In an age where young players like Chris Paul and LeBron James dominate the scene and revolutionize the game, there is still a constant reminder of winning and tradition remaining in the final four.

The Conference Finals include prominent examples of excellence in past decades with the Celtics and the Lakers who have combined for a staggering 30 NBA championships since 1950, and examples of winning in this decade in the Pistons and Spurs.

The Spurs are a quiet dynasty with four titles in nine year and the Pistons are making their sixth straight trip to the Eastern finals proving that the road to success in the East still runs through the Motor City.

The Celtics, who have lost their aura of invincibility in the playoffs, hope to compete with the battle tested pistons and with their home court advantage advance to a very familiar place, the NBA Finals.

These same Celtics, however, must deal with a rested squad of veterans and the opinion of many nay sayers labeling the 66 win team “underdogs.”

Celtic’s forward P.J. Brown is aware of the danger in facing Mr. Big Shot Chauncey Billups and his team as he said to SoutCoastToday.com “This is their sixth conference championship in a row. They know what this is all about. They are going to come prepared and ready to give us their best shot, and we have to get a little rest and be ready to go.”

And as at least two future Hall Of Famers square off in the West, it is much of the same. The media will be pulling for a Celtic-Laker NBA Finals, and if Commissioner David Stern is a man of faith, he is probably hoping and praying to revive this legendary match up, but if someone has a say in how all this will play out it’s the defending champs.

Recently putting out the fire in New Orleans of basketball fever and beating the up start Hornets in seven games, Tim Duncan is poised to make another stand in the Conference Finals, even if that means standing up to Kobe Bryant and his Lakers. America is probably a little tired of the quiet dynasty and hopes to see Kobe win without Shaq for the first time, making for an enticing match up.

The commercial campaign for the playoffs this year involves a split screen, dramatic music, competitive banter between opponents and the line; “There can only be one” capturing the essence of what makes basketball so great; that simple fact, there can only be one. So no matter what the result of these playoffs are, there is no debating that it has been a treat.

The second round saw 3 out of 4 series going the distance and it is just as probable that with names like Kobe, Duncan, Garnett and Billups the remaining games in this spectacular 2008 season will be just that; spectacular.