Here’s another set of opinions on the NBA Finals, definitely a bit of love for the ‘old guard’ in these two opinions…
Connor, HoopsAddict
The easy answer would be the Lakers but Kobe’s finger makes me wonder 
if he can gut it out for the rest of the season. I love rooting for the underdog so the Hornets are a team I’ll be cheering for as well, but, I can’t help but think the Spurs will pull out the win once again. I think the Kurt Thomas addition was another brilliant moves by the Spurs and will provide the final piece they need to snag yet another Championship.
Beasts of the Easts? Does it even matter? Not really, but I feel confident the Pistons will pull away from Boston and advance to the NBA Finals.
Spurs win though…
Chris Fry, SportsProjections.com
Eastern Conference Champion: Detroit Pistons
Flip Saunders will have learned his lesson from last season when he allowed a star (Lebron James) to defeat him in the playoffs. The Pistons will face the Celtics in the Conference Finals and leave Rajon Rondo open all game long. If the Pistons lose the series, it’s because Rondo was the MVP. Rondo’s lack of outside shooting and 3-point percentage (.308), though, will finally finish the dream comeback season for the Celtics.
Western Conference Champion: San Antonio Spurs
We stick with the champions (trust us, we don’t want this to happen) until they get knocked off their throne. We picked the Spurs because
Ginobili is on fire and is playing his best NBA basketball ever. As for the other Western Conference teams:
Lakers – Can Andrew Bynum keep up his performance during this long season? He faded at the end of last season. And how will Pau Gasol handle the pressure in the playoffs? We haven’t seen him prove his worth yet.
Suns – We’re not convinced the Shaq trade will make this team better.
Mavs – After their debacle last season to the Warriors, how can you pick them to win it?
Jazz – The Spurs have the Jazz’s number.
World Champion: Detroit Pistons
The Pistons redeem themselves from last season and will hold the trophy at the end of the season. It will be a ratings nightmare for the NBA and David Stern as the Pistons and Spurs score 90 points on their best night in the finals.
Note: We’re rooting for a Celtics-Jazz Final.
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With Malice... 
[…] withmalice wrote a fantastic post today on “NBA Finals – Spurred To Victory”Here’s ONLY a quick extractThe Pistons redeem themselves from last season and will hold the trophy at the end of the season. It will be a ratings nightmare for the NBA and David Stern as the Pistons and Spurs score 90 points on their best night in the finals. … […]
“Lakers – Can Andrew Bynum keep up his performance during this long season? He faded at the end of last season.”
Huh? Bynum is injured and will probably only return for the last 10-15 games of the season. I’m guessing after 2.5 months off he’s not gonna be worn out the way he was last year. He may not return at 100% health, but I’m guessing “fading” won’t be something he needs to worry about.
In any event, last year he was 19 and the youngest player in the league, and was suddenly thrust into playing huge minutes after injuries to Chris Mihm and Kwame Brown all year, so really he just hit the “rookie wall” (it was his second year in the league, but he hardly played at all his real rookie year, so you can pretty much chalk up what happened last year to being the same thing that happens to most rookies in their first year in the league).
Something I’d add to the Bynum situation too is that he was well-aware of his ‘fade’ last season, and worked extensively with a trainer to avoid precisely that happening again.
I’d suggest that whilst Bynum mightn’t be where he was when he was injured, it won’t be because of a fade in performance. Verily, Bynum might be just getting to hit his straps come playoffs.
[…] A big thanks goes out to Don from With Malice who invited me to take part of his NBA Finals preview. * Does making fun of Stephen A. Smith ever get old? I don’t think so. Check out this […]