NBA Playoff Recap June 3, 2005
One of the Finals teams has already been decided; San Antonio edged the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night to win the series 4-1. Despite another monster game by Amare Stoudemire, the Spurs were able to win by keeping the other players in check, particularly Quentin Richardson and Shawn Marion. A great game by Tim Duncan didn't hurt either, nor the three 3-pointers in a row the Spurs knocked down near the end of the 3rd quarter - virtually taking a tie game and leading by 8 pts seconds later (the Suns could not recover).
In the East, despite my own preference, the Miami Heat are up 3-2 on the Pistons and look to complete this series over the weekend. Is it just me, or isn't Miami basically the same team the Pistons played in the Finals last year (Shaq & company)? Why is Detroit suddenly struggling to beat them? I know there are distractions with Larry Brown rumored to be taking the President of Operations title in Cleveland, but the season isn't over yet. Detroit needs to get its **** together quick.
I already don't like the Finals, regardless of who makes it from the East. I think the slow, half-court offenses will make for a boring series with every game in the 80-90 point range. I don't think Phoenix could've scored their 109 point average in the Finals against either East team, but it still would've been entertaining.
Predicted Finals matchup - Miami vs. San Antonio