…when the Celtics and Lakers last met in the Finals. Celtics Hub refreshes our collective memory:

The presence of Artest as LA’s starting small forward is, on its own, a large enough change to make the 2008 Finals a near-irrelevant precedent. In other words: If both rosters were entirely the same, and everyone’s skill level had remained the same, making the single change of replacing Vladimir Radmanovic with Artest as LA’s starting small forward is big enough to blow up any ‘08/’10 comparisons.

The Lakers started Vlad Radmanovic at small forward in 2008! And he wasn’t a token starter! He played 21.5 minutes per game in the Finals, shooting 39 percent from the floor and playing mediocre defense against Boston’s best offensive player.

Luke Walton played 11 minutes per game in the Finals and shot 31 percent. Trevor Ariza, who supplanted both Rad Man and Walton in ‘09, was a total non-factor, logging just 7 minutes per game in the ‘08 Finals.

Those three players, combined, logged about 40 minutes per game in the 2008 Finals. I realize those minutes sometimes overlapped, but still: Forty minutes per game.

Artest makes this Laker team a very different unit, for the better. We can argue about whether or not he was an upgrade over the less combustible Trevor Ariza, but no one is advocating for a return to the Radmanovic/Walton days.

Here is what Artest has done with Paul Pierce in their last eight meetings:

18.8 PPG, 43 percent shooting (46-of-107), 36 percent from three (14-of-39), 52 free throw attempts.

Plus, he brings a certain amount of toughness that was definitely lacking on the ’08 Lakers. It will be fascinating to watch Artest’s impact on this series.

To get you ready, here’s a link to an inside look at Game 1 of the ’08 Finals.

Photo from fOTOGLIF