Two Time Champion

LeBron James is now a two time Champion. For all the criticism and rough times he has been through, he might actually be on track to achieve all his goals given that he is only 28. He has already been in the league 10 years and has clearly established himself as the best player in the league. He has accumulated a bunch of MVP awards and he just clinched his second, finals MVP. He had a phenomenal game 7 tonight with 37 points and 12 boards. He shot the heat to a championship as spurs  continued to clog the lane and gave him open jumpers. That strategy worked for most of the series, but not tonight. I knew the spurs were in trouble once LeBron hit a couple of early 3's in the first half. When a player of that caliber gets in rhythm, its hard to derail him sometimes. Plus he had amazing support from Dwayne Wade, Shane Battier, and Mario Chalmers tonight. They kept nailing critical jumpers - many 3's in the case of Battier. Spurs tried their best to keep up and gave us a great game - thanks to Kawhi Leonard, but with Ginobli and Green hurting their cause more than helping and with LeBron guarding Tony Parker, it was trouble late in the game. It was a sad site to see Tim Duncan miss that 2-feet hook shot and tip on Shane Battier that could have tied the game. Not sure how the game would have gone even if he had hit that, but that miss could keep him up at night for a while. 

The spurs really lost the series in game 6. I am even surprised they were able to stay in the game today in game 7. The series got interesting in game 6 after a bunch of blowouts. The last 2 games were superb entertainment. It elevated this finals to the level of an instant classic. Of course, it took a huge collapse by the spurs in the last 30 seconds of game 6 to make this series what it has become now. Up 4 with just around 30 seconds to go and heading to the free throw line, Ginobli missed a free throw to go up by 5. LeBron missed a 3, only to get the ball again after an offensive rebound to hit another 3. Up 2, Kawhi Leonard then missed one more free throw and Ray Allen hit a game-tying, legacy saving 3 with just 5 seconds to go. This is exactly why they brought Ray Allen to town. A shot like that justifies millions in salary given what was at stake. That 3 was also after another LeBron James missed 3 and an offensive rebound - Tim Duncan was on the bench for both those rebounds. And Pop by the way also put Tony Parker on the bench later for the last possession of overtime and a late possession in tonight's game 7, the one where Ginobli turned the ball over like he has been doing all series. Questionable coaching by one of the best coaches in the league. The spurs lost game 6 more than the heat winning it. It doesn't matter. Five years from now, all of this will just be remembered as LeBron's second championship. Nobody can take that away from him and the heat. 

Game 6 was truly a game of historic proportions because of what a loss there could have meant to LeBron's legacy. He had a mediocre shooting series up to that point and the first 3 quarters of that game was brutal. He then had an amazing run in the 4-Th, but slowed down again at the end and spurs looked like they got that game locked up. He had a few bad plays in the clutch again and the twitter universe was ready to pounce on LeBron like it was 2011. Nobody's entire legacy is evaluated and critiqued with every play quite like LeBron's. Even Bill Walton jumped the gun a little early when the spurs were up 5 with less than 30 seconds to go and said something like never compare LeBron to MJ or Kobe. I guess how he feels tonight after game 7. That Ray Allen 3 saved LeBron a lot of pain. I am really curious to see how much more shine this second ring adds to LeBron. The first ring was obviously a huge relief and LeBron has recovered a lot of his reputation, but the haters are still out there - me included. I don't hate LeBron personally or want anything bad to happen to him, but I definitely don't like the way this Miami heat team has been assembled. The national media had to ease up on him after the first ring and they may start deifying him after 2. He is an once in a generation player and I have no doubt he is better than Jordan as a overall basketball talent - LeBron can do it all and do it well, but none of that earns him my loyalty at this point

Rings and only rings will determine where LeBron's legacy ends up in relation to Jordan's. Thats exactly why he has hooked up with Wade and Bosh and his plans seems to be coming to fruition now - 3 years, 3 finals, 2 championships. The spurs in that game 6 could have dealt a huge blow to his legacy. It would have been 2 losses in 3 straight finals and 3 losses in 4 total trips including his Cleveland days. Jordan and Montana never lost the championship games and thats part of their greatness. LeBron has already lost 2 out of 4, but 3 out of 4 would have been horrible for him. He doesn't have to worry about it now, especially if he can win 5 out of 7 or 6 out of 8 championships when it's all said and done. Of course, thats all still a long way off. He will try to three-peat next year. Miami's luxury tax situation is rough and it's anybody's guess how this team will look next year, let alone in 2 years. I expect the big-3 to be back next season, but I am not sure if they can afford good supporting talent. I also expect the Pacers and the Bulls to push them harder next year. The heat will still have the world's best basketball player whose confidence is sky high now with these championships in the bag. They are the early favorites for 2014. Let the off-season begin. Wonder where the spurs go from here. What about my Phoenix suns? May be the suns can add a piece or 2 and win 10 more games. #ModestGoals.

