Finals Matchup Has Its Share of Subplots

We’ve known when for a week. Now that we know who and where, it’s just a matter of how the Lakers will win the NBA championship.

What the Philadelphia 76ers bring to the NBA finals is at least a more credible opponent, but the Lakers’ victory tour still ends June 13, after Game 4. Why? Because two most valuable players are better than one.

There, that takes care of the journalism basics.

Now it’s on to the only thing that matters until the finals begin Wednesday night: story lines.

There’s this small matter of the Lakers attempting to go undefeated in the playoffs, which hasn’t been discussed for three whole minutes now.

You’ve got Kobe Bryant heading back to his hometown, where he starred in (and some would say sabotaged) high school games at Lower Merion.

Philadelphia Coach Larry Brown is coaching in the NBA finals for the first time in his well-traveled, highly successful career.

You also have the resumption of a great rivalry from back in the early days of the Showtime era. The Lakers and 76ers met in the finals three times in four years at the start of the 1980s. The Lakers won twice before the 76ers finally triumphed in ‘83, when Moses Malone and Julius Erving nearly made good on Malone’s “Fo’, Fo’, Fo’ ” prediction.

That team’s 12-1 record (the teams with the best record in each conference received a first-round bye in those days) is the mark the Lakers are looking to top.

By the way, did I mention that the Lakers are 11-0 and seeking to become the first team to go undefeated through the playoffs?

There’s nothing wrong with a little nostalgia, so prepare to see the footage of Magic Johnson hugging Butch Lee after Magic completed the 42-point, 15-rebound, seven-assist game as a rookie filling in for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. (Talk about right place at the right time: Lee, who played in 96 NBA games and scored 773 points--unless you count the playoffs; then it’s 99 and 775--managed to appear in one of the most enduring basketball shots of the ages).

You’re also sure to see that image of Dr. J swooping past Kareem and Mark Landsberger along the baseline, ducking under the hoop and making a reverse layup. These days kids duplicate that move on a nightly basis in the NBA and college, but when he did it in 1980 it was the equivalent of Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier.

Then there’s the MVP x 3 angle. Allen Iverson won the Maurice Podoloff Trophy this year. Shaquille O’Neal won it last year. Bryant will win it one day, and at the moment he’s the MVP of these playoffs.

That’s more than just a story line. It’s the key to this series.

The Laker defense has reduced opponents to one scoring threat at most. They can afford to take their chances one-on-one (for the most part) against the stars and rotate easily to the other shooters.

Iverson is the only Philadelphia player who demands double teams, and it would disrupt the Laker defense too much to chase him around the perimeter. So he’ll probably get his points, but the 76ers don’t have anyone else who can do enough damage to the Lakers.

And if Iverson has one of his off nights, it could really get ugly.

Sure, they can be competitive without him, as they showed when he sat out Game 3 against Milwaukee. They just can’t win if he doesn’t show them the way.

Meanwhile, the chances of Bryant and O’Neal having an off night simultaneously are too slim. Besides, for them an “off” night still constitutes 20 points.

All they need is for one of the other cast of characters--be it Derek Fisher, Rick Fox, Robert Horry or Horace Grant--to score in double figures and they’re in great shape.

The 76ers can at least make things a little competitive because O’Neal can’t overpower Dikembe Mutombo as easily as he would have dominated the entire Milwaukee front line. But don’t look for Mutombo to put up the kind of points against O’Neal that he did against Milwaukee.

This series figures to be much quieter. Philadelphia does a lot less whining than the Bucks.

OK, so the 76ers acknowledge their injuries. What’s wrong with that? At least they don’t use them as an excuse, or cite vast conspiracy theories against them.

They just go out and play. Hard. Here’s a great example of 76er Attitude: When they played the Lakers at Staples Center in December, Iverson drove the baseline and had his shot blocked--cleanly--by O’Neal.

As Iverson went to the free-throw line he looked at the Lakers and the referees, shook his head and said, “That was no foul.” You got the feeling he would have declined the free throws if he could have.

The 76ers are a team that seems almost allergic to taking shortcuts--they have played one game less than the maximum needed to reach the finals.

And in turn, the 76ers, possessors of the best record in the East, provide the Lakers with the best challenge that’s out there and add legitimacy to their quest for perfection. The Lakers already beat the teams with the two best records in the Western Conference (not including their own 56-26 mark) when they knocked off the San Antonio Spurs (58-24) and Sacramento Kings (55-27).

The only potential asterisk to the Lakers’ title is that injuries diminished three of their four opponents: Portland was without Bonzi Wells in the first round, the Spurs didn’t have Derek Anderson for the first two games of the conference finals and Philadelphia’s George Lynch is out because of a sprained foot.

But Lynch would not have made the difference in these finals. The Doc, Moses and Maurice Cheeks from back in the day would have. Andrew Toney too. Remember him? Hey, sounds like another story line.

J.A. Adande can be reached at ja.adande@latimes.com