alamo50
06-22-2005, 06:35 AM
NBA Finals has had blowouts, drama, pressure and now a title confrontation
COMMENTARY
By Michael Rosenberg
NBCSports.com contributor
Updated: 2:02 a.m. ET June 22, 2005
SAN ANTONIO - For the Detroit Pistons, a playoff series doesn't get serious until somebody tells them they are dead. They just got that out of the way. Now they and the San Antonio Spurs, and the small portion of the nation that realizes there is a great NBA Finals going on can turn to Game 7.
The Pistons just erased a 3-2 deficit, the endless replays of Robert Horry's Game-5 winning three-pointer, their own eight-year drought in San Antonio and any remaining doubts about their resolve.
They beat the Spurs 95-86 to force one final game of this NBA season.
What happens next? Somebody wins the championship. OK, that's not the finest piece of basketball expertise you ever heard. But other than that, who knows?
This series has featured every possible outcome everything but a finale. Both teams have won two straight at home and one on the road. Both teams have blown the other team out of the building, and both teams won tight games.
It's just two great teams, teams that play great defense and they both want to win," Spurs point guard Tony Parker said. "We won twice at home, they won twice at home. We won on the road and they came here and took one. It's just two teams who battle and are very physical out there and we'll see who wants it the most Thursday."
There are two beautiful aspects of Parker's comment. One, Parker's English isn't perfect, but his Athlete-ese is outstanding the man knows his clich้s like a American-born NBA veteran. And two, he makes the teams seem so interchangeable, it's like he won't know which uniform to wear Thursday.
Much has been made of San Antonio's worldly roster Parker is from France and fellow guard Manu Ginobili is from Argentina. That could pay off in Game 7 in one important way: although the Spurs do not have Game 7 experience, Ginobili won an Olympic gold medal last summer.
"Now we've arrived at a point where it's similar, it's one game, but that history doesn't matter," Ginobili said.
Yeah, but at least the Spurs have the home court. They worked all season for that.
The Pistons just showed, yet again, that they respond under pressure as well as any team in memory. Chauncey Billups showed again why he is Mr. Big Shot he had 21 points (including 5 of 9 three-pointers), six assists and six rebounds. He also had zero turnovers in 39 minutes. Rip Hamilton, who has struggled all series against Bruce Bowen, scored 23 points.
And Rasheed Wallace scored 16 points, blocked three shots and had two steals. Pretty nice recovery for a guy who made a self-described "bonehead play jackass play" in Game 5, leaving Horry wide-open on the winning shot so he could double-team Ginobili in the corner.
Any worries about Wallace being tight were erased Tuesday morning at the Pistons' shootaround. Wallace laughed, joked and teased his teammates. Just like he always does.
"I mean, it's no pressure," Wallace said after Game 6. "I don't feel no pressure. No matter if it's the game-winning shot or I've got the ball on the last possession, I don't feel no pressure, because you've still got to go out there and play."
Unlike the Spurs, the Pistons have extensive Game 7 experience it is a perk of putting yourself in miserable positions again and again.
In 2003, they beat Orlando in Game 7 at home, after trailing 3-1 in the series.
In 2004, they beat New Jersey in Game 7 at home, after trailing 3-2 in the series.
And earlier this month, they beat Miami in Game 7 on the road, after trailing 3-2 in the series.
Considering how rarely series actually make it to Game 7, that's a heck of a resume. But San Antonio has the only player in this series who played in the last Finals Game 7. That would be Big Shot Bob, Mr. Horry, who helped the Houston Rockets beat the New York Knicks at home in 1994.
Horry is one win away from his sixth championship ring two with Houston, three with the Lakers, and now (maybe) one with the Spurs.
But the Pistons are one win away from back-to-back championships, just like the Bad Boys did in 1989 and 1990.
"It's close," Ben Wallace said. "Definitely can taste it."
(Did you hear that one, Tony? We expect you to add it to your clich้ repertoire.)
