Michael Ventre

In 1984, the Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers for the NBA championship. In 1985, the Lakers turned the tables.

In that particular chunk of the storied Lakers-Celtics rivalry — the Magic-Bird era — those two assemblages were the best. Granted, the Celtics of 1985-86 — with a temporarily healthy Bill Walton coming off the bench — were probably better than the ’84 team, but that group beat the Houston Rockets in the Finals. And the Lakers who won back-to-back championships in ’87 and ’88 — the first time that had been done in 19 years — certainly were recognized for cementing the franchise’s legacy of the ‘80s.

The reason the ’84 Celtics and ’85 Lakers were special is because they each beat a team that was deemed their equal. They were the Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier of professional basketball (and feel free to interchange the two).

The memories of those teams juxtaposed against the 2008 NBA Finals between these same rivals — which starts Thursday with Game 1 in Boston — present fodder for some fantasizing, NBA-style. Specifically, would the ’84 Celtics have defeated these ’08 Lakers? And also, would the ’85 Lakers have beaten these ’08 Celtics?

In both cases, the answer is yes.

Let’s start with an examination of these current combatants.

The ’08 Celtics are an excellent collection, but they’re not flawless. The team is heavy with superstars in Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Beyond them, the talent dropoff is considerable, although starters Rajon Rondo at point guard and Kendrick Perkins at center both have done commendable jobs this season.

But if they were matched up against the ’85 Lakers, the disparity in talent would be noticeable. Magic Johnson, at 6-9, would be too much for any of the Celtics to handle, especially his counterpart at point guard. The combination of Magic at the point working against Rondo (although Pierce, Ray Allen and Tony Allen might draw duty on him, too) feeding the ball to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the paint, who likely would be matched up against Perkins, would be an unstoppable combination — much as it was back in the ‘80s against stiffer competition.

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Those Lakers also would have the edge in athleticism, even against these modern-day Celtics. Remember, besides Magic they had Byron Scott, an underrated spot-up jump shooter and a superb filler of the wing on the fast break; James Worthy, who was freakishly quick and creative in the post; and reserve guard Michael Cooper, who was versatile, speedy and clutch, as well as being cited by Larry Bird himself as “the only guy who can guard me.”

The fast break is a thing of the past, at least as a regular menu item. Certainly there are still points scored in transition. But few teams live off the fast break as their bread and butter like the ’85 Lakers did. There are reasons for that, having to do with the improved ability of present-day teams to get back on defense faster, and because fewer teams make it a priority to require their point guards to push the ball upcourt like head coach Pat Riley demanded of Magic.

But if the ’85 Lakers were able to pull off even half of the number of fast breaks against the ’08 Celtics that they did back in the day, they’d still blow Boston out of the building. Those Lakers were a crack defensive team, and when they made a stand and swarmed the opposing team, the result was a game-breaking 14-2 burst or something like it.

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