Armchair Quarterback: NBA — How the west will win
Wait a minute. The last time I heard, the east wasn’t supposed to be able to compete with the west in basketball.
It’s been a steadfast rule that since the break-up of the immortal Michael Jordan Bulls, the east has simply presented no more than a bump in the road for western conference champion to hoist the championship banner in their rafters. If you’ll look back the past four years since the Bulls break-up, the Lakers have won three in a row and before that it was the San Antonio Spurs.
Given last year’s debacle in the finals, it was hard to give the New Jersey Nets much of a chance going into their series against league MVP Tim Duncan and the Spurs, even with the Nets’ long playoff winning streak. After all, the Lakers swept them last year.
However, surprise, surprise, we may just have a finals worth watching after all. Behind a 30-point performance by Jason Kidd, who at times seemed to be defying gravity Friday night, making ankle breaking moves which left the Spurs defense looking silly, the Nets may be legitimate contenders heading back to their home confines today.
Granted, the Nets will have to play near flawless ball down the stretch since it’s a given that Duncan will get him touches. But, such play is not above the Nets who have benefited from inspired ball being played by Kenyon Martin who appears to have flubber on the bottom of his shoes lately.
One key may be how the Nets use old veteran Dikembe Mutombo, a giant who disappeared on the Nets bench this year. While he doesn’t really have offensive play making abilities at 36 years of age, he is still one of the tallest men in the game and is one of the few people Duncan has to look up to. His presence down low may at least make Duncan think before he shoots.
Of course, the Nets will have to stake their future on Kidd’s continued success. His disappearing act in game one contributed to a Spurs blow out. Friday night; however, he got the better of his Spurs counterpart Tony Parker. This matchup is especially interesting given rumors Kidd may make a jump to the Spurs line up next year since he becomes a free agent at the end of this season. Playing opposite the man who may take his job next year, Parker has more than enough reason to step up his play.
For the Spurs, the play of retiring admiral and former league MVP David Robinson may prove the key. It’s important the Spurs exploit their inside advantage, more so than what they’ve done in the first two games.
While the Spurs probably have the better of the two teams on paper, they must remember they have technically lost homefield advantage they are now traveling to New Jersey for three games. However, it should be noted that since the advent of the 2-3-2 series in the NBA, no home team has won all three games. Only one team, the Detroit Pistons, have swept the three middle games in the finals, and that was on the road against the Portland Trailblazers a long time ago.
So, who wins the series? I’ve got to give that nod to the Spurs since I believe they will be able to win one, maybe two games this week up north and send it back to the SBC Center. The reason for this is because to win the Nets have to play near perfect ball while, for the Spurs, a regular performance can give them a win. It’s hard to be at the top of your game for an entire seven-game series.