The Boston Celtics just wrapped up their second seven game series victory today with a 97-92 win over the Cleveland LeBrons, er, Cavaliers. The game was really defined by the duel between King James and Paul Pierce, in a scene reminiscent of the famed seventh game duel between Larry Bird and Dominique Wilkins in 1988 (one of the people there for that game; Celts coach Doc Rivers as a Hawk. Go figure). While LeBron scored 45 and kept his team close (many would say unfairly, but still), Pierce came up with a career-defining game at the right time. With Garnett having a quiet double-double (13 points and 13 boards) and Ray allen invisible again, Pierce scored 41 and showed the heart of a champion today.

Now, the Celts advance to the Eastern Finals against the Detroit Pistons, a team that has had nearly a week to rest (especially good for Chauncey Billups) and prepare. Despite the disparity between the teams, both arer playing for their legacies. Boston (and specifically Garnett) are playing for a much-needed title to restore some of the Celtic pride, while the Pistons need a title to stamp themselves as a team to be remembered as more than an interesting footnote. But only one will earn a chance at the ring. With that in mind, let's see where each team stands in matchups:

Point Guard: Doc Rivers finally wised up and played Eddie House over Sam Cassell the last two games of the series, and House played well. He and Rajon Rondo need to step up more against Billups (assuming he's healthy). In the one game the Pistons won over the Celtics, Billups won the game with free throws he drew using his infamous "win it for me, referee!" style. Rondo must take it at Billups (especially early in the series, while Billups is rusty), and as for Detroit, use Rodney Stuckey to spell Billups and perhaps match up on Rondo when Chauncey is out.

Shooting Guard: Hopefully, the Pistons watched how Cleveland neutralized Allen and will use the same style. I think Richard Hamilton has the advantage because Allen will be run ragged at both ends by Hamilton, who was the major key to the Pistons' wrapping up of Orlando in 5 the last round. Maybe the C's will counter by moving Pierce onto Hamilton, but the Pistons win here.

Small Forward: After more than holding his own with LeBron, Pierce faces a different challenge with Tayshaun Prince, who is a much better jump-shooter than King James was. Prince is also a better defender, and won't allow Pierce the space to shoot those jumpers he hit today. Pierce should (and probably will) counter with more drives to the hole, and that will balance things out.

Power Forward: Did you notice that P.J. Brown scored ten points today? Unlike Cassell, Brown has helped a lot in terms of adding toughness and leadership to the front line. Still, all things here begin with Garnett, and the task of defending him will fall to Jason Maxiell and Antonio McDyess. I say let Maxiell be the starter and body him early, then bring in McDyess to take advantage of backups Leon Powe and Glen Davis; he can be a more effective scorer that way.

Center: The biggest key of this series. Why? Rasheed Wallace has the potential to dominate young Kendrick Perkins, who is suseptible to early foul trouble. But it depends on Rasheed's willingness to play a little more on the block; if he's content to hoist awful threes, consider this a wash.

Coaches: This may be the first playoff series where the coaches will have little impact on the series. Niether Rivers nor Flip Saunders is an elite X's-and-O's coach, so it depends on if Rivers sticks with House over Cassell, and if Saunders can stay out of the way of his team.

Prediction: The Celts will win game one because the Pistons are rusty. Then, Detroit wins game 2 (yeah, they'll end the C's home court winning streak). Then, they'll take game 3, but Boston will fight back to win games 4 & 5. The Pistons win game 6, forcing yet another game seven in Boston. Only this time, Billups and Hamilton have big games, and The Pistons win the series in seven games.

Note: I am not homering here; the C's need to win on the road,, and the Pistons aren't a one-man gang (Cleveland) or a weak team (Atlanta). They should win in seven.

At the beginning of every NBA season, you hear commentators say "This team needs home court advantage to win in the playoffs. That refrain is heard all through the season. And usually, those guys are right. However, what's going on in round 2 of the playoffs makes me wonder if homecourt is the only way teams can win in this round.

