As the King of Pop, the late Michael Jackson (who died a year ago on June 25) says, “This is it.”

Or is it?

With a 3-2 lead against Kobe Bryant and the reigning titlist Los Angeles Lakers in the best-of-seven National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals, the toughened and resilient Boston Celtics seek to snare their second championship in three years – and a league record-extending 18th crown – tomorrow (Manila time, 9:00 a.m.) when the series shifts back to the Staples Center in California for Game Six.

Should a seventh game be necessary, it would also be played at the Staples Center on Friday (Manila time, 9:00 a.m.).

The Lakers, due to a better win-loss record than the Celtics during the regular season, still have the home-court advantage under the unique 2-3-2 (home-road-home) Finals format, which was institutionalized in 1985.

In theory, the team without the home-court advantage can momentarily take a 3-2 lead, presumably taking the pivotal Game Five in a tied series and gaining momentum and additional confidence entering a Game Six that can well turn out to be the series-clincher.

Yesterday, the Celtics knocked off the Lakers, 92-86, in the last of the three middle games on their home floor, the TD Garden, to take a 3-2 lead.

That marked the first time in the defense-oriented series that one team was able to string together two successive victories.

Boston wound up taking two of the three middles games played on its home floor, having also captured Game Four after a Game Three debacle.

The two clubs split the series’ first two contests at the Staples Center. LA took the opener and Boston even it up with a victory in Game Two where Celtics guard Ray Allen exploded for a Finals record eight three-pointers and 32 points.

Only six teams in NBA Finals history have rallied from a 3-2 deficit to win a best-of-seven championship series.

The most recent squad to accomplishing the feat were the 1988 Lakers.

Those Lakers, bannered by Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Finals MVP James Worthy, erased a 3-2 edge by Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons by securing the final two games at the old Forum in LA. They also became the first NBA team in 19 years to win back-to-back championships (since Bill Russell and the Celtics) while fulfilling the guarantee of a title repeat publicly uttered by then-Lakers coach Pat Riley during their 1987 victory parade in downtown LA.

Now, the Lakers have their work cut out. Coach Phil Jackson’s troops also need to beat the Celtics on their home floor in Games Six and Seven to retain the NBA crown.

Will this be a case of history repeating itself?

Don’t tell that to the Celtics, who are just as hungry for a second championship in three years after 22 fruitless campaigns since Larry Bird gifted the Green with a 16th title in 1986.

For the record, the other teams that overcame a 3-2 deficit to win a championship series are the 1955 Syracuse Nationals (vs. the Fort Wayne Pistons, Games 6 and 7 at Syracuse), 1962 Boston Celtics (vs. LA Lakers, Game 6 at LA and Game 7 at Boston), 1969 Celtics (vs. LA Lakers, Game 6 at Boston and Game 7 at LA), 1978 Washington Bullets (vs. the Seattle SuperSonics, Game 6 at Washington and Game 7 at Seattle), 1988 LA Lakers (vs. Detroit Pistons, Games 6 and 7 at LA) and 1994 Houston Rockets (vs. New York Knicks, Games 6 and 7 at Houston).

However, none of those six comeback teams won the NBA Finals via a pair of road victories in Games 6 and 7.