Lebron James brought his Cleveland Cavaliers back from the dead in the Eastern Conference Finals conquering a 0-2 deficit against the best defensive team and the most experienced playoff team in the Eastern Conference. Now the Cavs, a +350 underdog in Game 1 of the series at Sportsbook.com, will meet the Western Conference version of the Pistons, the San Antonio Spurs.
The Spurs are the best defensive team in the entire NBA with more playoff success than any veteran group. Will Lebron be able to breakdown another talented defense in the Finals? Jimmy Boyd’s 2007 NBA Finals Predictions will give you an inside look at the upcoming series.
It didn’t matter who the Pistons defended Lebron with, he took over games when the Cavs needed him to. We know that we can expect Bruce Bowen to defend King James in the NBA Finals. Lebron is not going to be stopped completely, but Bowen will gear his defense around forcing James to settle for jump shots. He is not nearly as effective from the perimeter. If the Spurs keep Lebron out of the paint this could be a quick series.
The emergence of Daniel Gibson in the Eastern Conference Finals was not something that the Detroit Pistons figured into the equation. He continued to feed off of the confidence James was instilling in him as the series forged on. Expert San Antonio to hit this kid in the mouth early making him a non-factor.
Lebron is really a one man show, but as we saw, it took a great defensive effort and roll players stepping up to lift the Cavs to a place they have never been before. It is evident that the Spurs have more weapons than the Cavs both inside and out. Cleveland fans will hope that their team doesn’t fall into the trap of just being happy to reach this point. If this is the case, a 4-0 sweep would not be out of the question.
Cleveland did win both meetings between these teams this season, but one can quickly argue that the regular season and the playoffs are two completely different things for this veteran Spurs team. Because of the lack of support that Lebron has around him against the best defensive team in the league, we have to take the Spurs to win this series.
We also can’t expect King James to be at his best his first time in this situation against a team which knows this stage better than any in the league right now. I think James’ greatness will show through in at least one game at home so this shouldn’t be a shutout, but the Spurs are a team who will give up 30+ to their opponents’ top scorer and shut down everyone else to still win a game.
I like the Spurs in five games, perhaps six if one close game doesn’t go there way, but this thing is not going to make it the full seven.
