SO NEAR YET SO FAR

Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and the rest of the Celtics are halfway to their goal of winning the championship; now, they need to find a way to get through the other half.

The Boston Celtics are just two wins away from winning the NBA championship. Wait, correct that––the Boston Celtics are still two wins away from winning the NBA championship. Yes, there is a significant difference between just two wins away and still two wins away.

Just two wins away has a lingering sense of inevitability to it, a feeling of certainty. When a team is just two wins away from something, there is a pervading feeling that it will happen, and it will happen more sooner than later. A team just two wins away from something is a team in the precipice of hoops heaven, waiting for that inevitable welcome. It’s just a matter of when.

In contrast, still two wins away has a lingering sense of uncertainty, a feeling of changeability. When a team is still two wins away from something, there is a pervading feeling that it may or may not happen. A team that is still two wins away from something is a team stuck in hoops purgatory: waiting fervently for deliverance yet unsure of it ever coming.

My beloved Celtics are in the latter category: still two wins away. They are stuck in hoops purgatory, waiting, praying fervently for their deliverance, their entry to hoops heaven. There is no sense of inevitability here, just a sense of uncertainty.

There’s only one reason why: Kobe Bryant.

While the Celtics have taken a big 2-0 lead in this Finals, I have this sickening feeling that Kobe will stir up a massive, three-game Category 24 storm at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. For what its worth, Mamba may very well unleash a 60-point can-of-whoop-ass on the Celtics in Game 3; a 55-point serving of unblockable fadeaways, ferocious dunks, and acrobatic lay-ins in Game 4; and a 35-point, 12-rebound-12-assist, 5-steal gem in Game 5. Then, just like that, the Lakers will be up, 3–2, going back to Beantown.

Let’s face it, Kobe is the only singularly transcendent player who can change the entire course of a seven-game series (LeBron is getting there, but he ain’t there just yet.). That he will do it in the next three games of this Finals is a very distinct possibility.

So as KG, Jesus, Truth, and the rest of the C’s roll into Staples on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning, Manila time), I’ll just keep praying fervently, zealously, feverishly, and ardently for the Celtics to find a way to weather the vicious Kobe storm that will come their way, and in the process, win Game 3.

If the C’s––improbable as I see it––can find a way to steal this pivotal Game 3, then they’ll be just a win away from winning it all. But even if that happens, the inevitable might still shrouded in uncertainty.