Close, tied, and boring

This NBA finals had a lot of potential coming in and is living up to it in some ways with 2-2 tie after four games. Despite being all tied up, it has not been the most entertaining finals so far. The reason is, there was one close game and an amazing game winning basket by Tony Parker in game 1, but we have been exposed to a whole lot of one-sided games and blowouts since then. This series has not had any flow or pattern so far. Teams have alternated wins and a different guy has been the story every game. At this points, it's impossible to say who is the better team or who is the favorite to win it all. I was convinced San Antonio was going to win this thing after their game 1 and 3 victories, but after Miami's game 4 win, I am not so sure anymore. Miami now gets to host 2 out of the remaining 3 games and that should make them the favorite. This makes game 5 very critical for San Antonio. They can't afford to lose game 5 at home and hope to win 2 straight on the road against LeBron James. 

Momentum goes with the winner of last game and in addition, the other thing that makes the Miami Heat the slight favorite now is the sight of Wade finally dominating game 4. Wade has been mostly absent for a majority these playoffs, It's a completely different ball game when this guy is on. It's a nightmare for any team trying to defend both LeBron and Wade. Unfortunately, Pop has to figure this out now given the sudden revival of Wade. He was terrific in game 4. Tony Parker's injury is another concern for the Spurs. He started off hot in game 4, but his second half was nothing special. Ginobli is struggling as well with just 7.5 points per game in these finals. If the Spurs win this series, we might have an improbable MVP in Danny Green. For Miami, it will probably be LeBron who has done a little bit of everything, though he had a rough time scoring in the first 3 games. His block on Thiago Splitter in game 2 might be remembered as the most memorable play of these finals if Miami win. That was an awesome play much like Parker's shot in game 1. 

Let's hope for a few more memorable moments and tighter contests over the remaining games. My theory about game 3 winners after a 1-1- tie always taking the series is also under duress here with the Heat wresting home court back. Spurs have to win at least one more on the road to win the series, but Miami don't have to. Both teams are veteran squads and winning on the road has not been a problem for either. Some experts also feel momentum is a lesser factor in the NBA finals than in other rounds. All of this makes it hard to get a feel for or predict this series even after 4 games.  May be game 5 will provide us with all the answers. Off the court, the most significant news to me has been the retirement of Grant Hill and Jason Kidd. They came into the league together in 1994 and are going out together after long careers. It's truly an end of an era in the NBA - an era that will always be close to my heart as I grew up as an NBA fan during that time. I am also proud that both their paths passed through the Phoenix Suns. I can't believe Kidd has already scored a head coaching job with the Nets, but I wish him good luck.

Game Zero

I dozed off pretty much through the entire fourth quarter of the Pacers-Heat game seven tonight. That tells you all you need to know about this game seven. It was a big letdown. The pacers didn't really show up. They made this an interesting, intriguing, and competitive series until the start of game seven. Once the game started, the pacers we have been accustomed to seeing the last couple of weeks left the building. There is always the danger of this happening in game sevens with the road team. The pacers are a young, inexperienced team and these lights were too big for them. The pacers gave game one away and that's where they lost the series just like the warriors did against the Spurs. And, just like the warriors, the pacers did help prove my theory that if the series is tied after 2 games, the winner of game three takes the series. They pounded the heat with their size and toughness, but whenever the heat dialed up their intensity, pacers seemed to lack the firepower to keep up. The much-hyped game seven ended up being a lame precursor to the finals - a game zero of the finals if you will.

The Pacers need one more piece to take the next step. I like George Hill - first round picks of the San Antonio Spurs are usually no chopped liver, but they need a better point guard to manage this talented, big team. May be they can trade Danny Granger in a package and score a point guard in return. Granger is not bad either, but he is too similar to Paul George and Paul is way better. Part of me would like to see Granger back with this team with a more mature George and Hibbert, but I think they can use a point guard instead. I have full trust in Donnie Walsh, their president of basketball operations, to make the right call here. It will be an interesting off-season for the pacers. They are a legitimate contender now and am glad pro basketball is back in the hoosier state after a rough decade or so. Between the pacers and the bulls - if and when Derrick Rose returns, the Heat might have some serious threat next season. 

But first things first. Can anybody stop the heat this season? The pacers almost did it and that should give a big psychological boost to the spurs. The heat don't look anywhere near invincible and the big three has shrunk to big one all of a sudden. The "one" is definitely not a bad "one" to have, but I am really curious to see how coach Pop deals with the unstoppable LeBron James. I pick the spurs to figure this out and take this series in six. Heat don't do well against size - the pacers had size, and they don't well against speedy point guards - the spurs have Tony Parker. Duncan is not the same these days, but he is still the "big fundamental" and his size will bother the heat too. The spurs are going to be a handful for the heat and I both like and want the spurs to pull off the upset. For all the tumult the heat have been through the last three years and all the criticism LeBron and others had to endure, they have made it to three straight finals. Things are very much going according to plan for the big-3 though there is this collective public yearning for them to fail. But if they lose their second finals in three tries, it will be considered a failure.