A perfectly appropriate line for two perfectly appropriate playoff series.  There's a point towards the end of "The Matrix" where the agent has Keanu Reeves in an inescapable, stranglehold.  With an oncoming subway train careening rapidly towards them, it looks as if Neo's goose is cooked...  until he realizes he's the chosen one, and uses his special powers to thwart his enemy, rendering him useless.

Sound familiar?

The Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs, the league's last two world champions, both on the brink of elimination and facing hostile road environments, did their best Neo impressions, pulling rabbits out of their hats and forcing respective Game 7's.

Did anyone honestly expect the Cavs to come away with a series victory against the NBA's Fab Five?  Even Cavalier fans were skeptical, having been burnt by the greats before (insert Craig Ehlo reference here), wondering how their team would come to give this series away.  The closest the Cavs have been to advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals is in the computer-generated Gatorade commercial where Michael Jordan MISSES the jump shot over Ehlo.  And it now appears that the Spurs clearly have Dallas' number once again.  Jason Terry or no Jason Terry, San Antonio was not to be denied on Friday night, as Dirk Nowitzki, Mark Cuban and Avery Johnson now go back to the drawing board.

But it's too late.  The champs have that supreme, psychological advantage over their challengers going into Games Seven, not to mention home court advantage.  Once again, the sound of inevitability rings loudly in Cleveland and Dallas.