If you are a reader of my site, and you probably aren’t, you have noticed a decline in my basketball content over the past two weeks. It is a problem caused both by baseball season kicking off and ESPN’s J.A. Adande stealing all of my article ideas literally as I sit down to write them (and knocking the ideas out of the park). I wanted to discuss potential NBA Finals match-ups this week so I’ve avoided ESPN like the plague so I couldn’t be accused of idea stealing - though this topic is certainly nothing groundbreaking.
Anyways, I wanted to take a look at the most intriguing potential NBA Finals match-ups for this year’s absolutely-unreal-out-of-this-world-potential playoffs. Keep in mind that I could not discuss every scenario, since there are 64 (72 if you consider that the West’s 9th seed could steal a spot still).
Also, I am skipping over all of the potentially incredible earlier round match-ups (Chris Paul v. Deron Williams, Kobe Bryant v. Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James v. Detroit rematch, Phoenix v. Denver/Golden State, etc).
Without any more ado, the most intriguing NBA Finals match-ups, in no particular order:
Potential Match-Ups
Boston Celtics v. Los Angeles Lakers
This one is always an intriguing showdown because of the historical context. This year, there is the additional storylines of them being arguably the two best teams in the league, owning one of the most intense players in the league each and both being deeper than anyone expected. Add to that that there are MVP argument overtones and you have what could be the most watched series in some time. Oh, yeah, they are two huge media markets, too, and probably the two most popular teams in the league.
Boston Celtics v. San Antonio Spurs
The match-up we’ve all been waiting an eternity for, Kevin Garnett against Tim Duncan. The two best power forwards of our generation would square off in a battle of three-star teams with serious depth. They are also arguably the two best teams in the league and the amount of star power involved is unreal. The biggest story, though, is KG against Duncan, which would be an ESPN Classic caliber battle for seven games and would (maybe) help solve the question of which is better, given comparable teams and situations.
Detroit Pistons v. San Antonio Spurs
Call me boring, but I wouldn’t mind seeing this one again. Yes, it’s bad for the game and was the lowest rated Finals in forever, but it also represents a lot of things right with the NBA game. A battle of two team-oriented squads with sound fiscal and roster management who are as close to dynasties as we can get today sounds intriguing to me.
Detroit Pistons v. Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers could face basically anyone and it would be entertaining. I can’t explain why but there is something inherently sexy about this series, with a lot of depth floating around and a possible passing of the guard from the latest dynasty (Detroit) to a new dynasty (Lakers, again). Please note that in today’s sports world, dynasty to me just means being consistently in the title hunt, not necessarily winning a bunch of titles.
Detroit Pistons v. Utah Jazz
Another potentially boring series, it is a battle of two extremely team-oriented half-court squads with two of the best starting fives in the league. The Okur factor could sneak in a bit, too, but the primary draw here is the grind-it-out team against team battle.
Detroit Pistons v. Phoenix Suns
Originally this would have been slow against fast, disciplined against free wheeling, but now it is just an intriguing clash of styles and philosophies… and another chance for Shaq to anger the Detroit faithful.
Cleveland Cavaliers v. New Orleans Hornets
The best two players under 25 in the league in a seven-game series – how do you not get behind that? Enough said.
Cleveland Cavaliers v. Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron against Kobe. Enough said, right? This isn’t laziness, but every LeBron James match-up explains itself.
Cleveland Cavaliers v. Denver Nuggets/Golden State Warriors
Just because LeBron James would probably average 50 points a game… though he might do that against anyone.
Orlando Magic v. Phoenix Suns
While it’s not the best two teams, it would have the Grant Hill storyline, the Shaquille O’Neal in Orlando storyline, and Dwight Howard against one of the best big men ever (O’Neal) and one of the best today (Amare Stoudemire) in a battle of future greats.
Longshots
Washington Wizards v. Los Angeles Lakers
We’re getting into very unlikely territory here, but the two biggest media hounds in the league, Gilbert Arenas and Kobe Bryant, facing off would blow the Internet to pieces.
Philadelphia 76ers v. Denver Nuggets
Long shot again, but a Philly team facing off with Allen Iverson in the playoffs would be surreal.
Atlanta Hawks v. New Orleans Hornets
Just to remind Hawks fans that they passed on Chris Paul.
Just writing this column, I could hardly control my excitement for the playoffs to get going. One thing that comes to mind looking at all of these is some of the proposed playoff reformatting ideas, such as a 16-seed style instead of conference playoffs. I’m not saying I support those plans, but it certainly does create a lot of potentially awesome showdowns. One week people!
Blake Murphy also runs and writes for The On Deck Circle.
April 10th, 2008 at 8:14 am
I’m rooting for Celtics/Spurs final. Let’s see if Garnett can get under TIMMAY’s skin
April 10th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
that was a lazy post. Half of those finals matchups are longshots. why won’t you preview the west first-round. that would be a much more interesting read and way more relevant too.
April 10th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
The West’s first round is not even set yet, and the West playoff picture has been covered plenty. Yes, some of those are longshots (the ones I labeled longshots, especially), but there are also some interesting and possible match-ups there.
April 10th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Man, Lakers vs Celtics, a match up not one person can say that they don’t want to see. I think if either of those team’s make the finals it will be a success for the NBA. As for the Hornets, I don’t see them getting past the second round even though I really want to see them do well in the playoffs because Chris Paul is so damn exciting to watch.
April 11th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I want to see a classic Bos vs LAL matchup or the finals. Maybe this year it wont be as boring as the previous 3 years of final basketball.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Blake,
Tim Duncan plays the Center position in the NBA; while Kevin Garnett plays the Power Forward position.
On Dec 25, 2007, I said that this year’s NBA championship would be decided between only 4 teams Boston/Detroit vs San Antonio/LA Lakers.
Since then, nothing has happened to change my mind.
The only 2 teams in the Eastern Conference capable of beating San Antonio or the LA Lakers are Boston & Detroit … and the only 2 teams in the Western Conference capable of beating Boston or Detroit are San Antonio & the LA. Lakers.
May 19th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Blakester,
Its Celtic vs. Lakers. Forget everyone else. they are all junk. Spurs and Pistons too old and Hornets lack playoff experience.