Conference Finals

The growth of LeBron James and the Cavaliers has continued as the Cavs in year for of the LeBron era are in their first Conference Finals in 15 years back when the Jordan ruled the NBA, and the Dream Team was all the buzz. These days it’s the solid teams and not the stars that rule the NBA as the Pistons continued to rule the East despite losing Ben Wallace. Each team has taken similar roads to the Eastern Conference Finals as the Pistons followed up a sweep of the Magic by jumping out to a 3-0 lead to beat the Bulls in six, while the Cavs who swept the Wizards beat the Nets in six after holding a 3-1 lead. Last year it was the Pistons who ended the Cavs dreams as they won their second round series in seven. Some have compared LeBron James to Michael Jordan and for the 22 year old who wears #23 there is no great compliment, but earlier in his career Jordan could not beat the Pistons either, and the same will be true this year as the Cavaliers fall in seven again.

The Mavericks are gone and the Suns were handcuffed by the NBA leaving a clear road to a fourth title in San Antonio. True they still have to beat the Jazz just to reach the finals and once there they must beat the best of the East, and if the Spurs are caught napping they can lose either series, as any team that reaches a Conference Final is worthy of at least some respect. However, this is the Spurs, and no team in the NBA is better coached or knows how to win better. Looking ahead and getting caught napping will not be an issue at all, Tim Duncan is healthy and Manu Ginobili is heating up there is no stopping the Spurs, they are the NBA Champions for 2007 they just need to win eight more games, and those eight wins will come because none of the remaining three teams are capable of beating the Spurs in best-of-seven-series. Look for the Spurs to make quick work of the Jazz as they win the series in five games and get to sit back and rest while the Cavaliers and Pistons beat up on each other for seven games in the East.