The two biggest games from the NBA regular season

If you look back on the 2006-07 NBA regular season with the playoffs in mind, two games determined the NBA finalists.

4/17/2007 Golden State 111, Dallas 82
In their next to last regular season game, the Mavericks rested all their starters since they clinched the number one seed. (Maurice Ager led Dallas with 20 points and 34 minutes) But Golden State seemed to match up well against Dallas, and if Dallas had beaten the Warriors they probably would have played the Clippers. If they beat the Clippers and the Jazz, they would have played the Spurs in the conference finals, who they beat 3-1 in the season series. So if Dallas beats Golden State on the next to last night of the regular season I think Dallas probably would have won the NBA title.

4/18/2007 New Jersey 106, Chicago 97
Because of the idiosyncrasies of the playoffs, if Chicago wins this game they are the two seed and Cleveland is the four seed. Cleveland had an easy ride to the conference finals playing the undermanned Wizards and underachieving Nets; Chicago beat the defending champion Miami Heat in the first round and lost to the one seed Detroit Pistons in the second. In this scenario I like Detroit's chances of coming out of the East because asking a young Cavaliers team to beat a savvy Heat team (Heat won season series 3-1) and a very physical Bulls squad (2-2) is unrealistic.

Did you know the NBA Finals were on last night?

I didn't. At 3-0 the series was a foregone conclusion, the U.S. Open was on until 7 so I barely watched Sportscenter, and even with the 8 hours of sports talk radio that I listened to yesterday I was unaware that game 4 was last night. Winning their fourth title in nine years, I'd say the Spurs have a dynasty going. But I still think the salient story from the NBA Playoffs is that the playoffs are broken.

If this were the NFL there would be a myriad of changes in the offseason. Realignment, reseeding in the playoffs, the silly "Leaving the vicinity of the bench" rule, the lottery, and the dirty play of Bruce Bowen and the Spurs would be addressed. I accept the fact that you can't just combine the East and the West and put the 16 best teams in the playoffs - travel concerns, a lack of geographic rivalries, and unbalanced scheduling make that impossible. But, judging from David Stern's interview on the Dan Patrick Show yesterday, there's the very real possibility that next year's playoffs will be just as flawed as this year's playoffs. Maybe it's for the best; that's 20 or 30 less hours I have to spend watching basketball.

Mismatch

A recurring theme on ESPN Radio, Sportscenter, TNT pre- and post-game, and any other outlets that are broadcasting the NBA Finals is effusive praise for Tim Duncan. Now Duncan is a great player, in the discussion for the greatest power forward, a top 50 player all time, and soon to be a four-time champion. But if you could have either Shaq or Duncan for a career, of course you take Shaq. It isn't even close. I can't believe that the ESPN/TNT heads keep directly or indirectly bringing up that comparison. The dominant low post scorer of the modern era versus a guy who does the little things. Center versus power forward. Above the rim versus below the rim. A natural 300 lb versus a natural 240 lb. You don't have to break down the film like Jaworski in the NFL films vault to figure that out.

Hibachi to go?

Wizards superstar Gilbert Arenas is planning to opt out of his contract at the end of this coming season, which you may have read if you made it to page E4 of the Washington Post sports section. Although I did find it surprising that the Post didn't consider this a major story, (it remains on the front page on ESPN.com) neither myself nor Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld found the story surprising. He stands to make more money in a cinch max contract than on his current deal, which of course is less than the max.

The Wizards can offer more money per year of a longer period of time than any other team, so the Wizards would have to be considered the favorite to sign him next year. His first time a free agent he decided between similar contracts offered by the Wizards and Los Angeles Clippers; his former team, the Warriors, couldn't come close to matching the eight figure yearly salaries offered by the other two suitors. The legend goes Arenas flipped a coin ten times to decide which team to sign with, it came up seven times on the Clippers side, so he signed with the Wizards just to go the other way. So although this indicates Arenas likes to go against the grain, it's not like he ignored financial considerations.

One approach that many teams seem to take is vastly overpaying for a free agent. Cleveland's signing of Larry Hughes to a 5 year, $70 million deal seemed to have more to do with showing Lebron that they're committed to winning that Hughes' worth. Grunfeld has shown discretion when it comes to deals above the exception, but the Wizards' moves this offseason should be scrutinized a little more, because they will be by Arenas.

This just in: The Spurs are boring

Anyone who tries to tell you that the Spurs aren't boring is a sadist. So they're a great team. So Duncan is a great player. Rocky & Bullwinkle are a great team. Robert De Niro s a great actor. The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle starring Robert De Niro is a horrible movie. Just because you don't want to watch it, it doesn't mean you don't appreciate great actors. And just because you don't enjoy watching Duncan hit a 12 foot bank shot, commit a foul at the other end, and pop the eyes halfway out of his head at the ref in protest, it doesn't mean you don't appreciate great basketball. Because this isn't it.