The good folks at WhatIfSports.com run a pretty cool site. You can go there, run all sorts of simulations... past or present... and get some pretty fun results.
But I think their simulation machine is broken, because they just ran a sim of the 2010 NBA Finals... and they've got the Lakers winning in 7. Here's how they see Game 1 going:
For the second time this post-season, Pau Gasol came up clutch for the Lakers.
The Spaniard knocked down a game tying turnaround jumper at the buzzer to send Game 1 to overtime Thursday night at the Staples Center. Kobe Bryant took over from there, scoring nine points in OT to bail out the Lakers and hand Los Angeles a 1-0 lead in the seven game series.
All five Celtic starters finished with double-digits as they rallied to erase an eleven point halftime deficit. Kendrick Perkins played like a man possessed, scoring 17 points and ripping down 16 rebounds in the loss.
Bryant was the player of the game scoring 37 to go along with seven rebounds.
Now I KNOW it's broken. Gasol came up clutch? Please.
The difference in this sim appears to be home court... with each team winning every game on its home floor.
I, of course, think they're wrong about the result... simply because the Celtics are one hell of a road team. But it's fun to see what this MIGHT play out like based on the simulations.