The tradition has been well-documented, from Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, but who's going to guard whom in the latest version of Lakers vs. Celtics?
The teams start the NBA Finals on Thursday, but there was still a bit of uncertainty, perhaps even coyness, on the Lakers' behalf as far as matchups.
Derek Fisher will guard second-year point guard Rajon Rondo and Kobe Bryant will start out on Ray Allen, but the frontcourt is somewhat unsettled.
Lamar Odom said he expected to match up against physical Boston center Kendrick Perkins, who outweighs Odom by 34 pounds.
"I'll try to meet him as far out on the court as possible," Odom said. "I'll have my hands out, be like an offensive lineman coming right off the line and jam him early. I guess I'll be Orlando Pace out there."
Pau Gasol probably will start out on Kevin Garnett, and Vladimir Radmanovic probably will draw Paul Pierce, though this is the type of series where defense-minded forward Trevor Ariza could get more playing time, presumably against Pierce.
With two more days of practice before Game 1, the Lakers aren't being overly committal at this point.
"I mentioned a little bit about it [to players], but not a whole lot," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. "We're going to move people around and find who's going to guard whom in this series. Those things will change dramatically as we go through the first game and the series."
On the other hand, the Lakers will be happy just to be in Boston tonight.
They have experienced what other travelers to Boston this week have faced -- a severe shortage of hotel rooms because of a national microbiology conference and college graduations at Harvard and MIT.
The Lakers couldn't find a large enough block of rooms in downtown Boston to accommodate their players and staff, so they were going to commute from Providence, R.I., about an hour away.
They eventually found enough rooms for tonight in a waterfront Boston hotel and will move Wednesday to a hotel closer to the Celtics' arena for the rest of the series.
"Rhode Island's one of the few states in our Union that I haven't visited yet, but this would not have been the proper time," Lakers spokesman John Black said.
The Lakers will head to Boston after this morning's practice and will practice Wednesday at TD Banknorth Garden. Game 1 is Thursday.
