NBA Playoffs: Will LeBron James Rise Up?

Writing by admin on Tuesday, 22 of May , 2007 at 4:22 pm

I’ve seen better rivalries at pee-wee hockey games.

The television gods did their best to hype the Detroit Pistons-Chicago Bulls series. They trotted out the old footage of Michael Jordan and Bill Laimbeer and Isiah Thomas as proof of a long-standing feud between the two clubs. Yeah, right. Comparing those years to today is like comparing apples to road apples.

If you really want to link the Bulls-Pistons battles of the past to the 2007 playoffs, the Eastern Conference final is where you start. LeBron James is playing the role of Michael Jordan. He’s the preternaturally gifted swingman who is doing his best to lift a moribund franchise out of its doldrums. Eventually, if the script goes according to plan, he will be surrounded by the teammates he needs to reach the top of the mountain.

We’ve barely even cleared base camp yet. The Pistons are the established class of the conference, as they were during the “Bad Boys” years in the late 1980s. It took Jordan’s Bulls four kicks at the can before they finally eclipsed Detroit and won the title in 1991. It’s difficult to imagine the Cavs pulling it off in just their second attempt.

Mind you, they almost did it in their first attempt, extending the Pistons to seven games in last year’s Eastern semis. But that was a Detroit team in flux. Flip Saunders was in his first season as Pistons coach, and his clashes with Ben Wallace exposed the difficulty Detroit’s vaunted starting five was having with the transition from Larry Brown. Replacing Wallace with Chris Webber (on the cheap, no less) is yet another gold star on GM Joe Dumars’ report card. The resurgent Pistons have lost just five games since the beginning of April, going 11-7-3 against the spread.

Over in Cleveland, there is hope that LeBron can come up with a Jordanesque performance and carry the Cavs on his back. But His Airness had some fantastic players around him during Chicago’s championship run. For King James to get this version of the Cavaliers over the hump, he’ll have to play like Jordan, all right – in Space Jam.

Odds to win the NBA Championship:

Cleveland Caveliers: 17/1

Detroit Pistons: 3/2

San Antonio Spurs: 1/2

Utah Jazz: 15/1

Category: Online NBA Basketball Betting

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