General

The NBA Finals Are NOT Fixed

May 27, 2008, 3:50 PM UTC

â†µFor the record, I now know exactly who “Kaiser” is, and no, I wasn’t suggesting the Celtics owner actually doesn’t know where Boston and Cleveland are. Just that’s it’s silly to even use that language, or for a city to pretend it hasn’t become the villain.â†µ

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â†µâ†µHere’s my revelation for the day: This year should once and for all dispel any fears that the NBA is fixed. Even more so than the presence of the Pistons or Spurs in the Finals. Like, there’s almost no reason to watch these games until numero seven. I know that’s pessimistic, and there have been exceptions. Hell, for a brief moment, back-to-back wins by the road teams in the East seemed to flip the entire universe on its head. Then with last night, Boston came back to earth, and failed to toss a dagger Detroit’s way when they really, really could have. When, frankly, the conference’s best team really should have.â†µ

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â†µâ†µDetroit hit the ground running, flummoxing the Celtics. Then they tapered off, but Boston just couldn’t get over the proverbial hump. Oh, and it didn’t help that everyone in green played like crap. There’s a word for this: UNINSPIRED. It also pushes things toward that inevitable game seven, which isn’t dramatic—it turns the playoffs into a huge was of time. Either Stern is going feeble in his old age, or he left his drunken nephew at the controls of conspiracy. Because as a scripted post-season, this has been an utter disaster. This despite most of the right teams advancing.â†µ

â†µâ†µAnd then with the Spurs. I know, Manu was hurt. But there’s something unmistakably coy about San Antonio waiting till the last minute to win on the road. Lazy, smug, whatever. It undercuts the very idea of roller-coaster series, the kind that makes viewers tune in. Yes, this is between the West’s two best teams. But if San Antonio wins tonight, and we go even at 2-2, this is just like every other round. And with that, even the die-hards will start to turn away until someone wins on the road. â†µ

â†µâ†µSo Stern, get it together. Or super-charge Rodney Stuckey, so that he might be the x-factor that puts the Pistons over the top in convincing—and newsworthy—fashion.â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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