Including last night's games, the home team is an incredible 19-1 in round 2. Only the Pistons in game 4 of their series with Orlando, and the final score was 90-89! The Celtics, the team with the best regular season record, are winless in five road playoff games (by the way, the last team to make the Finals without a road victory in the playoffs was the 1963 Lakers, and they only played one playoff series to get there). How has homecourt suddenly become unstoppable?

With that in mind, here are some possible solutions to allow the road team a chance to win at least once in the games coming up:

Have Robert Horry hipcheck someone (Chris Paul) into the boards, forcing a benched David West and Tyson Chandler to get off the bench, leading to their one-game suspension for game 7 in New Orleans: Hey, it worked against Phoenix, didn't it?

Have Joe Crawford re####ame with Tim Duncan, then allow them to really fight: Crawford would give the stoic Duncan a war, but the smart money is on Duncan.

Have DeDoNothing Stevenson badmouth one of the road teams' best players and call them overrated before the game: It made LeBron want to knock out the Wizards, and I found a way to keep my nickname in the news.

Warn the Hornets, Lakers and Celtics the 'consequences' of another Spurs-Pistons Finals matchup: That thought, in Stern's mind, is scarier than the 'Saw' series! He'll threaten the Lakers with a Kobe trade if they fail to make it!

Tell the remaining teams if they fail to win on the road, some of the players will be traded to the Knicks!: A fate worse than death, perhaps? They'll play their butts off to win then!

Have Tony Romo sing for the home team before their game: They'll be so frazzled, they won't be able to concentrate and stop the opponent!

Take the home team to watch 'Speed Racer' before the game: See above.

If they fail to win, the road team's players must watch all of Shaq's movies... without a break!: See the Knicks above.

Yeah, this may be sarcastic, but what's preventing these teams from winning A ROAD GAME? I'm not saying that every win should be on the road, but a figure closer to round 1's figure (7 of 10 wins by the home team) would do. What makes these games so hard to watch is that, for the most part, they are blowouts, and blowouts don't interest the casual fans and make diehards fall asleep, too.

So, what's your take? Does this homecourt dominance take away from the excitement of the playoffs? And what would you suggest to fix it? Let me know! Until then, may everyone run should Romo sing in front of a theater showing 'Speed Racer'!

Game one of the second Eastern Conference Finals was a brutal a game as one will ever witness, as the Celtics outslopped the Cavaliers 76-72 to win, er, survive, the game. LeBron James, who I lavished praise on after his triple-double in the closeout of Washington, almost had a quadruple-double, but not one to be praised for; 12 points on a horrific 2-18 shooting (0-5 threes), 9 boards, 9 assists, and 10 turnovers! You know things are going bad when John Starks watches at home going "When will this guy stop shooting!". And yet the Cavs only lost by four! Did either team want to win this game?

My thoughts on this game are simple; (1) Kevin Garnett showed he wanted the ball in the clutch, a good thing when you consider that Paul Pierce and Ray Allen matched LeBron with a combined 2-18 'performance' (and Allen getting a donut in a game for the first time since Feburary 1997), (2) Sam Cassell showed his importance with two big threes in the 4th, and (3) the C's defense has given up an average of 72 PPG at home in the playoffs, which would be the best of the shot-clock era. Other than that, throw this trash away!

The other big story was Kobe winning the MVP (even though we knew this well in advance). Kobe edged Chris Paul by about 300 points (the order was Kobe, Paul, Garnett, LeBron and Dwight Howard). But the thing that struck me the most was the comments made by Phil Jackson, when he said that nobody deserved the MVP more (shocker!) and that nobody ever worked harder than he to earn it. Without clarification, that would indicate that even Michael Jordan didn't work as hard as Kobe. That's quite a claim to make.

