We should know tonight whether the Spurs will face the Cavaliers or the Pistons in the NBA Finals. Either King James holds court at home and it’s over, or the Pistons win and drag the boy-King back to the Palace for game seven. Call me crazy, but I still think the Pistons will win in seven.
Before LeBron’s epic performance on Thursday night, I thought a Spurs-Pistons Final was inevitable. Now even diehard Pistons fans, like my friend Joe who I just spoke to, have all but given up hope of a comeback.
I asked Joe, why do you think the Cavs will prevail tonight? “It’s in Cleveland. The Pistons look tired and now I’m thinking they were lucky to win the first two game. Unless they figure out how to slow down LeBron, they just can’t win.”
I’ve been looking forward to a Spurs-Pistons NBA Finals ever since the Pistons acquired Chris Webber. Back then, the Pistons were struggling at 21-16 and Chauncey Billups had missed eight games because of a calf injury. With Billups healthy again and Webber in the lineup, they finished at 32-13 and the #1 seed in the East.
I couldn’t help but think we might get a rematch of the 2005 Finals. Going into the playoffs, my only worries were getting past the Suns and the Mavericks. David Stern helped with the former and the Golden State Warriors took care of the latter.
Now that June has finally come, like every other Spurs fan, I wait and wonder, who’s got next? Ask the oddsmakers and they’ll say it doesn’t matter — they favor the Spurs, regardless of whether their opponent is the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Detroit Pistons. The Greek has the Spurs as -405 to win the NBA championship, while the Cavaliers are listed at +425 and the Pistons at +825. Similarly, VegasInsider now lists the Cavs at 4-1, the Pistons at 8-1 and the Spurs overwhelmingly favored at 1-4. (Too bad you didn’t place your wager when the Spurs opened at 9-2.)
Cavs? Pistons? Ultimately, it doesn’t matter that much to me. If the fans really want LeBron, they can have him. But I’d rather see the Spurs win the title in six or seven against the Pistons than in four or five games against the Cavaliers.
The Spurs will go seven days without playing before the finals begin in San Antonio on Thursday. It’s the same amount of time off the Spurs had when they entered the ’05 finals against Detroit. That series started in San Antonio as well, and the Spurs took a 2-0 lead before winning in seven.
