Nba Finals

Michael Jordan took the NBA finals television ratings to a new high, but in the first season without him, they fell to their lowest levels in 18 years. NBC's five-game series average between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks posted a 11.3 national rating and a 21 share, down 40% from last year's final series. The 1998 finals between Jordan's Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz went six games and had a 18.7 rating--the highest in league history.

If a few glorious slivers of their playoff history are to be repeated, the Lakers' joy ride could just be getting started. Only twice in franchise history has the team rallied from a two-games-to-none deficit to win a postseason series, something the Lakers put themselves in much better position to do again with a 99-96 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3. Game 4 in their Western Conference semifinal series on Saturday night...

Thursday, we embark on another couple of weeks of silliness, aka the NBA Finals. Think of it as the prelude to the parade. The silliness is not the players, who are all marvelous athletes. Nor is it the competition format, which only follows the lead of most organized sports these days.

With the NBA playoffs around the corner, writers from around Tribune Co., the parent of the Los Angeles Times and other papers, predict which teams will be playing for the championship in June. Check back throughout the day for their responses and join the conversation with a comment of your own. Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune I'll take the team with the Big Three, but not the celebrated LeBron-Wade-Bosh combo. I'll go with the Durant-Westbrook-Harden triumvirate that makes Oklahoma City an even more lethal offensive club than the flashy Heat.

With its three NBA Finals games sweeping the top three spots in the ratings, ABC had its most-watched week between Memorial Day and Labor Day in six years. Game 5 of the series between the Lakers and Boston Celtics on Sunday was the most-watched program between June 7 and Sunday, averaging 18.65 million viewers, according to live-plus-same day figures released Tuesday by the Nielsen Co. Game 4 Thursday was second for the week, averaging 16.37 million viewers, the most for a Game 4 since the Lakers-Detroit Pistons series of 2004.

Former Lakers guard Byron Scott won three NBA championships with the team. He lost his first NBA Finals as a rookie, against the Boston Celtics, in 1984. He won his next two championships against the Celtics in 1985 — the first Lakers team to defeat the Celtics in the NBA Finals in eight tries — and 1987. Scott's preview of the Finals, as told to Times staff writer Broderick Turner : No. 1, the Lakers are going to win the series. I think it's probably going to go six or seven games, there's no doubt about that.

These have been forgettable games for Lamar Odom , a sixth man gone asunder in the most important series of the season. The Lakers aren't playing Phoenix any longer, as Odom could definitely attest, the 14 points and 11.8 rebounds he averaged in the Western Conference finals apparently a thing of the past now that the Lakers are playing Boston in the NBA Finals. Odom had a five-point, five-foul debacle in Game 1 that somehow got worse Sunday in Game 2, when he finished with three points and five fouls in the Lakers' 103-94 loss.

How Much to Keep the Bulls Intact? Coach Phil Jackson? About to become a free agent. Dennis Rodman? About to become a big-money free agent. Michael Jordan? About to become the biggest-money free agent. And you thought the payoff for the Chicago Bulls' record-breaking season might be coming Wednesday night, when they could complete the sweep of the Seattle SuperSonics and win a fourth NBA title in six years.

Reporting from Boston -- Hollywood, beware. And that means you, L.A. The aging Boston Celtics have gone Benjamin Button on the NBA, a curious case of reversing the aging process as a playoff team. Looking too old and broken down the last half of the season, the Celtics are back in the NBA Finals. They ousted the Orlando Magic, 96-84, on Friday night at TD Garden to win the Eastern Conference crown. The Celtics won the NBA title in 2008 by beating the Lakers and will be playing in the championship round for the second time in three seasons.

The Orlando Magic is now one win away from reaching the NBA Finals, and the Cleveland Cavaliers and their superstar, LeBron James, are one loss from having their dream season end in nightmarish fashion. Dwight Howard scored 27 points -- including 10 in the game's extra period -- and Rafer Alston had a career playoff-high 26 points Tuesday night as the Magic beat the Cavaliers, 116-114, in overtime to take a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

Jamaal Wilkes remained blessed and cursed for playing for great teams. He was blessed with the Lakers (1977-85) as he helped them win three NBA titles, but he was cursed because his contributions were overshadowed by Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He was blessed to be a part of the UCLA teams that won 88 consecutive games and two NCAA championships. But Bill Walton carried the spotlight. But Wilkes' efforts will hardly go unnoticed Sept. 7 in Springfield, Mass., where he will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, according to a Monday announcement . Wilkes will become the Lakers' 24th Hall of Famer, which includes 17 players, four head coaches, one assistant coach and two contributors.