Let me be clear; Kobe has one of the best (if not the best) work ethics in the NBA (or any league) today. I'd have to say few can match his competitive drive. But Jordan's drive was legendary, too. He'd fight with teammates (like Steve Kerr) in practice, but the Bulls of the 1990s would have been nothing without Jordan's drive to win (and some help from Scottie Pippen). And who was his coach? Phil Jackson! How could Phil forget so soon?

And doesn't this praise of Kobe seem to affirm Phil as the ultimate frontrunner? He lived off the rep he fostered with MJ in Chicago, built a similar relationship with Shaq (and kept his distance from Kobe) before Bryant had his rape trial, and Jackson further distanced himself from Kobe, leading to hsi dismissal as coach, and then to a tell-all where he ripped Kobe! Now, he loves Kobe. Can we see some consistency, Phil!

So, to conclude; the Celtics were lucky that the Cavs (and LeBron in particular) played worse than they did, and both teams need to come out with crisper play in game 2. As for Phil, one must wonder what he'll think if the Lakers win the title. "Nobody derserves it more than me, er, Kobe!". 

The Cleveland Cavaliers advanced to round two tonight by slamming the Washington Wizards 105-88 to win a playoff series against them for the third straight year. The key figure, as one might suspect, was LeBron James. James faced a lot of booing from the D.C fans (as you'd might expect), who directed their venom at him after reserve F Darius Songalia was suspended for the shot he hit LeBron with in game 5 (it looked worse than it was, frankly, but this is the NBA, where leaving the bench to help a teammate gets you a game, but grapping the jewels of someone doesn't. Go figure).

King James had the royal touch, as he scored 27 points, grabbed 13 boards, and set a career playoff high of 13 assists. Observing the game, James was content to be the distributor early on; if I may, he played similar to Michael Jordan in 1991 by not forcing the issue early. He set up his open teammates, and after a close first that saw both teams play well, the Cavs lit it up in the second and didn't look back. Wally Szezerbiak (or just plain Wally) and Daniel Gibson hit a bunch of threes, and the Cavs hit over 10 as a team in every victory in this series.

With the series over, the Cavs can now focus on round two, and with the Celtics losing tonight to Atlanta (who would have thought this series would go 7!), they'll get more rest and might have an advantage (of course, if Atlanta shocks the world in game 7, they'll have homecourt advantage!). As for the Wiz, I for one am glad DeDoNothing Stevenson is gone; all he really accomplsihed was upsetting LeBron. The Wiz's lack of healthy depth hurt them; without Songalia and with Gilbert Arenas shutting himself down, they played only seven guys before the game was put out of reach.

Can LeBron lead the Cavs to the Finals again? It's possible, but highly unlikely (Orlando or Detroit can beat them, but didn't we say that last year, too?). Still, for a guy who heard all the talk about he can't do this or he can't do that, and for all the obnoxious fans who wore "Crybaby" shirts, LeBron shut them all up. And he also showed that he can carry a less than stellar supporting cast (despite what Skip Bayless says) farther than most stars could have. So, congrats, LeBron. And thanks for getting DeDoNothing to, well, dedonothing!

Since I've spent a considerable amount of time this weekend to study for my French final today (Parle vous francais!), here are some random NBA thoughts from the weekend:

Cavs win at the buzzer: Once again, DeDoNothing Stevenson and Agent Zero's words come back to haunt them. When will athletes learn that they shouldn't upset the great players? LeBron didn't hit the game winner, but he made the plays when it counted, and that's the reason the Cavs are up 3-1 and likely to finish the series in 5.

Pistons win to even series: I've made two Pistons bashing blogs recently, and since I didn't watch game 4, I'll just say the Pistons needed the win, and hopefully, this will spring them to a series win. But, as always, we'll see if their motivation stays with them.

Spurs get clobbered in Phoenix: This was as ugly a game as you'll ever see from the Spurs. Everything that worked perfectly in game 3 didn't in number 4. Maybe they just took it easy knowing that nobody comes back from 3-0. Let me remind you that the Pistons did the same thing last year against the Bulls, and it may have cost them against LeBron. Let's hope S.A. finishes the deal in 5.