Michael Rosenberg is a contributor to NBCSports.com and a columnist for the Detroit Free Press. An archive of his columns can be found at http://www.freep.com/index/michaelrosenberg.htm
COMMENTARY
By Michael Rosenberg
NBCSports.com contributor
Updated: 2:02 a.m. ET June 22, 2005
SAN ANTONIO - For the Detroit Pistons, a playoff series doesn't get serious until somebody tells them they are dead. They just got that out of the way. Now they and the San Antonio Spurs, and the small portion of the nation that realizes there is a great NBA Finals going on can turn to Game 7.
The Pistons just erased a 3-2 deficit, the endless replays of Robert Horry's Game-5 winning three-pointer, their own eight-year drought in San Antonio and any remaining doubts about their resolve.
They beat the Spurs 95-86 to force one final game of this NBA season.
What happens next? Somebody wins the championship. OK, that's not the finest piece of basketball expertise you ever heard. But other than that, who knows?
This series has featured every possible outcome everything but a finale. Both teams have won two straight at home and one on the road. Both teams have blown the other team out of the building, and both teams won tight games.
It's just two great teams, teams that play great defense and they both want to win," Spurs point guard Tony Parker said. "We won twice at home, they won twice at home. We won on the road and they came here and took one. It's just two teams who battle and are very physical out there and we'll see who wants it the most Thursday."
There are two beautiful aspects of Parker's comment. One, Parker's English isn't perfect, but his Athlete-ese is outstanding the man knows his clich้s like a American-born NBA veteran. And two, he makes the teams seem so interchangeable, it's like he won't know which uniform to wear Thursday.
Much has been made of San Antonio's worldly roster Parker is from France and fellow guard Manu Ginobili is from Argentina. That could pay off in Game 7 in one important way: although the Spurs do not have Game 7 experience, Ginobili won an Olympic gold medal last summer.
"Now we've arrived at a point where it's similar, it's one game, but that history doesn't matter," Ginobili said.
Yeah, but at least the Spurs have the home court. They worked all season for that.
The Pistons just showed, yet again, that they respond under pressure as well as any team in memory. Chauncey Billups showed again why he is Mr. Big Shot he had 21 points (including 5 of 9 three-pointers), six assists and six rebounds. He also had zero turnovers in 39 minutes. Rip Hamilton, who has struggled all series against Bruce Bowen, scored 23 points.
And Rasheed Wallace scored 16 points, blocked three shots and had two steals. Pretty nice recovery for a guy who made a self-described "bonehead play jackass play" in Game 5, leaving Horry wide-open on the winning shot so he could double-team Ginobili in the corner.
Any worries about Wallace being tight were erased Tuesday morning at the Pistons' shootaround. Wallace laughed, joked and teased his teammates. Just like he always does.
"I mean, it's no pressure," Wallace said after Game 6. "I don't feel no pressure. No matter if it's the game-winning shot or I've got the ball on the last possession, I don't feel no pressure, because you've still got to go out there and play."
Unlike the Spurs, the Pistons have extensive Game 7 experience it is a perk of putting yourself in miserable positions again and again.
In 2003, they beat Orlando in Game 7 at home, after trailing 3-1 in the series.
In 2004, they beat New Jersey in Game 7 at home, after trailing 3-2 in the series.
And earlier this month, they beat Miami in Game 7 on the road, after trailing 3-2 in the series.
Considering how rarely series actually make it to Game 7, that's a heck of a resume. But San Antonio has the only player in this series who played in the last Finals Game 7. That would be Big Shot Bob, Mr. Horry, who helped the Houston Rockets beat the New York Knicks at home in 1994.
Horry is one win away from his sixth championship ring two with Houston, three with the Lakers, and now (maybe) one with the Spurs.
But the Pistons are one win away from back-to-back championships, just like the Bad Boys did in 1989 and 1990.
"It's close," Ben Wallace said. "Definitely can taste it."
(Did you hear that one, Tony? We expect you to add it to your clich้ repertoire.)
Michael Rosenberg is a contributor to NBCSports.com and a columnist for the Detroit Free Press. An archive of his columns can be found at http://www.freep.com/index/michaelrosenberg.htm