NBA Crapshoot

Well, I was wrong about the Spurs-Lakers series. I was wrong about the Kings-Mavs series. But minutes before the NBA Finals start, I shall offer a prediction in a vain attempt at prognostication glory.

Much has been made about the superstar match-up of Kidd and Duncan. Kidd does it with passing, Duncan with scoring. While both players are capable of taking over a game, the difference is that when Kidd dominates the floor, that means the Nets have several scoring options and don't run plays through one guy. And the Nets have a bunch of big men (including the recently defrosted Dikembe Mutumbo) who can foul the bejesus out of Duncan and expose his weak free throw shooting. One plus for the Spurs is that they have a great bench of guys capable of putting up a big game. But the problem is that neither Bowen, nor Jackson nor Ginobili nor Kerr can do it from one game to the next. I also think that Richard Jefferson and Kenyon Martin (who's become one of my favorite players) will provide the spark needed to out-hustle the Spurs. So to sum it up, a 10 game winning streak, anger from last year's sweep and greater competetive fire will combine to give the Nets just enough to beat the Spurs in 7.