Lakers go for the sweep: Seems ironic that Kobe will win his first playoff series since 2004 in Colorado, where many of his problems began. The Nuggets "defense is optional" play hurt them against a team that can play both ends, and when they get swept, let the catfights (AI vs Melo, AI & Melo vs Karl) begin.

Hawks win first playoff game since 1999: To give you an idea of how long that is, consider this; they beat the Pistons that game, and the starting five was Mookie Blaylock, Steve Smith, Tyrone Corbin, LaPhonso Ellis and Dikembe Mutombo. Nice to see the Hawks manage to avoid the sweep. But this may inspire the C's to start rolling again, so look out!

Houston on the brink of elimination: What a surprise. And to all you Rockets people who cried when I said in February that they wouldn't win a playoff series, I'm not the one to say... oh, never mind. This series did give us the quote of the series, when Tracy McGrady took the blame for everything (The Suns being down 3-0, people getting Budweiser instead of fancy beer), but without Yao to match up, they had no chance. And McGrady will now be 0-8 in 1st round series. What a waste.

Well, there are the thoughts. Hopefully, after today, I'll be able to watch the playoffs uninterrupted. Until then, au revior!

Tonight, the Spurs attempt to sweep the Cavs in an anticlimatic final series. When they do so, it will be their fourth title in nine years. What bothers me is the recent barrage of commentators calling them a legitimate dynasty. I just don't see it that way. The terms of what is considered a dynasty must have changed since I last saw them. To me, a dynasty is a team that consistently is a champion or lords over their sport (think Yankees) in such a way that they are always in the hunt for a title. The Spurs have been consistently good (they have never missed the playoffs in consecutive years and have won at least 53 games every full season since 1998) but have they been the preeminent team? The biggest strike against the dynasty argument is that they never won back-to-back titles during this run. Every NBA team that was a legit dynasty (the '50's Lakers, the '60's Celtics, the '80's Lakers, the '90's Bulls, and to a degree, this decade's Lakers) had at least two in a row during their run. Four titles in nine years still means you've won less than half of the titles during your run. Let's wait until the '08 Finals; if they win there, then they are a dynasty. Strike two: who did they beat? They didn't beat the Kobe-Shaq Lakers during their run on top in the West Finals; they beat a selfish Portland team (1999), a young Dallas team (2003), a green Phoenix team (2005) and got a big assist from Commissioner Stern to get a free pass to a young Utah team this year. That's not even the Finals, where they faced an injured Knicks team (1999), a small Nets team (2003), the Pistons with a defensive blunder by Rasheed Wallace (2005) and the Cadavers, er, LeBrons, er, Cavs here. The competiton was either too young, too unwatchable, too hurt, or a combo of both, and they took advantage. That's not what a dynasty does; The Lakers of the '80's had the Celtics to deal with, and those battles were classics that defined the league. In a way, the Spurs define the league today as well; their boring, roughhouse, walk it up as much as possible style (if it is a style) wins games, but drags the quality of play down as well. Even their coach, Gregg Popovich, admitted their win on Tuesday "sent the league back ten years". That's not the way a dynystic team should win by. Bottom line: the Spurs are a solid team that could be a legit dynasty if they win next year and make it five out of ten. Until then, stop with the dynasty talk!

In what has to be among the most disgusting to watch games in NBA history (not just finals history) the Spurs beat the Cadavers, er, Cavaliers 75-72 in the second lowest scoring game in the shot clock era (post 1954) to take an almost impossible to overcome 3-0 lead. While the Spurs should wrap it up on Thursday and be annointed a dynasty (I still think they need to win next year to confirm it, because the 1999 title holds no water coming in the lockout), this series should be quickly forgotten, not unlike Rocky V. I have sat through most of this series, and all I've seen are a lot of missed shots, a lot of blocks, stars in foul trouble (even Duncan isn't immune), and last night, a plethora of missed threes. Is it any wonder these finals are the worst rated ever? It's like the '99 Finals all over again, with Cleveland playing New York and the Spurs playing, well, the Spurs; it's dreadful to observe this without throwing up. So, how can this problem be solved? How can the Finals be saved, and the NBA game for that matter? I'm all for finding solutions, so here goes...

