NBA Finals Predictions

Pat Morgan: Spurs in 6
Game 1 is slated for Tonight in San Antonio. Lebron vs. Duncan is the matchup the NBA was hoping for. Had Detroit beaten Cleveland we would have been looking at another dreadful Spurs/Pistons series. It was like watching paint dry back in 2005, and that was with the series going seven games! First to 70 points wins! But because of the Eastern Conference Finals upset, the NBA will see its next legendary superstar pinned against its greatest champion since MJ. This couldn't have been a better matchup for the league. David Stern must be licking his chops, cause this series should spell good ratings (for NBA standards anyway, so looking at 5s).

However, the matchup couldn't be more lopsided than it is. It is hard to imagine Cleveland winning this series. I know back in 2004, no one gave Detroit a chance against the Lakers, but they shocked everyone dominating in 5. Should Cleveland win, this would be a bigger upset in my opinion. San Antonio doesn't carry the baggage that Los Angeles team did. All the Spurs do is win, and they have never had a fraction of the distraction that Kobe, Shaq, and Phil gave the Lakers. Robert Horry's tackle of Steve Nash is about the peak of anything that happens to them. Plus, this Cleveland team isn't nearly as good as that Larry Brown coached Pistons team in 2004. It is almost as if the Cavaliers need Lebron to score 40+, and get other players involved. A tall task to ask against the stellar Spurs defense, even for Lebron.

San Antonio in 6; I would say 5, but because of the NBA Finals' 2-3-2 format I think Cleveland will be able to get the series back to San Antonio. The Cavs are a vastly better team at home. Plus, San Antonio isn't known to sweep teams. It will be a quiet 6 games though, kind of like Chicago over Seattle back in 1996. The Spurs will win Games 1 & 2 at home, spilt Games 3 & 4, and have a shot to knock the Cavs out in Game 5. I'll give the Cavs that game in front of their home crowd, but the Spurs will forcefully lay the hammer down in Game 6. Tim Duncan will dominate down low. Lebron will have his moments, but be constantly frustrated by the Spurs' guards. Daniel "Boobie" Gibson won't have a 31 point night against this team. San Antonio in 5 or 6 seems to be the most common prediction, but to me this series is as straight forward as any series to predict. But that's why sports are great, the games could prove otherwise.

Ryan Maloney: Spurs in 6
The Cavs swept the regular season series 2-0, but the last match-up was more than six months ago. Cleveland may have exhausted most of their efforts in a tough Eastern Conference Final while the Spurs skated through a five-game dominance over Utah.

The odds-makers have the Spurs as a seven-and-a-half-point favorite for game one. I believe this series will give us much closer contests than predicted. Should the Cavs win, they will need an X-factor to step up. Drew Gooden has a great opportunity to prove his worth this series. He will be called upon to guard arguably the greatest power forward in history in Tim Duncan. Gooden seems like a good choice for X-factor, but I believe he will struggle. Enter Anderson Varejao. The curly-haired scrapper will pester the hell out of Duncan and perhaps even injure him with his reckless play.

Overall, I believe San Antonio is just too deep for even Anderson Varejao to overcome. They will take this in six. Basically my portion of this post should have been completed in one sentence..."What Pat said."

Benjamin Amey: Cavs in 5
That's right, you heard it here from the resident sophomore first. King James and the Cavs will beat the Spurs in five games. Why, you may ask? Simple. The retarded layout of the NBA Finals.

We have found that, during these playoffs, the home team has a 51-25 record (a .671 winning percentage). A nice edge, to be sure, but home teams have certainly not been invincible at home. The Spurs have been 7-2 at home, losing to the Nuggets and the Suns, and 5-2 on the road, losing at Phoenix and at Utah, these playoffs, while the Cavs have been 7-1 at home, losing only to the New Jersey Nets in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, and 5-3 on the road, losing twice at The Palace and once in East Rutherford.

Now, as strange as it may seem, while the first three rounds of the playoffs favor the higher seed, the NBA Finals actually favor the lower seed. In the first three rounds, it's a 2-2-1-1-1 format for games. Home team gets two, away team gets two, and then one back and forth. However, in the Finals, it's a 2-3-2 format. Two games for the higher seed (Spurs), three games for the lower seed (Cavs), and then two games for the higher seed again. Why does this favor the lower seed? If they can take one from the higher seed on the road, they have all the momentum with three games at home.

And that's exactly what the Cavs will do. They will win Game 1 tonight in San Antonio. The Spurs will come back, of course, with their usual Tim Duncan court rushing for no suspension and Bruce Bowen punching and "foot defense" and Robert Horry blasting smaller players into the scorers' table. The series will go to Cleavland tied 1-1, and then the Cavs will improve on their near-flawless home record at Quicken Loans Arena.

King James will hoist the trophy in Cleavland, mark my words. Tim Duncan will retire, and, maybe, just maybe, the Spurs won't be such a dirty team next season. Don't hold your breath though.