NBA: Rethinking the Finals

One thing I forgot about the Finals earlier. The series is shifting to Cleveland but it's doing for the next three games. For some reason I've never really understood the NBA Finals are played with a 2-3-2 format instead of the 2-2-1-1-1 the rest of the playoffs operate under (Working theory: At some point in the past, because of the travel considerations in pitting the East against the West, they went with that format so teams wouldn't have to fly from, say, L.A. to N.Y. and back to close out a series over a weekend and it stuck around through inertia and tradition. It doesn't make much sense today, though, with the longer delays between games and teams having private jets.). If Cleveland was just barely beaten on the road, the theory goes, they stand a good chance at home and those three home dates give them a chance to turn the series around.

I call bullshit. Cleveland wasn't just barely beaten on the road, they were crushed. Forget the margin on the scoreboard, San Antonio is playing at a higher level than the LeBrons. For that third home game in a row to make a difference, they need to win a game and avoid the sweep. And I haven't seen anything, yet, to indicate they will. Bron-Bron might well just put the team on his back, again, in Game 3 or 4 but, still, the Spurs are as good a road team as any in the league (especially following their midseason resurrection.) and this is their series to lose. So, yeah, I think I'm still going to be tuning out on the whole thing.