1. Reseed the playoffs in each round: This solution has been raised recently, but Dictator,er, Commissioner Stern has shot it down. What's the problem with persenting the best possible matchup every round? Major League Baseball, the NFL, and the NHL do it, and while hockey gets no ratings, it does produce fewer flukey champs. The NBA is the only sports league of the big 3 to not do this, and it has been disasterous the last two years out west, where the real conference finals have been in round 2 (Dallas-San Antonio last year and Phoenix-SA this year), rendering the actual conference finals useless. It's time for a change. You don't even have to seed based on record: simply reseed each conference. The pain of bad matchups is lessened instantly.

2. Don't have every game in prime time: This one may be impossible to do given the amount of cash invested here (the networks, in this case ABC-ESPN, need to justify the rights fees) but move a couple of games to the afternoon. Two reasons: 1. There would be less competition there; 2. presumably, more people would be home to watch. Remember, even during the peak years of the finals in the late 80's, some games were on in the afternoon. What's the problem with doing it now? If you're worried that the precious soap operas would be disrupted, put the afternoon games on during the weekend. Problem solved!

3. Reduce shot clock to 18 seconds: You know what slows this game down? Playing around with the ball. Dribbling for days, it seems, until you take a poor shot at the buzzer. Well, give them less time to play around. With 18 seconds, once they've crossed the mid-court line, they'll have maye ten seconds or so to make up their mind. More shots should equal more scoring. Which goes in line with...

4. Extend the 3-point line: During last night's game, particuarly at the beginning of the fourth, threes were launched in droves. The FIRST SIX SHOTS were threes! Makes threes longer to reduce the number of them taken during the game. The Showtime Lakers didn't shoot threes in droves, and they still scored! Added siderule; the corner three (aka Bruce Bowen's favorite shot) is now worth two points: that's not a three to me!

5. Make incoming players prove they can shoot a jumper: This is in response to criticism of LeBron James, primarily that he can't shoot well from the outside. In fact, many players can't shoot well, either. They go for the SportsCenter dunks and ignore the rest of the game. Well, I'd say outlaw dunking in college! They did in the 60's and 70's, and they didn't hurt those players' games; it made Kareem perfect his skyhook! Why do you think America struggles in international competition?

Well, there's my partial list (more to come later, when I think of it). Is there anything I missed? Or do you disagree with my suggestions? I'm not perfect; I just want to see good basketball.

 

After watching the first two finals games, both of which the Spurs won without too much trouble (despite Cleveland's run at the end of game 2), I remembered what I said to my friend earlier in the day; "San Antonio is playing their last game at home tonight because they'll wrap it up in Cleveland". Then I wondered: are the Cavs the most overmatched team in NBA Finals history? You have to look back at 60 years of history and be fair to the past, but was there a team with less individual talent than Cleveland? Perhaps not (beyond LeBron and Daniel Gibson, who's left?), but there have been instances where certain teams have been overmatched in the Finals. Such as:

2002 Nets: Honestly, did anyone expect the Nets to challenge the Lakers that year? Frankly, the fact they even made the Finals was a victory in itself. When Todd McCullogh, or whatever his name was, is guarding Shaq, you lose. Period.

1999 Knicks: Yes, they did struggle in a lockout year, and yes, they had Houston and Sprewell, but without Patrick Ewing, you knew they would lose (come on: Chris Dudley on Duncan?!?!). This was undoubtfuly one of the worst finals because both teams treated scoring like a contagious disease: they didn't want it. But New York had no chance to win.

