It's been long since I wrote something about my favourite sport - Basketball. Its showtime out there in the NBA now, it's play-offs! Its one of the best actions this year with 3 of the 4 semifinals decided by Game 7! The other one had six. I've not seen a more intense playoff in recent times. The top two teams in the West, San Antonio and Dallas are squaring up in the conference semis in what has been billed as the "dream series". True. It has been an amazing series with all but one game been decided in the final seconds. Game 7 is Monday in the River city. The greatest in this series - the Spurs have sprung back from 1-3, a deficit which only 8 teams have managed to overcome all these years. They simply showed why they are the defending champs!
I chanced myself to Game 6 of the series. The Spurs scripted out a superb 5 point win on the road shutting the foul mouthed Mark Cuban, Mavericks owner. Michael Finley heard nothing but boos and saw placards saying "Public enemy #4" playing on his former team's home court. He silenced the crowd with a thunderous dunk over 7-foot Eric Dampier. And it was Mike again with the go ahead 3 pointer over 7 foot Dirk Nowitzki and he thwarted Dirk on the ensuing possession. Parker sank two from the charity stripe and the Spurs defense then screwed things to finish off. Superstar Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili had big games too. Duncan had his worst game of the series though with only 24 points :-) Timmy is back after a subpar season! But for a person to steal the show with 20K people against him is truly sensational. Three cheers to Michael Finley.
Now with the series shifting to the AT&T center, I can't wait for Game 7!!
But for the Finley incidents and Jason Terry's punch on Finley that earned him suspension for Game 6, the series has been played with superb spirit and the players have respected each other so well. Avery Johnson, Dallas Head Coach learned the nuances of the game as a Spur at the Alamodome under Gregg Poppovich, the Spurs Head Coach. And he has indeed brought in certain values of the Spurs into the Dallas rosters. The Spurs are the best franchise among all professional league sports!
One thing causing a stir among the top ranks is the big flaw in scheduling match-ups in the playoffs. The current setup is such that the top two teams in each conference meet in the semifinals. Weird isnt it?!? The result - San Antonio and Dallas squaring up in the semis. This is a classic finals matchup!David Stern has promised change next time around and hopefully Dallas and SA continue this superb rivalry for many more years to come!
Go! Spurs Go!
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