I have a public confession to make.

At the start of the National Basketball Association playoffs, I did not think the Boston Celtics (after eliminating the Miami Heat in five games in the first-round action) would survive past the second round, let alone reach the league Finals.

Powered by their revitalized 30-years-old-or-more Big Three of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen and a young and heady ringmaster in lightning-quick playmaker Rajon Rondo, the Celtics (50-32), though, proved me wrong by slewing along the way the top two heavyweights in the Eastern Conference – the Cleveland Cavaliers (61-21) and Orlando Magic (59-23) – via identical scores of 4-2 to qualify for the NBA Finals for the second time in three years.

Out West, I picked the Dallas Mavericks (55-27) to upset the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers (57-25) in the conference finals. But the Mavs were waylaid by San Antonio, 4-2, in the first round and the reigning NBA champion Lakers went on to knock off the Oklahoma City Thunder (4-2), Utah Jazz (4-0) and Phoenix Suns (4-2) in the first three rounds to gain a NBA Finals ticket for the third consecutive year.

And now, these two proud, tradition-steeped franchises – the Celtics (17 titles) and the Lakers (15 championships) – are facing each other in this year’s NBA Finals, a rematch of their 2008 showdown that saw Boston take down El-Ay in six games.

Once dismissed by many as too old and injury-prone to contend for the title this year, the rejuvenated Celtics have become the sentimental choice to nail down an 18th championship.

However, I am going against the grain in picking the Lakers to annex the 2010 championship in six games and keep the crown they won a year ago by whipping Orlando, four games to one.

While the two clubs split their two-game regular series (each team won on the other’s home floor and both contests were decided by one point), the Lakers will enjoy home-court advantage in the NBA Finals with a 2-3-2 (home-road-home) format due to a superior win-loss mark during the regular wars.

Game One will be held on Friday, June 4 (Manila time), at the Staples Center. The second game, also to be played on the Lakers’ home floor, will be on Monday (Manila time). The NBA Finals will have a Friday-Monday-Wednesday local schedule.

Boston has its starting lineup – Pierce, Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, Allen and Rondo – and three substitutes – Glen Davis, Tony Allen and Brian Scalabrine – back from their 2008 NBA championship unit. Backup frontliner Rasheed Wallace, who won a title ring with the Detroit Pistons in 2004, is the only major acquisition this year.

In contrast, nine Lakers veterans, led by meal ticket Kobe Bryant, who averaged a mind-boggling 33.7-point clip in the six-game West final series against Phoenix, and towering 7-footer Pau Gasol, are seeking redemption against the Celtics. The other seven, who also were part of the Lakers’ 2008 runner-up team, are starting guard Derek Fisher, first-string center Andrew Bynum (who, however, was sidelined for the entire 2008 playoffs), top reserve Lamar Odom, and backups Luke Walton, Jordan Farmer, Sasha Vujacic and D.J. Mbenga.

With 12 holdovers from their 2009 championship unit, the Lakers only added enigmatic forward Ron Artest, who played the hero’s role in the Game Five of the West finals against the Suns and exploded for 25 points as well in the Game Six clincher, to their current roster.

Celtics bench boss Glenn (Doc) Rivers hopes to secure a second title ring before retiring from NBA coaching to be with his family in his native state Florida.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson, on the other hand, looks to extend his league record for most number of championships to 11.

Here are the player rosters of the two teams (2010 playoff stats in parentheses):

LAKERS (12-4, 8-0 home/4-4 road) – Kobe Bryant (29.4 ppg, .483 FG pct. 5.1 rpg, 6.2 apg, 1.00 spg), Paul Gasol (20.0 ppg, .565 FG pct., 10.9 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.88 bpg), Ron Artest (11.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.38 spg), Derek Fisher (11.1 ppg, 3.1 apg), Lamar Odom (10.6 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 1.06 bpg), Andrew Bynum (9.1 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 1.69 bpg), Shannon Brown (5.8 ppg), Jordan Farmar (5.3 ppg), Adam Morrison (2 games, 4.0 ppg), D.J. Mbenga (2 games, 2.5 ppg), Sasha Vujacic (3 games, 3.3 ppg), Luke Walton (12 games, 1.3 ppg) and Josh Powell (11 games, 0.8 ppg).

CELTICS (12-5, 7-2 home/5-3 road) – Paul Pierce (19.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 3.6 apg), Ray Allen (16.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.0 apg), Rajon Rondo (16.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 10.0 apg, 2.056 spg), Kevin Garnett (16 games, 14.9 ppg, 8.2 rpg), Glen Davis (7.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg), Rasheed Wallace (6.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg), Tony Allen (5.9 ppg), Kendrick Perkins, (5.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.88 bpg), Nate Robinson (10 games, 3.7 ppg), Shelden Williams (6 games, 2.2 ppg), Marquis Daniels (9 games, 1.3 ppg), Michael Finley (16 games, 0.9 ppg), Tony Gaffney (DNP), Oliver Lafayette (DNP) and Brian Scalabrine (DNP).

How important is Game One of an NBA Finals? In the past 63 Finals, the team that captured the opening game has gone on to win the series 46 times, including 19 in the last 25 years, for a .730 success rate.