1981 Rockets: You could make a case for both Houston finalists in the 80's, but at least the '86 Rockets had the Twin Towers. The '81 version had Moses Malone... and future coach and bench warmer Rudy Tomjanovich, who barely played. And that undermanned crew (the last losing record team to reach the Finals- they were 40-42) faced a Celtic team with Larry Bird, McHale, Parish, Cedric Maxwell, Nate Archibald, etc. The fact they took Boston to six was amazing.

1971 Bullets: Here's an obscure team; they were still in Baltimore at this time. They beat Philadlephia in round one, then stunned the defending champion Knicks in seven in the Eastern finals. In the process, however, they lost Earl Monroe and Gus Johnson to injuries, not to mention Wes Unseld was hurt. Combine that with facing a young Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Milwaukee Bucks, it's no wonder they were swept.

1959 Lakers: Here's an even more obscure team: they were still in Minneapolis here! Led by rookie Elgin Baylor, they finished 33-39, then beat Detroit and St. Louis to reach the finals. Alas, they were swep by Boston, beginning two runs: the first of eight straight titles for Boston, and the first of eight straight finals victories over the Lakers (which ended in 1985). Baylor would never win a title.

The Cavs probably won't get swept, but a five game series is more likely. They simply don't have the talent and savvy to stop a well-oiled Spurs machine. But are they the most overmatched? I'd say yes for one reason; LeBron hasn't played like he has to. Only if LeBron can go off in Cleveland (highly unlikely) can the Cavs win a game (I say the Spurs will win this series, no matter what happens). Do you agree? Or is there a team that was even more overmatched? You decide!

Sorry for not posting recently, I've had issues to deal with at home and couldn't get to a computer. Now then: The Finals are here, a matchup of perhaps the league's most consistently good (but boring, we'll discuss that later) versus the league's best one man gang for all the marbles. San Antonio vs Cleveland has the potential to be two different things; a hard fought, six or even seven game series, or a total mismatch over in five. The key, of course, is King James, the engine of the Cleveland attack. If LeBron can keep the Spurs' superior (to Detroit, at least) defense, and if the shooters like Daniel Gibson and others can hit the shots like against the Pistons, this will be an exciting series. If the Spurs can attack the Cavs' front line like they did against the Jazz and Suns (i.e Ginobili, Parker, etc. driving to the rack), the Spurs should dominate. Either way, the Spurs should win this series. Which gets me to the boring part. The Spurs are perceived as boring because they usually don't crave the spotlight the way other teams/players do. You know why? Because all they care about is winning! Look at the statistics; the Spurs have NEVER, even in their ABA history, missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, something the great teams of all sports (Lakers, Celtics, Yankees, Red Sox, etc.) can claim, and if (or maybe when) they win their 4th title since 1999, they can finally get their due as one of the best teams ever. I won't call them a dynasty (I believe you should win back-to-back at least once to be a dynasty) but they are the team of the decade right now, and debate would be limited futher when they win their third of the decade here (tying the Lakers in the lead). There is a second reason they are 'boring'; the league only promotes stars who act like stars (i.e divas). Why did the league jump out of their seats when Cleveland won? Because a star got into the ball! Now, instead of "Just great: another Pistons-Spurs final. Yawn.", it's "Awesome! LeBron against  the Spurs! Let's watch!". It's been that way since the beginning of the league, and things haven't changed much in sixty years. The NBA doesn't promote great teams unless they have stars; Magic's Lakers, Bird's Celtics, Michael's Bulls, just to name a few. Tim Duncan, for all he's accomplished in his career, doesn't inspire enough for the NBA to promote him, and thus the Spurs are seen as boring. Well, tell that to the San Antonio fans when they celebrate their 4th title at King James' expense!

