NBA Finals 2005 - Spurs prevail in 7 games

Tonight the 2 best teams in the NBA faced off in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, the first Game 7 for the Championship since 1994. It was the defending champs versus the champions that came before them. This was a very exhilarating series to watch, especially when I had no ties to either team (although I have become enamored by the Pistons team since their championship win against LA last year). I picked Detroit to win in 6 and I fully expected them to come out on top in Game 7, but foul trouble became the decider and a weak front line let Tim Duncan bring back the Spurs from being down to tie it up after 3 quarters.

That was the key moment of the game, 4 minutes to go in the third and McDyess picked up his 4th foul. Coach Brown sent him to the bench and went small since Rasheed also had 4 (instead of bringing in Campbell to give Duncan a 4th different defensive look and keep him off balance) causing Ben to solo up Duncan and for there to be no real weak side defensive help to alter Duncan's shot. the score went from 52-46 Detroit to 57-57 after 3 and San Antonio never gave up the momentum.

The PG position was perhaps the least productive of Game 7. Billups had a great assist game but he never asserted himself offensively, quite a few times I felt he should've taken a 3 attempt and he didn't. He was playing perhaps too conservative, and unfortunately he got stuffed by Bowen when he tried to bail out the Pistons late in the 4th. And Tony Parker.. well other than the first 2 games of the series he's been pretty poor overall. Pretty much a turnover machine (i think going into game 7 he had 21 assists and 21 turnovers), he didn't do much in this game.

Tim Duncan was named the Finals MVP after the game. After averaging 20 points, 15 rebounds & 2 blocks per game through the first 6 games of the series, Duncan continued the impressive performance in the Game 7 win: 25 points, 11 rebounds & 2 blocked shots. Tim was the steady hand for the Spurs against the former defending champion Pistons, as Parker and Ginobili's games faded under the intense Piston defense (Manu did show up in Game 7).

I hope Coach Brown is declared healthy enough to return to the Pistons next season. They've got a great team together and will contend to return to the Finals next year certainly. I thought the relationship between Popovich and Brown was very special especially in a Finals matchup and this was a great series for the game in so many ways. Now it's on to the draft next week and later on the summer league teams for next year.