Game Over
74632676 Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images
CLEVELAND – JUNE 14: Tony Parker #9 and Manu Ginobili #20 of the San Antonio Spurs celebrate the win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game Four of the NBA Finals on June 14, 2007 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
It’s over before it barely started.
In the case of the Cavs, it hardly did.
A 4-0 sweep by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals just adds to the fact that something needs to change in the NBA during the play-offs and finals. The best match up of the entire play-offs was the Phoenix Suns and Spurs but that happened all the way back in the second round.
There was lots of talk at the NBA Finals about switching the way play-off rankings are made and go to a 1-16 system, similar to that of the Sweet 16 in college basketball. This would allow the top Western Conference teams to not meet until the finals.
I think with some tweaking it could work, but that is up to the Commissioner David Stern and the other owners.
74632676 Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
CLEVELAND – JUNE 14: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers dunks the ball in Game Four of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs on June 14, 2007 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
As for the season that ended on Thursday, not much will be remembered from the Finals other than having LeBron James of the Cavs playing in his first championship. The Spurs winning again (4th time in nine seasons) only justifies their claim as the leagues best ever team.
Team Getty Images: (L-R) DJ Maria, Gregory Shamus, Travis Lindquist, Collin Pierson, Maxx Wolfson, Ronald Martinez and Lisa Blumenfeld (Missing Mary Ciecek)
As for the Getty Images staff that covered the finals it ended kind of bittersweet. Yes, it was nice to get home after being on the road for the past month plus, but it would have been nice to see a breakout game by James. He really only had one memorable dunk (game four) and one memorable shot (the miss that ended game three).
As for next season, San Antonio has to remain the favorite to repeat along with the same cast of characters – Phoenix, Dallas, Detroit and Houston.
The only hoops left for this summer is the WNBA.