Last night, the LeBron James show destroyed the Detroit Pistons en route to giving the Cavaliers a 3-2 series lead and putting Detroit into a must win in Cleveland on Saturday night. What was more amazing than the game (easily the best of either conference final) was LeBron's performance in the fourth quarter and the overtimes. He scored 29 of Cleveland's last 30 points and finished with a playoff career high (and Cavs playoff record) 48 points. My question is simple; why didn't Detroit foul him and send him to shoot free throws? Granted, he's shooting 78% in the playoffs, but he missed several down the stretch! Why not take your chances there? Especially if you claim to be tough defensively, like Detroit. Here's where Ben Wallace's absence hurts the Pistons; last year, LeBron and company were reluctant to drive to the rack with Ben there to block or alter shots. This year, with no Ben, and soft interior defenders like Webber and Rasheed Wallace, LeBron had no fear of driving hard and scoring at will in the paint. About three or four times, including the game-winning layup with two seconds left, LeBron had dunks. And the Pistons refused to foul! If you prefer to look at things from a glass half-full perspective, the Pistons lost game 5 of round two last year to the Cavs to trail 3-2, and then won the next two to take the series. I'd rather look at the glass half-empty perspective; the Cavs are a different team than the one who lost last year. They are more confident and realize they don't want to return to the Palace for game seven on Monday night. And most importanly, LeBron ha slearned how to finish games. He's learned when to shoot and when to pass, making him even more unpredictable. So Cleveland should take game six and make their first NBA final (good luck trying to beat the Spurs). And Detroit will probably break up this outfit and start building for the future. One closing thought; you think David Stern was leaping out of his seat when Cleveland won? He must be thrilled that the Finals can be salvaged! Amazing how things can change late, huh?

Tonight, the NBA's best uninspired team will try to reclaim control of the Eastern Conference finals when the Pistons play the Cavs in the pivitol fifth game at the Palace. For all the talent and unselfishness the Pistons can display, they also display a stunning lack of eagerness to put inferior teams away. Against Chicago, they allowed the Bulls to win twice in blowouts, but they could afford that being up 3-0. Now, after two games, they did the exact same to Cleveland, and instead of last rites, the Cavs were injected with confidence that not only could they, but they will beat Detroit. Now the series is tied, yet the Pistons remained unimpressed. Just ask Rasheed Wallace, who, while not guaranSheeding a victory, basically wrote off the Cavs wins as an aberration and that the Pistons would play better tonight. Hell, how can you be so sure, after yukking it up with Cavs fans in game 3, you threw your jersey against the wall in anger after game 4? The Pistons never learned their lesson from last year i.e don't add extra work if you can help it. Now, while the Spurs ready themselves for the Finals, the Pistons must play at least two, mybe three more, games to win their conference title, and even that's not assured. Tonight's game is critical for both teams; Detroit must win to avoid a frenzied crowd in Cleveland in an elimination game, not to mention that they could coast again and have game 7 at home, and Cleveland must win to have any shot at winning the series, beacuse they won't win game 7 at the Palace. That being said, who do I think is going to win? Before I say, I live in Detroit, and the Pistons have the better team. So I pick... Cleveland! The Cavs will win game five because LeBron James has figured out how to win in crunch time, and the Billups-Hamilton backcourt continues to struggle. I think the Cavs will win a defensive struggle (a score in the mid to low 80s at best) and set themselves for the clincher at home. We'll see then if LeBron can take the next step and make the Finals. Maybe then the Pistons can learn to not take their opponents lightly!

