It’s not magic (or magnets), David Blaine. The Spurs are headed to the NBA Finals.
I ran across this ad on a non-sports related website yesterday afternoon.
If I were a conspiracy theorist, I might say that the NBA has been planning on a Spurs-Pistons Finals ever since the Mavericks and Heat were eliminated. But if the fix is in, I don’t get it. Isn’t this the matchup that no one wanted?
Matt Steinmetz writes:
No doubt, ABC executives and casual basketball fans are dreading what looks to be inevitable: A San Antonio Spurs-Detroit Pistons NBA Finals.
The scouting report on the Spurs says they have a dominant but boring superstar and a methodical and plodding style of play. The report on the Pistons is even worse — a team with no superstars and a defense-first mentality.
Not exactly a Bird-Magic Finals.
Making this potential matchup even tougher to swallow was the excitement that the Phoenix Suns and Warriors created in the playoffs, displaying wide-open, fastbreaking styles that contrasted with just about every other team out there.
Let me be clear — we here at SpursDynasty always believed that the Spurs would make another title run this year, and redeem themselves for their game seven loss to the Mavericks last year. I, for one, would love to see a Spurs-Pistons rematch, so that the Spurs can finally silence those Pistons fans who thought they were robbed in 2005.
But now that the Cavaliers have tied the Pistons at two games a piece, after barely losing the first two in Detroit, it looks like LeBron James has a legitimate shot at making it to the Finals. It would be an interesting matchup. The Cavaliers beat the Spurs in both of their games this season, and Cavs Coach Mike Brown is one of Coach Popovich’s proteges.
Wouldn’t the league relish a chance at showcasing King James?
So why is a Spurs-Pistons Final inevitable, so much so that the NBA would feature Tim Duncan and Chauncey Billups in their ads? It’s hard for me to believe that this is what David Stern wants. And we know from past experience that Stern gets his way too often.
