My pick: Cleveland in 6

All year as Dallas and Phoenix cruised to the top two records in the NBA it was expected that the Western Conference Finals between those two teams, or possibly Dallas and San Antonio, would be the real NBA Finals. Dallas got a miserable first round matchup, Suns coaches couldn't keep their guys seated in the waning moments of game 5 of the second round, and the rest is history. The Spurs were rewarded with a matchup with a mediocre Jazz team in the second round. Cleveland won the second seed in the East on the last day of the regular season, getting a matchup with an undermanned 7th seeded Wizards team in the first round, an old 6th seeded Nets team in the second, and a physical 1st seeded Pistons team in third.

The Spurs beat the Jazz in 5, their only loss coming by 26, their second loss of the playoffs by 20 or more points. The Cavs beat the Pistons in 6, but they could have won every game in the series. The Pistons play a similar style to the Spurs, as they finished as the top two teams in the regular season in points allowed. The Spurs have played three straight up-tempo teams, while Cleveland plays a much more deliberate style - Golden State and Phoenix averaged 15 and 13 more points in the playoffs than Cleveland, respectively. Cleveland is 2nd (to Utah) in the NBA Playoffs in rebound differential, while San Antonio is getting outrebounded in the playoffs.

Manu Ginobili has played his best ball of the season hte last two rounds, but how about a little love for Z, AKA Cleveland Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas? Listening to favorite slurpers Stephen A. Smith and Charles Barkley you'd think that Lebron James was playing 1-on-5 in the playoffs. Ilgauskas would start for any team in the NBA, due to the lack of quality 7-footers. You can't say that about any of the non-Duncan Spurs; Tony Parker probably wouldn't start for the Suns or Nets. With Larry Hughes and the emerging Daniel Gibson in the backcourt, and Ilgauskas and Hare Krishna look-alike Drew Gooden in the frontcourt, Cleveland shouldn't have to apologize to the Spurs for the five they'll have on the floor.

I see second chance points by the Cavs frontcourt being key. Hughes and James will limit Ginobili to one big game in the Finals, while Gibson contributes two big games. Bruce Bowen will be rendered a nonfactor just as Tayshaun Prince was in the Eastern Conference Finals. And while Tim Duncan is still a star, Lebron James is a superstar and raises his team's level of play to a championship level. Cleveland in six.