Lakers-Spurs: The real NBA Finals
It’s fabulous to see how ESPN has turned the discussion of pointless hypotheticals into an art form. If you put a hungry bear at the 50 yard line, and a kick returner at the goal line, would the returner make it to the other end of the field without getting eaten by the bear? Sounds like a job for Ocho Cinco.
No disrespect to the Pistons or Celtics, but the Lakers-Spurs is the NBA finals, the true heavyweight matchup, and the most interesting series since the Detroit-LA finals four years ago. The playoffs have been surprisingly tame and boring up to now. What about all the game 7’s you say? There’s been so many game 7’s because so many teams are playing down to expectations. Specifically, our friends the Celtics. Please stop calling them the Big 3. They’re not. They’re 3 players who’ve spent their entire careers on perennially losing teams, why would putting them together suddenly change anything. Here’s my litmus test: put the Celtics in the Western Conference, and they would have gotten blown out in the first round by the Nuggets. The Pistons will beat them in 5…6 at the most, but after losing game 2, they’ve seen their last win of this campaign. On a side note, Doc Rivers vs. Flip Saunders doesn’t inspire me to go out and do great things.
But as I predicted immediately following the Gasol trade, the Spurs and Lakers would be in Western Conference Finals, and the Lakers will go on to win it all. You have two of the greatest coaches of all time, two of the greatest players in Duncan and Kobe. Two great point guards who’ve seen their fair share of pressure. Such a great history; Fisher’s shot with 0.4 seconds left against the Spurs in ’04 to propel the Lakers into the finals.
Certain matchups seem to favor San Antonio. Duncan over Gasol, Parker over Fisher. The Spurs have the ultimate wildcard player in Manu Ginobili. LA’s wildcard is Lamar Odom. If he has a great game, San Antonio is in trouble. LA has the deeper bench. Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton can come in provide an immediate spark. Then there’s Robert Horry. How fitting would it be for Big Shot Bob to hit a game winner over the team he saved so many times. We often talk about experience winning a series. It single-handedly did for San Antonio in New Orleans in Game 7 Monday. The Hornets are clearly a great team in the making, and fast forward a few years, they would have won that game. But experience doesn’t figure as a factor for either LA or San Antonio, because there is already so much of it. Between Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich, Duncan, Kobe, Fisher, Ginobili, Parker, Horry, and Bowen, we have enough NBA rings to open a jewelry shop. There’s no gimmicks here. No halftime speeches, nothing. It’s simply a question of who is better.
I don’t expect the Spurs to go 3 for 21 in a fourth quarter again in this series. That was shocking for one of the best close out teams in the league. But alas, the Lakers have the greatest player in the game since Michael Jordan, and like he did in game 1, he is the only player in the NBA that can single-handedly carry a team on his shoulders. LeBron is good, but he’s not there yet, I’m not sure he ever will. I don’t think he wants it enough. This finals series will go 7, and it will go to LA.
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5 Responses to “Lakers-Spurs: The real NBA Finals”
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:36 pm
If the Lakers couldn’t beat the Pistons with 4 Hall of Famers in ‘04, what makes you think it’ll be so different this time around?
May 24th, 2008 at 3:03 am
Ben,
The difference is that you don’t have a Hall of Fame coach on your sideline this time. And that you can’t simply crowd the paint like you did last time, because this Laker team has consistent perimeter shooting. And when you say 4 Hall of Famers, make it clear that two of them had diminished to the point of merely being good players, and one of those good players was injured during the series.
May 26th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Nice post James! What Ben says has zero relevancy to this years series, and thanks for pointing out the inaccuracy. Spurs had a great game, but it’s only one game.
May 28th, 2008 at 3:09 am
The difference is the Lakers are much younger and deeper. Payton and Malone were 35+ in age, similar to what Ray Allen is right now.
June 8th, 2008 at 11:14 am
That’s an effective use of hyperbole. Boston was 27-5 against the Western Conference this year. That’s way better than any western conference team, and they didn’t get the luxury of playing the Sonics more than the Spurs and Hornets, respectively as some Western conference teams do.
Also, though the “big” 3 haven’t won a championship on their own teams, calling them perennial losers is kind of off, considering KG went to the playoffs 8 years in a row, same as Kobe, and he had Shaq for 6 of them. Ray Allen went to a conference final in 2001, and took 2005’s forgotten cinderella in Seattle to a 2nd-round, 6-game series with the future champs, the Spurs. Paul Pierce went to the conf final in 02 and the 2nd round in 03. They’ve all been further than T-Mac, and I wouldn’t necessarily call him a perennial loser.
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