Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett of Boston.
Miami stole all the headlines when they assembled their big three in 2010. Not long after LeBron James’ “decision,” the Heat had a mid-summer celebration to welcome the new stars to the team.
For months that was all anyone could talk about, the NFL season was soon to be underway and people were still anxiously awaiting the debut of Miami’s Big three.
But some forget that the Celtics had a very similar scenario when they assembled their big three just a few years earlier, although they didn’t throw a huge party in the summer before the season even started.
There are plenty of similarities and differences between the two big three’s. Both are made up of multiple time all-stars, and both are highly marketable.
But they are a different bunch of players. Boston has the best three-point shooter in Ray Allen in the history of the NBA and one of the best defenders in Kevin Garnett. Not to mention a great finisher in Paul Pierce, a great group of players.
While Miami’s big three is a bit different. No incredible three-point shooter, and Chris Bosh doesn’t even come close to Garnett, but they do have two of the top three players in the game and maybe the two best finishers in the league in Wade and James.
Oh, and another big difference between the two is that Boston’s big three actually won an NBA title in their first year together, while the guys down South missed out on their promise.
This year’s Eastern Conference Finals might mark the end of an era in Boston. The Heat already proved last season that they are capable of eliminating the Celtics in the playoffs when they ousted Boston in five games.
Expect a similar result this year as well. It just comes down to the fact that all good things must come to an end. The Celtics are old, and let’s face it; they were even old when they won the title a few years back.
And now they make it back to the Eastern Conference Finals to face off against the little brothers in Miami, trying to prove just one more time that they can still win a title.
The guys in Boston wish they would have teamed up earlier in their careers, when they got together they were all over thirty years old. Miami on the other hand assembled their big three while they were all still relatively young, that is, under thirty years old.
This series might mark the turning of the page — officially, seeing as some might say that the Heat proved themselves enough this year.
But until Miami wins an NBA title, they still won’t even be the best big three in this generation. Sure, they have better players than Boston, but the Celtics have proven to be champions, something that Miami’s big three still lacks.
That being said, the Heat should rap this one up in five, maybe six games, on their way to their first title with the big three.
Or at least let’s hope so for LeBron James’ sake.
Tyler Rollason is a Winder-Barrow High School graduate and mass communications major at the University of West Georgia. You can e-mail comments about this column to tyrollason@yahoo.com.