The NBA playoffs continue tonight with game 4 between the Spurs and Jazz (another must-win for the Jazz), but before I delve into that, lets look back at the previous night's Cavs-Pistons game. Being a Detroit resident, I watched the local news stations promote this game, and one of their reporters said that a Piston win was practically a given. What struck me as odd was he also said "The Pistons have learned from the past not to take the Cavs lightly, and they should win tonight.". Well, they didn't get the job done, and even more dangerously, they have given LeBron James confidence that he can take (and make) the clutch shots at the end. Witness his posterizing dunk on Rasheed Wallace, his big three pointer, and the clinching jumper that had Rasheed wondering if he should stay with his man or help out on LeBron. I'm not saying the series is going to shift (Detroit should win) but they don't seem to take very seriously any team until they have to. Think of it like the Lakers ealier in the decade; the Pistons flip the switch only when it humors them. Remember last year as well; they blew a 2-0 lead against this same team, letting them win three straight, before winning the last two. You know what they say; play with fire, you'll eventually get burned. As for tonight's game, it hinges on the status of Jazz PG Deron Williams, who missed practice with a stomach ailment yesterday. Williams was the key guy in Utah's blowout win the other night, and the offense will surely suffer if he can't play, since Derek Fisher has been the two-guard in his offense, and if he has to shift, Gordon Giricek would be forced to start (a scary proposition). Looking at it objectively, Tim Duncan probably won't have another off game, and I've seen Memhet Okur in action; he is not consistent on defense. Duncan will have a good game, and Tony Parker will likely challenge Williams (if he plays) or Fisher with his drives to the hoop, and I see the Spurs winning tonight, then finishing the Jazz off in game 5. Getting back to Detroit, they probably will jack off game 4, then kick it back into gear at the Palace in their game 5. The Pistons win the series in 6, then the world can yawn at another Spurs-Pistons final. Gives you thrills, doesn't it? Oh well, at least it beats the lame finals in hockey and yesterday's Indy 415, er, 500, huh?

I had been posting blogs about the NBA playoffs round by round in recent weeks, predicting the winners (for the record, I was perfect as far as who would make it to round three) but I didn't do it this week. Why? Because these series lack any excitement to them. The Cavs-Pistons series has been particularly dreadful to watch; identical 79-76 scores, horrific shooting, and the only glimmer of intrigue is the non-call of Richard Hamilton on LeBron James (I say he wasn't fouled). I fell asleep in each contest before halftime, and haven't regretted it a bit, despite being a basketball nut. The Spurs-Jazz Western Finals isn't as bad in terms of gameplay, but as for drama, we all know this is the consolation Finals being held; the previous series with the Suns was the real Western Finals. The Spurs have this series so wrapped up, they can arrange the time to send David Stern and Stu Jackson a gift basket for handing them the Suns series (and give Robert Horry a raise for "taking one for the team!"). These series only prolong and delay the inevitable: a Spurs-Pistons disaster (and I'm from Detroit!). It isn't bad enough that Oden AND Durant are stuck in the Pacific Northeast, now we must endure slow, low quality ball play. Can't we make a rule that boring good teams must sell off their talent after three years and give them to the more appealing teams? What must it take to get some fun back in these playoffs? Sorry, I must return to bed now. I've got the perfect sleeping pill: Cavs-Pistons game three!

Here we are, four years after the celebrated debut of two very talentes prodigys entered the NBA, and still we debate who truely is the best of the best. Is it the man who became a multi-millionaire before he stepped into the pros, or the man who won a NCAA title before jumping the next year? Well, in my humble opinion, LeBron wins... by default. You really can't compare two guys who are in completely different situations. Carmelo has been placed in the much tougher conference and thus has to fight just to get into the playoffs, but shouldn't that mean LeBron should have been a perennial contender in the East? You can make the argument that LeBron's cast is weak, and there is truth to that. But look at the Nuggets. Aside from an aging (and attempting to defer) AI, Marcus Camby, and maybe Nene (did I just say that?), Carmelo's team isn't a whole lot better. So lets look at it from their style of play. LeBron's game is still incomplete even today. His jumper, especially from three, is shaky, and his free throw shooting makes you cringe. But there aren't many better at slashing to the rack and jamming it home. And he does attempt to involve his lesser talented teammates. Carmelo's game is primarily about scoring. His rebounding and passing aren't quite his forte, and the so-called solution of him and AI teaming up has produce a so-so record. And to cap it off, LeBron, in two fewer appearences, has won more playoff series than Carmelo (albeit by a 1-0 score) So I'd say LeBron wins until Carmelo shows he can lead a team to victory. Period.