Former Laker Jamaal Wilkes received two doses of good news Monday. One involves the NBA's announcement that he will be inducted Sept. 8 in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The second involves how the Lakers will pay tribute to him. "We will retire his jersey at some point next season," Lakers spokesman John Black said. "We'll look to book a date after the schedule comes out at some point late in the summer. " Wilkes and his No. 52 jersey will join Wilt Chamberlain (No. 13)

CHICAGO AT OKLAHOMA CITY: Sunday at 10 a.m. PDT. TV: Channel 7 This isn't really the possible Finals preview many will tout it to be, unless you expect Derrick Rose to sit out the playoffs. Then again, the way things have gone for Chicago's star guard this season, you never know. He has been sidelined for three lengthy stretches, most recently by a groin injury that has forced him to miss the Bulls' last nine games. There remains no timetable for his return. Chicago is expected to have Richard Hamilton back after he sat out 12 games because of a sprained right shoulder.

Looking Ahead MIAMI AT OKLAHOMA CITY: Sunday at 5 p.m. PDT. TV: ESPN It's easy to imagine David Stern fantasizing about a LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant faceoff in the Finals. Both stars are in their 20s and this could evolve into a Magic vs. Bird-like matchup for many Junes to come. Meanwhile, James is chasing his third league MVP award while Durant is hoping to win his first. Both the Heat and Thunder play up-tempo and are among the few teams with winning road records — last season each won on the other's court in splitting two games.

Well, it wasn't exactly divine. Twenty-nine NBA teams were supposed to bow at the feet of Miami's LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. It turned out only ESPN did, between its breathless "The Decision" special, "Heat Index" and "Chase for 72," which could easily be mistaken for the number of games the network televised. Miami ended up winning 58 games last season before reaching the Finals and flaming out to Dallas when someone forgot to tell James he'd have to play well in Game 6. In better news for the Heat, the Big Three are baaack … and then some.

The NBA's condensed 66-game schedule is starting to form. The collective-bargaining agreement has not officially been ratified, but the league acknowledged Sunday that each team must endure at least one of the dreaded back-to-back-to-back situations. Teams haven't had to play games on three consecutive nights since the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season. Some teams will have to do it three times, the NBA said. There might even be some back-to-backs for playoff teams that take part in the conference semifinals.

Former Celtics forward Kevin McHale won three NBA championships with Boston, where he played for 13 seasons. He will be an analyst for NBA TV during the Finals. He famously delivered a hard foul to the Lakers' Kurt Rambis in Game 4 of the 1984 Finals. After McHale flung Rambis to the floor, Boston came back to win the game in overtime and the series in seven games. McHale's preview of the Finals, as told to Times staff writer Diane Pucin: The Celtics will win if Rajon Rondo can put pace in the game and attack Derek Fisher, especially in the fast break or in any kind of odd-man situation.

Maybe there's a West Coast bias after all. If you're a Boston Celtics fan, is your head exploding? Besides watching your team be dominated by the Lakers on Thursday — the defending NBA champions won, 102-89, in Game 1 of the NBA Finals — you also got the added bonus of watching the Kobe Bryant show. After Bryant made a second-quarter layup, ABC/ESPN analyst Mark Jackson yelped, "Bryant, this is just too easy." His fellow analyst Jeff Van Gundy made up his mind early what this game was about.

The checks that would make Darren Collison a millionaire were just starting to come in when the New Orleans Hornets rookie received some startling advice during the 2009-10 season. Save your money. You never know if there will be an NBA season two years from now. So Collison, then fresh out of dorm life and roughing it at UCLA, took a measured approach to moving into a new tax bracket in his first two NBA seasons. He bought himself a two-bedroom condominium in Los Angeles.