Sport and Cinema.com

The game’s most storied rivalry in a highly anticipated rematch, two years in the making, now comes complete on DVD. The two most successful franchises in NBA history pick up where they left off in 2008. It is the Boston Celtics against the Los Angeles Lakers for the NBA crown.

In a renewal of one of sports history’s greatest rivalries, Boston and Los Angeles meet yet again for the NBA crown. Beginning this week at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, a new chapter begins as the Lakers and Celtics meet for the second time in three years, and the 12th time overall.

A day after Boston took game one over Orlando in the Eastern Conference Finals on the road, Phoenix comes to Los Angeles to begin play at the Staples Center for the right to advance to the NBA Finals.

The strain on Kobe to carry a team that was supposed to lean more on Ron Artest and Lamar Odom has been evident down the stretch. The health concerns of Andrew Bynum will likely increase the burden on Bryant. For the Thunder to have a shot, they will need to have Russell Westbrook step up as it is likely that Kevin Durant will be slowed from the attention showered on him by the Lakers D.

The world’s best players have just tipped off another season of the National Basketball Association. In a case where the rich have gotten richer as the league’s best teams got stronger, this could be the most exciting title chase in some time, but it is a long way from October to June.

Here’s a quick look at each of the teams culminating in a fearless prediction of who will face each other in the NBA Finals nearly nine months from now.

Capped by a historic (Phil Jackson earns his 10th championship as a head coach, breaking the record he had shared with Red Auerbach) and gratifying (soothe an embarrassing loss to the Celtics in the previous year’s finals) win against the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals to earn their 15^th league crown in franchise history, this package contains all the highlights of the Lakers season.

For the third time in four years, Shaquille O’Neal will be playing for a different team. This one happens to have the league’s MVP and best record- LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Lakers earned their 15th title on Sunday night in Florida as Kobe Bryant scored 30 points and Pau Gasol added 14 and 15 rebounds in a 99-86 Game 5 win over the Orlando Magic.

For Gasol it is his first NBA ring, for Bryant, the series MVP, it was his fourth and first in seven years and first without Shaq.

On the surface it is two American teams, the Los Angeles Lakers against the Orlando Magic boxing out for the NBA championships, but their roots are deeply spread all over the world.

The 2009 NBA Finals are being broadcast to more than 200 countries in over 60 languages, but the dreams they represent go even deeper

In a world of ifs….. if Courtney Lee doesn’t miss off a brilliant alley-oop pass from Hedo Turkoglu at the end of regulation, they go home all tied at 1. If Dwight Howard could’ve followed up the miss with his slam fractions of a section earlier, the series is even. If Orlando doesn’t commit 20 turnovers, they go home all tied at 1.

If.