NBA Finals start Thursday night in San Antonio
The NBA Finals have been set, as the Western Conference will be represented by the San Antonio Spurs while the Cleveland Cavaliers have emerged from the Eastern Conference. This will be the Cavaliers? first trip to the NBA Finals, while the Spurs are going for their fourth championship in nine seasons. This is a classic battle of the old guard versus the new, and it should be intriguing.
The Cavaliers got past the Detroit Pistons in six games behind an extraordinary effort from LeBron James, whose 48-point performance in Game 5 at Detroit was the stuff of which legends are made. Granted, he got lots of support from seldom-used Daniel Gibson, who filled in admirably for the injured Larry Hughes, but the Detroit series was all about James.
The Cavaliers will need a similar effort from James against the Spurs, and such an effort seems well within the realm of possibility. As good a perimeter defender as San Antonio?s Bruce Bowen is, he is going to have his hands full with the combination of quickness and power James possesses. Add to that the fact that James is one of the NBA?s best passers, and you have the blueprint for Cleveland?s success. The role players will have to play even better for Cleveland, especially Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Drew Gooden. These players are likely to be tasked with guarding Spurs star Tim Duncan, and they will have to make him work at both ends of the court.
The Spurs have enjoyed a small break after their five-game destruction of the Utah Jazz, and it was welcomed after their grueling battle with the Phoenix Suns. The Spurs showed their experience in the Utah series during their Game 3 pounding at the hands of the Jazz. San Antonio had just dominated two games at home, and the young Jazz rode their adrenaline to a blowout victory. Instead of forcing the issue, the Spurs let Utah wear themselves out, and shut them down over the last two games of the series. Duncan was a force in the post as always, and bringing Manu Ginobili off the bench gives the Spurs great balance.
Cleveland coach Mike Brown is a disciple of his San Antonio counterpart Gregg Popovich, and this shapes up to be an interesting matchup of defensive strategies. Popovich will have to find a way to stop James, while Brown will be building his plans around controlling Duncan. The Spurs? wealth of experience makes them the favorites to win the series at -485 odds at BetJamaica, but James and the Cavs are an appealing dog at +385.
Tip-off for Game 1 is Thursday night at 9:05 pm ET, with San Antonio listed as 7.5-point faves at BetJamaica to win the series opener at home.
The NBA Finals have been set, as the Western Conference will be represented by the San Antonio Spurs while the Cleveland Cavaliers have emerged from the Eastern Conference. This will be the Cavaliers? first trip to the NBA Finals, while the Spurs are going for their fourth championship in nine seasons. This is a classic battle of the old guard versus the new, and it should be intriguing.
The Cavaliers got past the Detroit Pistons in six games behind an extraordinary effort from LeBron James, whose 48-point performance in Game 5 at Detroit was the stuff of which legends are made. Granted, he got lots of support from seldom-used Daniel Gibson, who filled in admirably for the injured Larry Hughes, but the Detroit series was all about James.
The Cavaliers will need a similar effort from James against the Spurs, and such an effort seems well within the realm of possibility. As good a perimeter defender as San Antonio?s Bruce Bowen is, he is going to have his hands full with the combination of quickness and power James possesses. Add to that the fact that James is one of the NBA?s best passers, and you have the blueprint for Cleveland?s success. The role players will have to play even better for Cleveland, especially Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Drew Gooden. These players are likely to be tasked with guarding Spurs star Tim Duncan, and they will have to make him work at both ends of the court.
The Spurs have enjoyed a small break after their five-game destruction of the Utah Jazz, and it was welcomed after their grueling battle with the Phoenix Suns. The Spurs showed their experience in the Utah series during their Game 3 pounding at the hands of the Jazz. San Antonio had just dominated two games at home, and the young Jazz rode their adrenaline to a blowout victory. Instead of forcing the issue, the Spurs let Utah wear themselves out, and shut them down over the last two games of the series. Duncan was a force in the post as always, and bringing Manu Ginobili off the bench gives the Spurs great balance.
Cleveland coach Mike Brown is a disciple of his San Antonio counterpart Gregg Popovich, and this shapes up to be an interesting matchup of defensive strategies. Popovich will have to find a way to stop James, while Brown will be building his plans around controlling Duncan. The Spurs? wealth of experience makes them the favorites to win the series at -485 odds at BetJamaica, but James and the Cavs are an appealing dog at +385.
Tip-off for Game 1 is Thursday night at 9:05 pm ET, with San Antonio listed as 7.5-point faves at BetJamaica to win the series opener at home.
