Eastern Conference Finals Preview

I was served a piping plate of humiliation last night, courtesy of the San Antonio Spurs.

The San Antonio Yawn Machine continued its uneventful run in the NBA Playoffs with a dominating win over the disgruntled and exhausted Phoenix Suns to win the series 4-2.

The victory came hours after I wrote that the Suns would win back-to-back games and make the Western Conference Finals.

Silly me.

But let's do a preview of both series.

We have Cavs-Pistons in the East, with Detroit hosting games one, two, five and seven.

In the West, it's the Utah Jazz and the San Antonio Robots (er, Spurs), with the Spurs hosting games one, two, five and seven.

LeBron vs. Detroit's help D: who ya got?
The Eastern Conference Finals have some interesting matchups:

Rasheed Wallace
Chris Webber
Tayshaun Prince LeBron James
Richard Hamilton
Chauncey Billups

Who will guard James?

Last year, Bron-Bron almost single-handedly beat the Pistons. Check out his series statline in seven games against the Pistons last year:

26.6 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 6 apg, 46 mpg, 44% FG, 28% 3-pt., 73% FT, 4.4 topg

Just great numbers.Notice the last three stats, though?

28% 3-point shooting, 73% free-throw shooting, 4.4 turnovers per game

Not great. In fact, Bron-Bron probably shouldn't shoot a 3-pointer unless three unique situations present themselves:

1) He is wide open. And I mean wide, wide open. If the closest Piston is within eight feet, Bron-Bron isn't open.
2) The Cavs are down three points with less than five seconds left. I say five because with the clock hovering around 10 seconds, LeBron should get to the basket and get a layup, dunk or foul shots. Then the Cavs foul. Then he does it again.
3) If he has enough magnets put back on his hands after losing some of them. But David Blaine says only Anderson Varejao carries them, so if Anderson isn't on the floor, Bron-Bron shouldn't pull a 3.

Look, every writer and their grandmother has written this before and I'll stress it here: LeBron should be able to get to the rim every time he touches the ball.

In the case of the Pistons, LeBron will be facing a great team defense. If you watched the Bulls-Pistons series, you saw what was ultimately a locked-down lane and very little space for the Bulls to work with. That means LeBron will have to play a little more attention to detail.

And he has teammates, too.

They can do him a favor by cutting, getting to the blocks or understanding the floor's spacing. When LeBron gets into the paint, the Pistons will probably collapse on him. Whether collapse means a help defender or three is dependent on the situation. But there will also be someone open when LeBron is driving to the basket if the Cavs' spacing is done well.

I worry about LeBron's teammates hitting their shots. I really do. LeBron is going to have to put up even better numbers than he did in last year's Eastern Conference semifinals.

He might need to put on a cape first, but if he can finagle 30 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists a game, the Cavs might have a shot.

Might have a shot.

He will also have to shoot closer to 50 percent from the field, avoid shooting 3s, shoot foul shots at a better clip and avoid turning the ball over.

These are not easy tasks for Bron-Bron. Especially with his reportedly banged up knee and struggling (and pregnant) girlfriend.

But if he can distribute the ball, get into the lane and get to the next level of superstardom, LeBron might not single-handedly almost beat Detroit.

He might just beat them after all.

Webber + Wallace = Ws?
If these guys establish themselves in the paint, it'll be tough for the Cavs' D to single out Prince, Hamilton and Billups on the perimeter. But Webber had a terrible series against the Bulls and 'Sheed has to watch his temper ('Sheed? Nawww.)

And Drew Gooden and Zydrunas Ilgauskas aren't slouches. Gooden might be the Cavs' X-Factor when all is said and done.

Who is guarding who?
With LeBron and Sasha Pavlovic both being taller small forwards, who do you let Pavlovic guard? He plays worse defense than me. That means either Rip Hamilton or Tayshaun Prince will eat up the Cavs. It also means that LeBron will have to play 45-plus minutes, working hard on both ends of the floor, every possession.

Will that be too much for Baby Bron-Bron?

The Shakedown
The Pistons know the Cavs aren't afraid of them. Cleveland played Detroit to the brink, leading last year's postseason meeting 3-2 before the Pistons shut down the Cavs offense and won in seven games.

But the Pistons' help defense might be just enough to slow LeBron and sputter the Cavs' offense. And that should make the difference in the series, because LeBron can't guard the entire Pistons lineup and score every point. Nor can he handle 48 minutes per game over seven games. It's too much. It's up to his teammates to prove us all wrong.

Pistons in six.