KNOTT: LeBron vs. Kobe is a cinch

A Kobe-LeBron showdown is in the offing. David Stern would have it no other way, what with two-thirds of the NBA owners losing money and a potential labor-management meltdown on tap next year.

The NBA could use a television ratings boost in June, which Kobe and LeBron would provide.

The prospect of a Kobe-LeBron NBA Finals has strengthened in recent weeks because of injury developments deflating the championship hopes of the Celtics and Spurs, the would-be challengers to the Cavaliers and Lakers.

Kevin Garnett was scheduled to play the last three games of the regular season before the workload was scaled back to two, one and none.

Now Celtics coach Doc Rivers is wondering whether Garnett is finished for the season after inspecting his movements in practice on Thursday.

“If he can’t get through biking and working out without swelling and his leg locking, I don’t know how you can play in the playoffs,” Rivers said.

The cause of so much anxiety is a right knee that Garnett injured Feb. 19. He missed the next 13 games, then came back to appear in four games.

He has been stuck in basketball purgatory ever since then, all too aware that the body does not recover as quickly as it once did after 14 seasons in the NBA.

If Garnett is out the rest of the way or returns as a shell of his former self, the Celtics are done.

They will have enough wherewithal to slip past the Bulls in the first round of the playoffs. They will be hard-pressed to survive the next round against the Magic. And even if they do advance to the conference finals, they will not overcome LeBron and the homecourt advantage of the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers are especially resourceful in familiar surroundings, as attested by their league-best 39-2 record at home this season. That impeccable mark helped the Cavaliers claim homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs, a dynamic that is particularly useful in the 2-3-2 split of the NBA Finals.

The Lakers’ path to June has been enhanced by the shelving of Manu Ginobili in San Antonio and the return of center Andrew Bynum.

Ginobili always has been an essential piece of the Spurs, even if he sometimes is overlooked because of Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. Ginobili can hit 3-pointers in bunches or destroy a defense with his penetration to the basket. He can come off the bench and not lose his effectiveness. He can be anything the Spurs want in a particular stretch of the game.

But not this spring. With Ginobili out of the lineup, the Spurs are no lock to get past the Mavericks in the first round. That looms as the most compelling first-round series in the playoffs, perhaps more challenging for the winner than a second-round meeting with either the Nuggets or Hornets.

The return of 7-foot Bynum adds an imposing dimension to the Lakers. Bynum is not obligated to be dominant - just competent enough to ease the pounding on Pau Gasol, the Lakers’ unassuming second banana who merely averaged 18.9 points and 9.6 rebounds while shooting 56.7 percent from the floor this season.

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